Former ACT Minister for the Environment and Climate Change, Simon Corbell, has been appointed an honorary Associate Professor at the Research School of Electrical, Energy and Materials Engineering at The Australian National University. Mr Corbell spent 20 years in the ACT Legislative Assembly and was instrumental in developing the ACT Government’s climate and energy strategy. ANU Energy Change Institute Director Professor Ken Baldwin said Mr Corbell had a long and distinguished career in ACT politics. He is now the Renewable Energy Advocate of the State of Victoria, a position which allows him to engage extensively and publicly on issues that are of direct research interest to the ANU. “Simon has demonstrated great intellectual rigour on difficult policy issues, especially in the area of climate change and energy policy, and has displayed substantial vision, determination and political acumen,” Professor Baldwin said. “This honorary appointment is not only a very appropriate way to recognise these achievements, but will also bring to the University considerable expertise in policy development around the transition to a low carbon economy.” Mr Corbell helped establish the ACT Climate Action Plan which aims to achieve 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2020. A significant component of that was the Reverse Auction Renewable Energy program which made the ACT the national leader in the development of renewable energy capacity. As part of this program and under Simon’s leadership, the ACT Government mandated investment in research and education by successful renewable energy companies in the auction process.
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ANU College of Engineering, Computing & Cybernetics