UK's top scientist to tour Australia

Climate change will be one of the issues on the agenda when the Chief Scientist for the United Kingdom, Sir John Beddington, visits Australia this month to share his insights on scientific policy in the UK.

During his four-day Australian tour, Sir John will visit Canberra and Melbourne to discuss the science behind a range of topics, including climate change, food security and agriculture.

Sir John was appointed as Government Chief Scientific Adviser in 2008. He has provided scientific advice to Government on the 2009 swine flu outbreak, the 2010 volcanic ash incident, and the emergency at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011.

He is renowned for raising the concept of the "Perfect Storm" of food, energy and water security in the context of climate change.

Sir John warned that food shortages, scarce water and insufficient energy resources could cause public unrest, cross-border conflicts and mass migration as people flee from the worst-affected regions.

He said this "Perfect Storm" could come to a head as early as 2030 if these issues were not addressed.

During his Australian visit, Sir John will give two lectures that are open to the public.

The first will be held in Canberra on 10 October at the Australian Academy of Science. During this address, Sir John will discuss Bringing science to the forefront of government policy; addressing today's challenges.

He will then address the University of Melbourne on 11 October, where he will focus on the inescapable challenges of the early 21st Century.