Engineers Australia National President Dr Raj Aseervatham FIEAust CPEng knows firsthand how engineering can change the world – and here shares his vision for World Engineering Day and beyond.
The UNESCO-proclaimed World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development (WED) always strikes a chord with me. I grew up in developing African countries at a time when public engineering was both basic and sparse.
Life was harder before engineers brought bountiful energy, clean water, infrastructure and waste management to our everyday lives. Engineering’s transformative power was one of the reasons I signed up.
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were formed to underpin such global quality-of-life advances. There are 17 SDGs and at least seven look directly to engineering for their delivery.
While several of the SDGs arguably have their greatest needs in the developing world, SDG 13 – Climate Action – is a global threat to all countries on this planet.
Countering this threat needs engineering creativity in both decarbonisation and climate-resilient and adaptable infrastructure, as well as innovating solutions for our economy’s biggest emitters. Engineers Australia is a leading actor in supporting this mammoth engineering task.
At a local level, we strongly support the country reaching and exceeding Australia’s emissions reduction targets. Indeed, our engineers are essential to enabling this.
We work with the government and its agencies, our divisions and our members to aid the development of the six identified Sector Decarbonisation Pathways and Plans. Pivotal to these are the transport, built environment, and energy and electricity sectors.
Achieving net zero emissions needs the support of a substantive circular economy, which reimagines and re-engineers supply chains to a more carbon-and-waste-efficient form than we have today.
Engineers Australia CEO Romilly Madew AO FTSE HonFIEAust EngExec was invited to participate in the Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group’s work program, with a focus on the built environment in our net zero aspiration.
Its final report, due in late 2024, will contain recommendations to facilitate the development of Australia’s own circular economy.
More broadly, Engineers Australia’s Climate Smart Engineering Initiative seeks to help devise, collate and enable practical tools and guidance to arm engineers everywhere.
Embedding low-carbon techniques in infrastructure projects, considering climate risks in design, and implementing climate resilience into projects are some of the fundamental skills to apply to our built environment in an increasingly urbanised world.
These skills are not only vital in Australia; they are even more potent globally as the number of megacities in the world grows remarkably quickly.