Energy, Climate and the World in Flux: Exploring the Patterns that Will Shape the Next Decade and Beyond

The world is in motion. Energy systems, climate dynamics and geopolitics are shifting all at once, colliding, overlapping and transforming in ways that defy prediction, but new patterns are emerging below the surface. 

This rare event convened by SA Futures Agency and MOD. brings global foresight leader Jeremy Bentham, Co-Chair of the World Energy Scenarios and former Head of Shell Scenarios to Adelaide for an evening of deep, interactive conversation that will help us explore how these global transformations intersect - and what they mean for both Australia and South Australia in the decade ahead.

Jeremy Bentham will be joined by Professor Mark Lawrence from the University of Adelaide and former Expert Principal at McKinsey and Chief Risk Officer at ANZ Bank, who brings deep insight into the links between climate change, energy transition and global financial systems; Michelle Howie, who bridges innovation and energy transition at SA Power Networks and as a Future Energy Leader representing Australia in the World Energy Council; and Heather Smith, Chair of CORENA (Citizens Own Renewable Energy Network Australia) and a leading advocate for community energy and local transitions. The conversation will be facilitated by Professor Ariella Helfgott, University of Adelaide, Director of SA Futures Agency and one of Australia’s leading foresight practitioners.

Together, they bring perspectives that stretch from the global to the deeply local, from system design to human experience. Rather than offering answers, this conversation will explore patterns emerging around us, such as:

• Fragmentation of Transitions - as different parts of the world move along divergent energy paths.

• Tensions in the current coexistence of the Old and the New - fossil and clean, extraction and regeneration, competing and co-evolving.

• New Geographies of Influence - where cables, grids, and minerals are strategic and new partnerships are forged that rewire production, trade, technology and demand in pursuit of resilience.

• The front of Transformation is local and everyday - where decisive shifts are how fast motors replace engines, heat pumps replace boilers and grids learn to absorb variable renewables. 

• The Acceleration of Change - as the climate clock, digital disruption, and social urgency outpace the institutions designed for a slower world.

Through these patterns, we’ll ask: what kind of agency do we have and how can foresight help us act with clarity, courage and care in a world in flux?

This isn’t just a debate or a lecture, it’s a collective act of sense-making: an invitation to look beyond the noise, see the deeper patterns at play and imagine how we might navigate them together. A session for those seeking clarity amid uncertainty and inspiration to act. 

Event Timings

Tuesday 11th November @ Adelaide Town Hall Auditorium

5:00pm - Doors Open

5:30pm - Event Start

• Keynote Perspective - Dr Jeremy Bentham

• Keynote Perspective - Michelle Howie

• Keynote Perspective - Professor Mark Lawrence

• Keynote Perspective - Heather Smith

• Panel Discussion - Dr Jeremy Bentham, Michelle Howie, Professor Mark Lawrence, Heather Smith, moderated by Professor Ariella Helfgott

7:30pm - Event Finish + Post-Event informal drinks at Electra House.

Event Guest Speakers 

Dr Jeremy Bentham is currently Co-Chair (Scenarios) at the World Energy Council and a senior advisor to several international organisations.  After over 40 years in the energy industry, he recently retired as the long-serving Head of the renowned Shell Scenarios Team and a leader of company strategy. He has particular experience in issues of decarbonisation and energy transitions and their consequences for business and policy development. He was educated at Oxford University, California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 

Michelle Howie is on a mission to import and export the solutions for a rapid, just energy transition to and from South Australia. As Innovation Development Manager at SA Power Networks, she is establishing the framework and tools for solving the grid challenges of world-leading renewables penetration while fostering a culture of innovation across the organisation. As Australia's Future Energy Leader, appointed by the World Energy Council, Michelle is a globally recognised thought leader in the energy sector. She is outgoing Advisory Council member for the Global Shapers Community, a youth initiative of the World Economic Forum. 

Professor Mark Lawrence brings deep insight into the links between climate change, energy transition and global financial systems. He is currently Professor of Practice at the University of Adelaide and is the former Expert Principal at McKinsey and Chief Risk Officer at ANZ Bank, having spent over 30 years leading global financial risk management practices across the Americas and the Asia-Pacific. Today, Mark is focused on the most urgent and far-reaching risk of all: climate risk.

Heather Smith is a Churchill Fellow, electrical engineer and policy maker. In 2016 Heather completed a Churchill Fellowship, traveling to USA, UK, Denmark, Germany and Japan to investigate the role of community energy in provoking change in each country’s energy transition. She is currently completing a PhD on redesigning the electricity grid with microgrids and, as Chair of Energy Together, ensuring that community is a central feature of our shift to clean energy. 

Professor Ariella Helfgott is foresight director of SA Futures Agency, professor at the University of Adelaide, Program Director of Foresight and Decision-Making for the One Basin CRC and a member of the Futures Council of the ANU National Security College. Previously, Ariella served as Director of Strategic Foresight in the Department of the Premier and Cabinet for the Government of South Australia, global Director of Foresight and Strategic Learning at the World Energy Council, a member of the Shell Scenario Team and lead academic research programs for many years at the Universities of Oxford, Utrecht, Wageningen and Adelaide.