As the United Nation’s (UN) annual climate change summit — the
Conference of the Parties (COP14) — moves towards its closing sessions
today in Pozna?, it is clear that there are still considerable
differences to be handled before an agreement on how to tackle climate
change can be reached at next December’s UN Climate Change Conference
(COP15) in Copenhagen.
However, help is at hand for the world’s policymakers and politicians.
In an unprecedented move, climate researchers from more than 70
countries will gather in March next year to deliver a much needed update
on the science of climate change at “Climate Change: Global Risks,
Challenges & Decisions” taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark, 10
— 12 March 2009 (www.climatecongress.ku.dk).
The importance of the Congress’ work is no better reflected than by the
attendance of the IPCC Chairman and Nobel Laureate Dr. R.K Pachauri. Dr.
Pachauri will join Lord Nicholas Stern, London School of Economics; José
Manuel Barosso, President of the European Commission; and Danish Prime
Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, as plenary speakers at the Congress in
Copenhagen.
“This is the scientific community's chance to describe the urgency of
climate change. The challenges are so big that we have to get out there
and help the politicians understand what's happening,” said
Professor Katherine Richardson, Vice Dean at the University of
Copenhagen and Chair of the Scientific Steering Committee for the
Congress. “So far, there has been tremendous interest in the event.
It's going to be great and it's going to be big.”
Climate scientists, including Prof. John Schellnhuber, PIK, Potsdam;
Prof. Dan Kammen, Berkeley; Prof. William D. Nordhaus, Yale; and Prof.
Diana Liverman, Oxford will gather to provide the scientific world’s
input to policymakers and politicians before a new climate deal is
struck at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in
December, 2009. The findings will be published in a compressed synthesis
report presenting the latest knowledge on climate change and what can be
done about it. The report will be circulated to all participants at next
December’s UN Climate Change Conference.
In 57 separate sessions, scientists from over 70 countrieswill
address the full spectrum of climate change science including the
current understanding of the technological and political possibilities
for mitigating climate change. More than 1,400 abstracts were submitted
for inclusion into the program, and a coalition of ten renowned
universities under the “International Alliance of Research Universities”
(IARU) is behind the event. IARU comprises Univ. of Copenhagen, Yale
Univ., UC Berkeley, Univ. of Oxford, Univ. of Cambridge, Univ. of Tokyo,
Peking Univ., Nat’l Univ. of Singapore, ETH Zürich and Australian
National University.