This four-day conference will be the largest forum for the scientific community to come together ahead of the 21st UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP21), which will be hosted by France in December 2015 (“Paris Climat 2015”). Building on the results of IPCC 5th Assessment Report (AR5), the Conference will address key issues concerning climate change in the broader context of global change. It will offer an opportunity to discuss solutions for both mitigation and adaptation issues. The Conference will also welcome Side Events organized by different stakeholders.
The Conference has four overarching objectives:
- Provide state-of-the-art scientific knowledge on climate change, one year after the release of IPCC AR5: physical basis of climate change, impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, mitigation, storylines and scenarios.
- Explore a wide range of pathways combining climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable development.
- Assess the potential for evidence-based solutions to climate change challenges.
- Contribute to a science-society dialogue.
Through Plenaries and Parallel Sessions, all major issues are explored through overarching daily themes, moving from present knowledge to future solutions.
A large emphasis is placed on exploring climate change issues through transdisciplinary and integrative approaches, underscoring the need for solutions that cut across sectors and systems and that join stakeholders and communities. The Conference sessions encourage multi-disciplinary and multi-lateral thinking to explore the wide range of topics that cut across climate change issues, from physical feedbacks to social and economic impacts. The Conference sessions offer a broad base for examining a multitude of issues covering the complex and inter-related science-human aspects of climate change.
