The state of the planet, especially climate and ocean, is moving towards catastrophe almost by the day. Just two, from among many 2022 quotes illustrate the enormity of the problem.
• Our world is suffering from the impact of unprecedented emergencies caused by the climate crisis, pollution, desertification and biodiversity loss. UN Secr-General, Guterres.
• Multiple climate tipping points could be triggered if global temperature rises beyond 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. This will be disastrous for people across the world. futureearth.org & Rockström.
Is the problem so wicked that we are going, or have already gone, beyond the point of no return? Is extinction inevitable?
So many people, so many organizations, local, national and international, through companies (eg, insurance) and the military, up to the UN, indicate that they are successfully tackling the problem of climate change, and yet GHG emissions and temperatures continue to rise. Why?
Can we swing the needle back towards a lower risk of catastrophe? Who is ‘we’? How do we swing the needle back? What kind of communication is effective? What policies, education, research, geoethics and actions are needed and realistic?
This are some of the questions that panel speakers and participants are invited to discuss and debate. The aim will be to move forward in our climate change and ocean realism, even if it is tentative. The aim is to develop some kind of consensus on the idea; still expressed by some, that it is still possible – realistically – to move the needle back. If not, then what?
Expected speakers:
o Chloe Hill, Policy, European Geosciences Union, Bavaria.
o Dean Page, ECS, Human Geography, Climate-Smart and Transboundary MSP, Hull.
o Giuseppe Di Capua, Istituto Nazionale Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Rome, International Association for Promoting Geoethics (IAPG) & International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS).
o Kateryna Terletska, Ukraine National Academy of Science, Kiev.
o Noel Baker, Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), Brussels.
o Odin Marc, Environment, CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research), Toulouse
o Philippe Tulkens, Climate and planetary boundaries, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission. Brussels
o Svitlana Krakovska, National Antarctic Scientific Center, Kiev, & Applied Climatology Laboratory, Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Institute, Kiev.