Don't put all eggs in one (geoengineered) basket

Should research efforts focus on single large-scale geoengineering schemes? Or...

Dec 16, 2011

Global emissions rebound to record levels after global financial crisis

Global carbon dioxide emissions increased by a record 5.9 per cent in 2010...

Nov 24, 2011

Conference deadline extends

The Planet Under Pressure management team is extending the oral presenters...

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FEATURES

Tracking groundwater depletion

As water demand rises rapidly, some regions are withdrawing groundwater faster...

Scientists who published the famous “hockey stick” graph experienced sustained attacks soon after the figure was incorporated in the 2001 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Now one of those scientists, Ray Bradley, has written a very personal account of his experience. He spoke to Owen Gaffney about his new book.

Learning from the past

When it comes to managing the environment, we rarely look beyond the past few years to inform decisions. John Dearing says this needs to change.

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MULTIMEDIA

The promise and perils of creating markets to pay for public goods

Some payment mechanisms to support ecosystem services can be environmentally harmful, warn experts in...

IGBP research presented to Dalai Lama

Global-change researcher Diana Liverman presented IGBP's Great Acceleration graphs to the Dalai Lama...

Single-celled plankton reveal past climates

How do scientists reconstruct past climate conditions on Earth? One way of doing this is by culturing...

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Open

Planet under pressure: new knowledge towards solutions

Date:
3/26/2012 - 3/29/2012

Place:

London, United Kingdom

Contact:

Owen Gaffney (owen.gaffney@igbp.kva.se)
Wendy Broadgate (wendy@igbp.kva.se)

Links:

http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net external link

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The research community has a responsibility to provide the knowledge needed to move society towards effective stewardship of the planet. Scientists have a duty to communicate the urgency of this challenge to society. But science alone is not enough. The 2012 Planet Under Pressure conference is intended to be a major opportunity to link global-change science in a two-way engagement with the wide range of other stakeholders working towards global sustainability.

Background

Research delivers the knowledge to assess the nature and magnitude of global environmental change, its drivers and the risks it poses to society. It must also help society mitigate dangerous changes, cope with changes we cannot avoid, and illuminate opportunities. This requires partnerships with policy and industry decision-makers.

Based on the latest scientific evidence, the Planet Under Pressure conference will provide a comprehensive update of our knowledge of the Earth system, the pressure our planet is now under and a vision for the future. Drawing on our knowledge about the past, the present and future, the conference will focus attention on the latest research in climate science, ecosystem services, land use, biodiversity loss, planetary thresholds, and food, water and energy security.

The coincident drivers of these changes - globalization, urbanization and consumption - continue to intensify. We need a more effective 'global innovation system' to respond to the implications of the increasing rates of change in the drivers of global change. The conference will contribute to this challenge and leave a legacy of new partnerships to help forge a sustainable future. It will examine governance across temporal and spatial scales, links with poverty alleviation, human well-being, and engineering and technological solutions.