Our common future under climate change

The International Scientific Conference “Our common future under climate change” will take place at UNESCO and UPMC (Paris) in July (7-10) 2015.

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 is organized under the umbrella of ICSU, Future Earth, UNESCO and major French research institutions, with the support of the French Government.

The Conference will present updated knowledge and address key issues concerning climate change in the broader context of global change. 

The main objective of COP 21 that will take place in Paris in December 2015 is to produce a cooperation framework for a steady increase of individual and collective ambition of governments who will have presented their contributions early in 2015. The new climate governance regime is supposed to strengthen confidence, support implementation, maximize benefits of international cooperation, and bring all stakeholders to the realization that a new development model (low carbon, resilient) is actually emerging.

For science, the question has progressively shifted from consolidating the scientific basis for assessing risks and options for action, to defining the form that action has to take in order to engage in a necessary transition to low-carbon and adapted economies and societies. For stakeholders, the question has shifted from reasons for action to the form action has to take.

The scientific community, in partnerships with a variety of stakeholders, plays a major role for shaping our future under climate change, by identifying potential sustainable futures and innovations at different spatial and time scales, by designing and assessing relevant and coherent solutions, policies and measures, and therefore increasing the credibility of the Paris agreement.

The conference will be the major opportunity for scientists, stakeholders and the larger public, to take stock of existing knowledge, explore and identify innovative solutions, discuss them, and prepare for an ambitious post 2015 climate governance regime.