|
On Tuesday, 13 March, IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee opened IPCC-47. Following his remarks, statements were made by:
-
Audrey Azoulay, Director-General, UN Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), who emphasized UNESCO’s work on global citizenship in order to tackle problems that countries cannot solve individually, such as global environmental issues;
-
Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), who encouraged government representatives to foster relationships with atmospheric scientists and meteorologists;
-
Anne Le More, Chief of Staff, UN Environment (UNEP), who praised the IPCC for its crucial role in delivering climate science to facilitate policy responses;
-
Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), who highlighted the IPCC’s future role in, inter alia, the adoption of an “operating manual” for the Paris Agreement, driving ambition by informing the 2018 Talanoa Dialogue, and aligning climate action with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
-
Frédérique Vidal, French Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, who highlighted the IPCC’s ability to universalize thinking on climate change by incorporating a diversity of countries, disciplines, gender and sciences; and
-
Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, who announced an additional €1 million annual contribution to the IPCC.
IPCC-47 was then suspended until Wednesday morning. A 30th anniversary celebration of the IPCC, hosted by the French government, convened for the rest of the day and included various statements, panel discussions and video presentations.
The morning session discussed the origins and history of the IPCC, including:
-
a historical review of climate science milestones since the 18th century; and
-
the political, diplomatic and scientific context during and since the 1988 creation of the IPCC.
In the afternoon, panel discussions addressed, inter alia:
-
decisions, tensions, failures, successes and dialogue between science and politics on environmental issues from 1988 to 2018;
-
IPCC reports and how the IPCC’s message has become more refined over time;
- the impacts of the IPCC on climate science; and
-
education and research.
Throughout the day, the eParticipatory Observers Project (ePop) presented videos filmed in New Caledonia and Fiji. The ePop network brings together young people from Pacific islands, and emphasizes citizen observation and exchange of information on climate and environmental changes that impact island populations in order to produce video reports. The videos can be viewed at https://epop.network/.
More detail about the opening of IPCC-47 and the 30th Anniversary Celebration will be included in the ENB Summary report, which will be published on Monday, 19 March 2018.
|
|