Highlights and images for 5 March 2018

Cities & Climate Change Science Conference (2018 CitiesIPCC Conference)

Summary

On Monday, the CitiesIPCC Conference opened in Edmonton, Canada. Conference participants were welcomed by David Miller, C40, who moderated the session, and Elder Ron Arcand, Alexander First Nation, who led an opening prayer.

The opening plenary featured local, provincial, and federal government officials welcoming participants and underlining the importance of connecting the local and global climate science communities. President Audrey Poitras, Métis Nation Alberta, and Grand Chief Dr. Wilton Littlechild, the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, underscored indigenous peoples’ role and knowledge in addressing climate change.

IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee spoke to how the IPCC has included cities in previous reports, particularly the Fifth Assessment Report published in 2014. Looking ahead, he spoke to efforts to include cities in the upcoming Sixth Assessment Report, and a special report on cities that will be developed during the Seventh Assessment cycle.

During most of the day, the conference participants explored the first of the conference’s four themes: Cities & climate change (Imperatives for action). In an opening plenary and panel, speakers discussed how global and city commitments can develop new trajectories to respond to climate change, highlighting opportunities such as linking local- and global-level research, translating science for different stakeholders, and fostering behavioral change.

Participants also considered the theme in fourteen breakout sessions in the afternoon. During these sessions, participants discussed the primary research priorities and emerging issues that could be integrated into the research agenda. They also explored the challenges of working at the city scale, external factors to consider and what questions that could be addressed by integrating science, policy, and practice communities.

To close the day, participants began examining the conference’s second theme: Urban emissions, impacts and vulnerabilities (Science and practice of cities). Recognizing that “we’re now in a planet of cities,” several speakers highlighted the role of science to inform local decision making for mitigation and adaptation, and the need to bring people into the analyses.

IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage provided daily digital coverage and a summary report from the 2018 CitiesIPCC Conference. The summary report is now available in HTML and PDF.

Photos by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis
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Opening Plenary

David Miller, C40 Regional Director, North America and C40 Ambassador for Inclusive Climate Action

Elder Ron Arcand, Alexander First Nation

Audrey Poitras, President of Métis Nation of Alberta, Canada

Wilton Littlechild, Grand Chief, the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations

Sarah Hoffman, Deputy Premier of Alberta, Canada

Don Iveson, Mayor of Edmonton, Canada

Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Canada

Julie Greenwalt, Cities Alliance

IPCC Scientific Steering Committee

Seth Schultz, C40

Hoesung Lee, IPCC Chair

Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, Central European University

Theme 1 Plenary: Cities & climate change (Imperatives for action)

From L-R: Amy Luers, Executive Director, Future Earth International; Mark Watts, Executive Director, C40 Cities; Nathalie Jean-Baptiste, Ardhi University; Peter Head, Ecological Sequestration Trust, Resilience Brokers; and Sheela Patel, Slum Dwellers International

Mark Watts, Executive Director, C40 Cities

Amy Luers, Executive Director, Future Earth International

Session Moderator Tom Dallessio, Next City

Aromar Revi, Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS)

Theme 2 Plenary: Urban emissions, impacts and vulnerabilities (Science and practice of cities)

Debra Roberts, eThekwini Municipality, South Africa

Emilia Saiz, Secretary-General, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)

From L-R: David Miller, C40 Regional Director, North America and C40 Ambassador for Inclusive Climate Action; Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Laboratory for Sciences of Climate and Environment (LSCE), France; Mark Pelling, King’s College London; Stephany Uy-Tan, Mayor of Catbalogan, the Philippines; and María Amparo Martínez Arroyo, National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change, Mexico

Stephany Uy-Tan, Mayor of Catbalogan, the Philippines

Mark Pelling, King’s College London

Tong Zhu, Peking University, China

Valérie Masson-Delmotte, LSCE, France

María Amparo Martínez Arroyo, National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change, Mexico

Responding to climate change in cities and in their informal settlements and economies

Mark Ojal, Nairobi Risk Partnership

David Dodman, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)

Alexei Trundle, University of Melbourne

Kavya Michael, Indian Institute for Human Settlements

Nurul Islam Nazem, University of Dhaka

Cities and the Global Agendas: SDGs, Paris Agreement, New Urban Agenda, Sendai Framework, and Convention on Biological Diversity

From L-R: Kerry Constabile, Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General; Cecilia Herzog, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio); Ebru Gencer, Center for Urban Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience; Michael Westphal, World Resources Institute (WRI); and Bernhard Barth, UN-Habitat

Kerry Constabile, Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General

Michael Westphal, WRI

Carmen Vogt, German Development Cooperation (GIZ)

Bernhard Barth, UN-Habitat

Financing Climate Risk at the City-level: Promoting Dialogue Between Public and Private Actors

David McGown, Insurance Bureau of Canada

Henry David Venema, Director of Planning, Prairie Climate Centre, IISD

Johannes Klein, Geological Survey of Finland

Embedding Practitioner Evidence into the IPCC Process

Candice Howarth, University of Surrey

David Viner, Mott MacDonald UK

Anne Kerr, Mott MacDonald Hong Kong

Environmental Justice and Urban Climate: How can we secure an equitable future?

From L-R: Annel Hernandez, New York City Environmental Justice Alliance; Ryan Chavez, UPROSE; and Lavinia Poruschi, The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)