06 November 2017 - 17 November 2017
Bonn, Germany

UN Climate Change Conference 2017 (COP23)

Two years after the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, this year's UN climate conference will focus on the way forward for implementation. IIASA experts bring the latest research on how to reach the ambitious targets set in 2015. 

© UNFCCC

© UNFCCC

The Paris Agreement aims to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” In 2016, global average surface temperature reached about 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels making it the warmest year on record in all major global surface temperature datasets. 

At COP23, the annual climate negotiation conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), IIASA researchers will participate in several side events aimed at providing their expertise to policymakers. COP23 website.


Climate Action and Human Wellbeing at a Crossroads:
Historical Transformation or Backlash?

November 4-5 - The conference is held in Bonn, back to back with COP23. The world needs a new culture of global cooperation, substantiated by mutual respect and support, to make the transformation towards sustainability a reality. This is the main message the conference wants to develop and feed into the climate negotiations.

IIASA speakers: Nebojsa Nakicenovic, Michael Obersteiner, Keywan Riahi.


Enhancing the Impact of the Paris Agreement through Stronger Development Linkages 

November 6 | 10:00-11:30 13:30-15:00 - The World in 2050 (TWI2050) – a global research initiative hosted at IIASA and involving some 20 institutions worldwide will discuss the challenges of developing transformational and equitable pathways to sustainable development within planetary boundaries necessary for the success of both the Paris Agreement and the SDGs.

IIASA speakers: Luis Gomez Echeverri, Keywan Riahi.


Climate & Development Links: National decarbonization pathways toward 1.5 & 2°C and impacts on SDGs

November 6 | 15:00-18:00 - Based on a collaborative project of 19 institutes from Europe, Asia and the Americas (CD-LINKS), the session presents latest findings on ratcheting up the NDCs toward the 1.5 and 2°C goals and implications for sustainable development. 

IIASA speakers: Volker Krey, Keywan Riahi.


What do you think about 1.5°C?

November 6 | 16:30-18:00 - This interactive session will explore perceptions of the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C temperature limit. Bring your smartphone and prepare to contribute to discussions.


Our Common Home: Land, Oceans and Water-Food-Ecosystem Resilience in the Mid-Latitude Region

November 7 | 15:00-16:30 - Sustainably managed ecosystems foster climate resilience, water management and food security. Land and oceans integrity, Water-Food-Ecosystem resilience in the Mid-Latitude region are essential to achieve SDGs. The event promotes land and oceans protection and the water-food-ecosystem nexus. 

IIASA speaker: Florian Kraxner.


Handling Climate Risk and Loss and Damage

November 7 | 15:00-18:00 - This session will share experiences of the development of frameworks and actions aimed at supporting risks beyond adaptation’ and highlighting how actions on Loss and Damage can contribute to sustainable development. Key Feature: Initial insights from works done in Bangladesh, Nepal, Peru and India.

IIASA speakers: Reinhard Mechler, Thomas Schinko.


Pre-launch of book on Loss and Damage

November 9 | 16.00-17.00 - The objective of the session is to promote the forthcoming book on "Loss and Damage from Climate Change. Concepts, Methods and Policy Options." The book provides an authoritative insight on the Loss and Damage discourse by highlighting state-of-the-art research and policy linked to this discourse and articulating its multiple concepts, principles and methods. Written by leading researchers and practitioners, it identifies practical and evidence-based policy options to inform the discourse and climate negotiations.  Key feature: Loss and Damage, climate risks, adaptation.

IIASA speakers: Reinhard Mechler, Thomas Schinko.


Energy Policy Trade-offs within the Broader Sustainable Development Challenge

November 10 | 13:15-14:45 - The SDG 7 on Energy plays a key role in the achievement of all other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Access to safe, clean and affordable energy is a necessary condition to reduce poverty and to support human development. However, the manner and the extent that energy resources are exploited can adversely impact the climate, land-use, water sectors and other goals. This system behavior is characteristic of how optimization of policy goals in one area can create detrimental impacts in other areas.

IIASA speaker: Simon Langan


The Water-Food-Energy NEXUS

November 11 | 12:00-13:30 - Increasing food, energy, water security and sustainability is essential to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement. Using the ‘Nexus approach’- the interconnections between energy, water, food, land and climate resources – enables policy-makers to identify and address trade-offs and exploit synergies, leading to more efficient resource use. Climate action will benefit from a Nexus approach as it leads to better, more realistic modelling outcomes and more effective policies. The panel will focus on examples of climate action in the domains of energy and food and linkages to land use policies. 

IIASA speaker: Simon Langan


Climate risk management and transformation: working towards solutions for dealing with risks 'beyond adaptation' and the Loss and Damage debate

November 12 |10.45-11.45 - Objectives: Improved insight into policy options and implementation opportunities for dealing with risks beyond adaptation and the Loss and Damage debate; Improved understanding of various perspectives on the Loss and Damage debate, incl. overlap and differences with adaptation and disaster risk management; Understanding interventions taken to address the limits to adaptation.


10 Science "Must Knows" on Climate Change

November 13 | 13:30-14:30 - Organized by Future Earth and the Earth League, the sessions presents the current state of Earth's life support system and the risk of tipping points at 2°C to Patricia Espinosa (UNFCCC Executive Secretary) and international negotiators.

Press release | Statement

IIASA Director General and CEO Professor Dr. Pavel Kabat and IIASA Deputy Director Nebojsa Nakicenovic are founding members of the Earth League, an alliance composed of leading scientists and institutions who deal with planetary processes and sustainability. 


Ratcheting up Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs): Consistent National Roadmaps towards the Global Objective of 1.5 and 2°C

November 13 | 14:00-16:00 - This side event will introduce the most recent outcomes of the CD-LINKS project. The strategies required to reach the 1.5 & 2°C targets will be presented along with a comparison of the current ambition level of the Nationally Determined Contributions. The implications of the low carbon transformation pathways for the SDGs will be assessed & presented. 

IIASA speakers: Volker Krey, Keywan Riahi.


Using advanced Earth system models to deliver reliable estimates of future global change

November 15 | 10:00-11:16 - To provide guidance on the level of CO2 mitigation required to achieve the Paris targets, realistic estimates of future CO2 emissions must be combined with models capable of simulating the coupled climate-carbon cycle response. The session presents the latest research in this field, exploring the likelihood of different CO2 emission trajectories achieving the Paris agreement.

IIASA speaker: Matthew Gidden.


Indonesia’s Low-Carbon Development Plan (Indonesia’s LCDP) : Step Towards Its Implementation

November 15 | 10.30-12.00 - Climate change issues are not just about environmental issues, but closely related to economic development and poverty alleviation of developing countries in accordance with the principle of sustainable development goals (SDGs). Through several studies, a set of tools and methods to support low-carbon development planning has been produced and applied nationally in Indonesia. This set aims to empower multi-stakeholder negotiations for planning sustainable landscapes that can support livelihoods and development while maintaining and restoring environmental services, especially in tropical countries. Low carbon development actions need to be cost effective in the use of funds and fair in terms of balancing rights, responsibilities, and incentives. 

IIASA speaker: Ping Yowargana.


1.5 & 2°C strategies, SDGs and green growth

November 15 | 15:15-16:30 - Based on two EU-funded projects CD-LINKS and GREEN-WIN, the latest findings for ratcheting up the NDCs toward the 1.5 & 2°C goals and green-economy strategies for aligning economic with climate goals are presented. The sideevent highlights synergies & trade-offs with regards to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), investigates green growth strategies induced through alternative climate financing schemes, and presents local green economy business models that reconcile revenue generation with SDGs. The side-event will feature four thematic presentations followed by a panel discussion.


Reframing the Climate Debate: Enhancing the Paris Agreement and SDG linkages

November 15 | 18:30-20:00 - TWI2050, a science and policy initiative, is developing pathways to sustainable development within safe planetary boundaries. The event will discuss how the initiative aims to address a broad spectrum of transformational challenges related to the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with an integrated systems approach.

IIASA speaker: Nebojsa Nakicenovic.


From science to policy: Applying Earth system models

November 16 | 14:15-15:15 - What are Earth system models and what policy questions can they address? These advanced models provide a new and more complete view of how different aspects of the full Earth system may change under a warming climate, including more realistic estimates of allowable carbon emissions compatible with 1.5 and 2°C warming goals. This event will demonstrate how the UK and European science communities are
building the next generation of Earth system models and how they can inform and
support climate and environmental decision-making.

IIASA speaker: Matthew Gidden.


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Last edited: 13 November 2017

CONTACT DETAILS

Nebojsa Nakicenovic

Distinguished Emeritus Research Scholar Transformative Institutional and Social Solutions Research Group - Energy, Climate, and Environment Program

Simon Langan

Senior Guest Research Scholar Water Security Research Group - Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program

Michael Obersteiner

Principal Research Scholar Exploratory Modeling of Human-natural Systems Research Group - Advancing Systems Analysis Program

Keywan Riahi

Program Director and Principal Research Scholar Energy, Climate, and Environment Program

Principal Research Scholar Integrated Assessment and Climate Change Research Group - Energy, Climate, and Environment Program

Principal Research Scholar Pollution Management Research Group - Energy, Climate, and Environment Program

Principal Research Scholar Sustainable Service Systems Research Group - Energy, Climate, and Environment Program

Reinhard Mechler

Research Group Leader and Senior Research Scholar Systemic Risk and Resilience Research Group - Advancing Systems Analysis Program

Florian Kraxner

Research Group Leader and Principal Research Scholar Agriculture, Forestry, and Ecosystem Services Research Group - Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program

POLICY BRIEF

Between 1.5°C and 2°C — analyzing the global warming targets

PUBLICATIONS

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313