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The Planet under Pressure Conference brought together some 3000 experts from around the world in London and some 3000 online to discuss the current state of global environmental change and offer solutions required to move societies onto a sustainable pathway. This gathering aimed to provide scientific leadership towards the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development - Rio+20 in June 2012. The conference was co-convened Dr. Lidia Brito (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and Dr. Mark Stafford-Smith (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) and sponsored by the big international research collaborations IGBP, Diversitas, IHDP, WCRP and ICSU.
The conference highlighted the need to focus on the next 20 years as this will be a critical period where climate change will be occurring parallel to other issues such as urbanisation and biodiversity loss. In order for this to happen a new leadership is required that recognises the urgency of this problem. We need to start developing strategies for creating and rapidly translating knowledge into action and we need to start improving the dialogue between scientists, society, business and government. It is clear from this conference that we know what that the problems are and how we should begin dealing with them but the real challenge lies in the willingness and ability to start to acting on this knowledge.
The recently published State of the Planet Declaration reflects the key messages emerging from the proceedings of the Planet Under Pressure conference:
"Research now demonstrates that the continued functioning of the Earth system as it has supported the well-being of human civilization in recent centuries is at risk. Without urgent action, we could face threats to water, food, biodiversity and other critical resources: these threats risk intensifying economic, ecological and social crises, creating the potential for a humanitarian emergency on a global scale."
"Humanity's impact on the Earth system has become comparable to planetary-scale geological processes such as ice ages. Consensus is growing that we have driven the planet into a new epoch, the Anthropocene, in which many Earth-system processes and the living fabric of ecosystems are now dominated by human activities."
"Interconnected issues require interconnected solutions. Rapid scientific and technological progress can provide potential solutions - if adopted in timely manner - to reduce the risk of deleterious consequences for societies everywhere. But technological innovation alone will not be enough. We can transform our values, beliefs and aspirations towards sustainable prosperity."
A researcher from the CSIR representing the SADC Climate Change Capacity Building project was sponsored to present some experiences from communicating climate information to end users in southern Africa in the session on the use of climate information for humanitarian decision-making. This session aimed to strengthen understanding of the need to invest in developing more effective direct dialogue between scientists and humanitarian and development policymakers on issues of future vulnerability.
Ms. Claire Davis presented a talk entitled "Bridging the Gap: Experiences of communicating climate information between producers and end-users in southern Africa" which outlined two examples of how effective communication between science producers and humanitarian organisations in southern Africa can improve the use of climate information in emergency preparedness, response and development activities.
Download the presentation and workshop summary.
We need more global change - we need to change the way we manage the environment: matrix of the most tweeted words during the conference |
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Planet under Pressure Exhibition Space |
 The Climate Risk and Vulnerability Handbook for Southern Africa, edited by CSIR researcher Claire Davis, is now available for download. Hard copy versions will be available for purchase from www.kalahari.com.
Funded by USAID, with the support of the Department of Science and Technology, the book was compiled with inputs from the CSIR, the Climate Systems Analysis Group at the University of Cape Town and researchers from Kulima Integrated Development Solutions as well as other contributing authors from around the subcontinent. » Read more
Page 48: Main heading of Figure 3.18 should read "Projected change in annual frequency of very hot days". Page 76: Picture: Ute Schmiedel.
Supplementary as well as updated maps, graphs and text will be uploaded to the website for download.
In the SADC Climate Change Handbook that has just been published in South Africa, a range of different climate projections are compared for areas of agreement and disagreement, to provide "working messages" around what we can expect from climate change in the southern African region.
A range of models indicate higher average, minimum and maximum temperatures, particularly for the interior of the subcontinent. With regard to rainfall, lower rainfall for the south-western portion of the subcontinent is likely for the June-July-August season, with possible changes in the October-November-December rainfall for the summer rainfall region also evident.
Selected impacts are likely to include impacts on both water supply and quality, particularly as a result of higher temperatures and evapotranspiration. In the agricultural sector, higher temperatures can cause heat stress in crops and livestock; as well as provide a more conducive habitat for pests and pathogens. In human health, certain vulnerable groups are likely to be more affected by heat stress - namely the elderly, the young and the immuno-suppressed. Lastly, the latter is likely to be more of a challenge in urban areas, prompting, for example, a number of evolving discussions on management of heatwave events in cities.
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