Climate Tipping Points, Irreversibility and their Consequences for Society, Environment and Economies | Switzerland’s Proposal for an IPCC Special Report

Climate Tipping Points, Irreversibility and their Consequences for Society, Environment and Economies | Switzerland’s Proposal for an IPCC Special Report

Climate Tipping Points, Irreversibility and their Consequences for Society, Environment and Economies | Switzerland’s Proposal for an IPCC Special Report

ABOUT THIS SESSION

Over the past decades, our scientific understanding of climate change has significantly grown. The IPCC reports have played a key role in synthetizing the best available science on the causes of climate change, its impacts, and possible pathways to adapt to and mitigate them.

Meanwhile, scientific information on large-scale singular events, tipping points and irreversibilities remains scattered. Tipping points in the climate system refer to thresholds that can occur as a consequence of human induced climate change, and that lead to changes are abrupt, high-impact, large-scale and often irreversible.

To respond to this need, the government of Switzerland considers it timely and pertinent to ask the IPCC to elaborate a Special Report on “Climate Tipping Points and their Implications for Habitability and Resources”, which will be prepared in the framework of the IPCC’s 7th Assessment Cycle, scheduled to start in 2023. All three IPCC Working Groups are expected to contribute to this Special Report, making it a comprehensive assessment of the topic. The timing of the approval of the report should take place around 2026 in order to serve as the basis for the second UNFCCC Global Stocktake from 2026 to 2028, and well before the second commitment period under the Paris Agreement in 2030.

This event organized with Switzerland within the framework of the Geneva Environment Network, will present the initiative to governments participating in the IPCC and Parties to the UNFCCC and other interested stakeholders. The goal of the event is to lay out as to how the crossing of tipping points in the climate systems may impact society, environment and economies alike, across the globe.

More information: tiny.cc/GEN25May22

SPEAKERS

 Additional speaker to be confirmed.

  • Thomas STOCKER, Professor of Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute, University of Bern & President of the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research
  • Sebastian KÖNIG, Chief Scientist, International Affairs Division, Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) & Focal Point for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Switzerland
  • Maria NEIRA, Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health, World Health Organization
  • Alexandra BILAK, Director, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
  • Eric USHER, Head, United Nations Environment Programme’s Finance Initiative
  • Jürg LUTERBACHER, Director, Science and Innovation Department & Chief Scientist, World Meteorological Organization
  • Dina IONESCO, Manager at United Nations Climate Secretariat (UNFCCC) | Moderator

REGISTRATION

To participate in-person at the International Environment House I, room 3, kindly register on the Eventbrite platform.

To participate online, kindly register on the Webex platform.

Tipping Points and Understanding Earth Observation data needs for a Tipping Element Model Intercomparison Project

Tipping Points and Understanding Earth Observation data needs for a Tipping Element Model Intercomparison Project

Tipping Points and Understanding Earth Observation data needs for a Tipping Element Model Intercomparison Project

The International Space Science Institute is hosting a workshop on 10-14 October 2022 in Bern, Switzerland. Workshops are selected by the ISSI Directors in consultation with the Science Committee. The programs and speakers are defined by a group of highly qualified experts serving as convenors. The Workshops of a week duration (in exceptional cases repeated) can be attended by up to 50 scientists and experts. Workshops always lead to a volume of the Space Science Series of ISSI (SSSI) and in parallel as issues of Space Science Reviews or Surveys in Geophysics. Stay tuned for more information.

Governing tipping elements in the Earth system as the new global commons of the Anthropocene

Governing tipping elements in the Earth system as the new global commons of the Anthropocene

Governing tipping elements in the Earth system as the new global commons of the Anthropocene

This two-day cross-disciplinary in-person workshop will be jointly hosted by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam, Germany, on 11-12 July 2022. 

The purpose of the workshop is to explore urgently needed avenues for effective governance of the large-scale physical, chemical and biological components of the Earth system, known as tipping elements. The starting point of the gathering will be to consider redefining global commons for consistency with the latest evidence from Earth system science, within the framework of legal requirements, as a new impetus for an urgent transition towards a governance paradigm that is appropriate for tackling the challenges of the Anthropocene. A preliminary text addressing this topic will be presented for a discussion in due course, aiming towards further development of this text. The ultimate planned deliverable will be a fully developed, jointly written academic paper, ready for submission to a high-impact peer-review journal a few months after the meeting.

Tipping Points Conference at the University of Exeter: From Climate Crisis to Positive Transformation

Tipping Points Conference at the University of Exeter: From Climate Crisis to Positive Transformation

Tipping Points – from climate crisis to positive transformation

On 12-14 September 2022, the University of Exeter is hosting a ‘call to action’ to form an alliance to improve warnings of the proximity of catastrophic climate tipping points and to accelerate positive tipping points to avert the climate crisis.

Meeting Format

The meeting will cover the latest developments in both negative and positive tipping points, at scales from local to global, and from theory to practice. It will consider the risks from climate tipping points and opportunities for positive tipping points for different regions, communities, sectors, and supply chains.

We will inspire, inform, and listen to attendees on how to deliver positive tipping points across your sectors, communities, and countries. Through participating in the meeting you can join a growing alliance of partners that are working to develop the urgent and rapid solutions required to address the climate and ecological emergency through a socially just transformation. Working with world-leading experts in tipping points science, together we can harness our resources to accelerate positive change and realise the associated benefits.

Over three days participants will go on a journey from facing up to the risks from climate change tipping points to being empowered by the opportunities in triggering positive social tipping points. This is an in-person meeting however some talks will be live-streamed for virtual audiences.

The programme will involve ‘state-of-the-art’ plenaries and workshops to advance the research and action agendas.

Speakers will be from academia, industry, government, and NGOs to highlight the need for rapid and transformative solutions as well as the risks and early warning requirements on negative tipping points.

  • How long left in the ‘safe zone’? Hear the latest science on the proximity to global climate tipping points and risks in the biosphere and societies.
  • Improve the risk assessment of climate tipping points through early warning systems.
  • How to stay in the ‘safe zone’? Identify opportunities for transformative action through positive tipping points.
  • Develop new approaches for triggering positive tipping points and convene coalitions of partners and resources for implementation.
Target Audience:
  • Researchers
  • Business and finance
  • Policy makers
  • NGOs
  • Funders
  • Community leaders
EGU Session: Tipping points, domino effects and resilience in the Earth system Abstract Submission

EGU Session: Tipping points, domino effects and resilience in the Earth system Abstract Submission

EGU Abstract Submission: Tipping points, domino effects and resilience in the Earth system

Co-organized by CR7/NP8/OS1

Convener: Ricarda Winkelmann | Co-conveners: Jonathan Donges, Victor Brovkin, Sarah Cornell, Timothy Lenton

In this session we invite contributions on all topics relating to tipping points in the Earth system, positive (social) tipping, as well as their interaction and domino effects. We are particularly interested in various methodological approaches, from Earth system modelling to conceptual modelling and data analysis of nonlinearities, tipping points and abrupt shifts in the Earth system. Read more about it here.

With rising anthropogenic pressures, there is an increasing risk we might be hitting the ceiling of some of the self-regulating feedbacks of the Earth System, and cross tipping points which could trigger large-scale and partly irreversible impacts on the environment, and impact the livelihood of millions of people. Potential domino effects or tipping cascades could arise due to the interactions between these tipping elements and lead to a further decline of Earth resilience. At the same time, there is growing evidence supporting the potential of positive (social) tipping points that could propel rapid decarbonization and transformative change towards global sustainability.

Deadlines & milestones (selection)
Abstract submission deadline: 12 January 2022, 13:00 CET
Travel Support application deadline: 1 December 2021