Future Earth at CitiesIPCC

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This March, representatives from across the Future Earth community convened in Edmonton, Canada, to participate in a first-of-its kind conference focusing on cities and climate change. The Cities and Climate Change Science Conference (CitiesIPCC), run from 5 to 7 March and was co-sponsored by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and nine partner organisations, including Future Earth.

The three-day event drew nearly 750 researchers, city and national leaders and other urban experts from across the globe. It explored the latest science on how the world’s cities, from São Paulo to Jakarta, are contributing to and driving action around climate change.

The conference live streamed selected events online. Watch the recordings here.

Visit the official CitiesIPCC website.

Future Earth’s Urban Knowledge-Action Network, a growing global network of researchers and other urban experts and practitioners working to solve the most pressing challenges facing cities, has played a major role in shaping this meeting. Representatives of the Future Earth community will also discuss topics from green infrastructure to air pollution in sessions throughout the conference.

The CitiesIPCC partners include IPCC, Future Earth, C40, Cities Alliance, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Climate Research Programme (WCRP).

Future Earth made regular updates on the CitiesIPCC conference and our work on sustainable cities online.

Don’t forget to follow our updates on Facebook,  Instagram, and Twitter.

	Sign onto commitment launched by CitiesIPCC partners Research and practitioner organisations around the world will soon be able to join a pledge to carry out a global research agenda on cities and climate change.
	Press release: World scientists, local leaders map research agenda for cities and climate change for coming years Conference participants coalesce around several priorities for future research and action.
	Field notes from CitiesIPCC: Day 3 On the last day of the conference, conversations swirled around how researchers can tap into the knowledge and creativity of informal settlements.
	CitiesIPCC partners announce agreement to carry forward cities and science agenda City networks and research organisations, including Future Earth, commit to unite forces in the years ahead.
	Field notes from CitiesIPCC: Day 2 We highlight communities around the world grappling with worsening floods, and how changing ideas of what makes a “good life” influence climate change.
	Field notes from CitiesIPCC: Day 1 Read our summary of the first day of the conference, highlighting calls for inclusion in climate change science and policy.
	CitiesIPCC conference opens with global call for collaboration and science-based solutions Leading researchers, government officials and more kick off the conference in Edmonton.
	Envisioning climate-friendly cities Leading researchers from the Future Earth community imagine how cities might look decades from now if the world is to avoid dangerous climate change.
	Researchers lay out new path for science on cities and climate change An international team calls for a network of “urban obervatories” to gather data on cities worldwide, and more.
	What does climate change hold in store for European cities? A new analysis examines how climate change could increase extreme weather in 571 European cities.
	Announcement: Global Climate Research Agenda to be Announced at CitiesIPCC Conference Official press release for the CitiesIPCC conference.
	The new science of cities: Four reasons we need networked knowledge Urban research should take inspiration from cities themselves, which are defined by their networks.

See a list of selected events that members of the Future Earth community participated at the CitiesIPCC conference. To see the full programme for the conference, visit the official website.

Day 1 (5 March)      Day 2 (6 March)      Day 3 (7 March)

Day 1 (5 March)

Theme 1 Plenary: Imperatives for action

10:30 MST in Hall D

To watch this plenary, follow this link. Future Earth participants included:

• Amy Luers, Executive Director, Future Earth

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

13:00 MST, Salon 5

Future Earth participants included:

• Bernhard Barth, Coordinating Committee member, Urban Knowledge-Action Network

The role of city networks in supporting policy-practitioner-academia interactions

14:45 MST, Salon 10

Future Earth participants included:

• Anne-Hélène Prieur-Richard, Director of the Montreal Global Hub, Future Earth

Urban climate information to support decision making: from local to global

14:45 MST, Salon 12

Future Earth participants included:

• Xuemei Bai, Coordinating Committee member, Urban Knowledge-Action Network

Theme 2 Plenary: Science and practice of cities

16:30 MST in Hall D

This event was live streamed. To watch this plenary, follow this link. Future Earth participants included:

• Debra Roberts, Coordinating Committee member, Urban Knowledge-Action Network

Day 2 (6 March)

Mainstreaming urban governance and FEW systems towards climatic risk reduction

11:00 MST, Salon 11

Future Earth participants included:

• Patricia Romero Lankao, Coordinating Committee member, Urban Knowledge-Action Network

Human health impacts of climate change

11:00 MST, Salon 5

Future Earth participants included:

• Megan Melamed, Executive Director, International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC)

Climate change and the end of consumer society

13:30 MST, Salon 12

Future Earth participants included:

• Maurie Cohen, Development Team co-chair, Systems of Sustainable Consumption and Production Knowledge-Action Network
• Philip Vergragt, Development Team co-chair, Systems of Sustainable Consumption and Production Knowledge-Action Network
• Halina Brown, Development Team member, Systems of Sustainable Consumption and Production Knowledge-Action Network

Promise of green infrastructure and nature-based solutions to combat climate change

15:15 MST, Salon 8

Future Earth participants included:

• Thomas Elmqvist, Coordinating Committee member, Urban Knowledge-Action Network
• Timon McPhearson, Coordinating Committee member, Urban Knowledge-Action Network

Day 3 (7 March)

Informal settlements and economies: means for transformative climate action

11:00 MST, Salon 11

• Debra Roberts, Coordinating Committee member, Urban Knowledge-Action Network

Governance and the challenge of 1.5C assessing modes mechanisms and manifestations of coordination in global urban climate

13:30 MST, Salon 11

Future Earth participants included:

• Patricia Romero Lankao, Coordinating Committee member, Urban Knowledge-Action Network

SSC/OC led session parallel session: Enhancing data and infrastructure for urban community

15:30 MST, Salon 5

Future Earth participants included:

• Richard Dawson, Coordinating Committee member, Urban Knowledge-Action Network
• Xuemei Bai, Coordinating Committee member, Urban Knowledge-Action Network (support)

SSC/OC led session parallel session: Future research agenda

15:30 MST, Salon 8

Future Earth participants included:

• Megan Melamed, Executive Director, International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC)