The City of Edmonton, Canada, has been selected to host a
unique international conference that will boost the scientific understanding of
climate change and cities. This event, the Cities and
Climate Change Science Conference, co-sponsored by the IPCC, will take place in
March 2018 and support the implementation of the Paris Agreement, the New Urban
Agenda, and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Edmonton, the capital city of the Canadian Province of
Alberta, has been selected to host the 2018 Cities and Climate Change Science
Conference co-sponsored by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC). The event promises to be a pivotal milestone in developing the global
understanding of how climate change will impact cities and the role of cities
in tackling climate change.
Ten cities – with equal representation from the Global
North and Global South – responded to an open call to host the conference
launched in Marrakech at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC
COP-22) in November 2016. The proposals were transparently and collectively
assessed during a month of rigorous evaluation and intense deliberation,
leading to the final selection of Edmonton as the winner, due to the very
high quality of their proposal.
Don Iveson, Mayor of Edmonton, said: “The City of
Edmonton is pleased to host the 2018 Cities and Climate Change Science
Conference. Our city is serious in its action to combat climate change. The
City’s Blatchford redevelopment, poised to be one of the world’s largest
sustainable communities, and our commitment to doubling of our light rail
transit network in the next 10 years are just two of many initiatives we are
making to further this necessary global change. Hosting the 2018 Cities and
Climate Change Science conference gives us the opportunity to share knowledge
with other municipalities, while learning, advancing ideas and forming
partnerships that will help the world’s cities make progress on climate
change.”
“Cities are on the front lines of the fight against
climate change,” added Shannon Phillips, the Minister Responsible for the
Climate Change Office of Alberta. “As host of the 2018 Cities and Climate
Change Science conference, Edmonton will showcase Alberta’s efforts to protect
the environment and build a diversified economy of the future. Safeguarding our
quality of life here in Alberta and around the world requires collaboration and
effort from individuals to cities, provinces and national governments.”
The 2018 Cities and Climate Change Science Conference was
approved by the IPCC in October 2016 (Decision IPCC/XLIV-6) and is supported by
a diverse group of organisations identified as #CitiesIPCC: C40, Cities Alliance,
ICLEI, Future Earth, Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), United
Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), UN-Habitat, UN Environment and World
Climate Research Programme (WCRP).
The conference will bring together representatives from
academia, scientific institutions, IPCC experts, national, regional and local
government representatives, urban and climate change practitioners and related
networks. The conference will inspire global and regional research on Cities
and Climate Change over the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report cycle in preparation
for the future IPCC Special Report on Cities and Climate Change. Its outcomes
will help member states, mayors and citizens deliver on the ambition of the
Paris Agreement, the New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
According to Debra Roberts, Co-chair of the IPCC Working
Group II, “the 2015 Paris Agreement is a universal call to climate action
– but cities around the world need science to help them better understand the
action options. Nowhere is this scientific knowledge more urgently required
than in the cities of the Global South, where the well-being and livelihoods of
billions of poor and vulnerable people depend on the implementation of climate
resilient urban development pathways. This conference is key in developing a
global research agenda that will establish a new contract between society and
climate science in the world’s cities.”
A high level Scientific Steering Committee, with experts
from the engineering, physical, natural and social sciences and humanities, as
well as from the urban community (see below for the full list of members), will
guide the organisation of the conference.
The announcement of Edmonton as the host of the
conference will be further highlighted in global events throughout May 2017,
including Resilient Cities Congress in Bonn, Germany, on 4 to 6 May; UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) May 2017 Climate Change
Conference in Bonn, Germany, on 8 to 18 May; and at UN-Habitat 26th Governing
Council in Nairobi, Kenya, on 8 to 12 May.
Members of the conference's Scientific Steering
Committee:
·
Xuemei Bai, Australian National University
·
Aliyu Barau, Department of Urban and Regional
Planning, Bayero University Kano
·
Helen Cleugh, Director of the CSIRO Climate
Science Centre
·
Richard Dawson, School of Civil Engineering and
Geosciences, Newcastle University
·
Gian Carlo
Delgado, Interdisciplinary Research Center on Sciences and Humanities of the
National Autonomous University of Mexico
·
Shobhakar Dhakal, Head of the Department of
Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Asian Institute of Technology in
Thailand
·
David Dodman, Director of the Human Settlements
Group at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
·
Lykke Leonardsen, Head of Climate Unit, City of
Copenhagen
·
Valérie Masson-Delmotte, CEA Senior scientist at
LSCE (IPCC Co-Chair Working Group I)
·
Megan L. Melamed, International Global
Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC)
·
Debra Roberts, Sustainable and Resilient City
Initiatives Unit, eThekwini Municipality, Durban, South Africa (IPCC Co-Chair
Working Group II)
·
Roberto
Sanchez Rodriguez, Department of Urban and Environmental Studies, El Colegio de
la Frontera Norte
·
Cynthia Rosenzweig, Senior Research Scientist,
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
·
Seth Schultz, Director of Science and
Innovation, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
·
Karen Seto, Yale University, School of Forestry
and Environmental Studies
·
William Solecki, CUNY Institute for Sustainable
Cities
·
Diana Urge-Vorsatz, Director, Center for Climate
Change and Sustainable Energy Policy, Professor, Department of Environmental
Sciences and Policy, Central European University (IPCC Co-Vice Chair Working
Group III)
·
Maryke Van Staden, ICLEI’s Low Carbon City
Agenda & Bonn Center for Local Climate Action and Reporting
For More Information:
·
IPCC:
Werani Zabula, Comminications Specialist, ipcc-media@wmo.int
·
C40:
Josh Harris, Press and Communications Manager, jharris@c40.org
·
Future
Earth: Daniel Strain, Communication Officer, daniel.strain@futureearth.org (USA);
Alistair Scrutton, Director of
Communications, alistair.scrutton@futureearth.org
·
UN-Habitat: marcus.mayr@unhabitat.org
·
ICLEI Media Liaison
: claudio.magliulo@iclei.org
·
United
Cities and Local Governments (UCLG): communication@uclg.org
·
WCRP: wcrp@wmo.int
·
Edmonton:
Jim Andrais: jim.andrais@edmonton.ca, +1-780-944-7520.
·
Website
under construction: www.citiesipcc.org
·
Requests
to speak to Mayor Iveson: Cheryl Oxford: Cheryl.oxford@edmonton.ca,
+1-780-496-8104
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