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University of Copenhagen: Climate Scientists Gather in Copenhagen 10-12 March 2009 to Assist New Climate Deal

As the United Nation’s (UN) annual climate change summit – the Conference of the Parties (COP14) – moves towards its closing sessions today in Poznañ, it is clear that there are still considerable differences to be handled before an agreement on how to tackle climate change can be reached at next December’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen.

However, help is at hand for the world’s policymakers and politicians. In an unprecedented move, climate researchers from more than 70 countries will gather in March next year to deliver a much needed update on the science of climate change at “Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges & Decisions” taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark, 10 – 12 March 2009 (www.climatecongress.ku.dk).

The importance of the Congress’ work is no better reflected than by the attendance of the IPCC Chairman and Nobel Laureate Dr. R.K Pachauri. Dr. Pachauri will join Lord Nicholas Stern, London School of Economics; José Manuel Barosso, President of the European Commission; and Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, as plenary speakers at the Congress in Copenhagen.

“This is the scientific community's chance to describe the urgency of climate change. The challenges are so big that we have to get out there and help the politicians understand what's happening,” said Professor Katherine Richardson, Vice Dean at the University of Copenhagen and Chair of the Scientific Steering Committee for the Congress. “So far, there has been tremendous interest in the event. It's going to be great and it's going to be big.”

Climate scientists, including Prof. John Schellnhuber, PIK, Potsdam; Prof. Dan Kammen, Berkeley; Prof. William D. Nordhaus, Yale; and Prof. Diana Liverman, Oxford will gather to provide the scientific world’s input to policymakers and politicians before a new climate deal is struck at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, 2009. The findings will be published in a compressed synthesis report presenting the latest knowledge on climate change and what can be done about it. The report will be circulated to all participants at next December’s UN Climate Change Conference.

In 57 separate sessions, scientists from over 70 countries will address the full spectrum of climate change science including the current understanding of the technological and political possibilities for mitigating climate change. More than 1,400 abstracts were submitted for inclusion into the program, and a coalition of ten renowned universities under the “International Alliance of Research Universities” (IARU) is behind the event. IARU comprises Univ. of Copenhagen, Yale Univ., UC Berkeley, Univ. of Oxford, Univ. of Cambridge, Univ. of Tokyo, Peking Univ., Nat’l Univ. of Singapore, ETH Zürich and Australian National University.

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