Co-Conveners: W. Cramer, IMBE, Aix-en-Provence - France); S. Seneviratne (ETH Z�rich - Switzerland)


Impacts of climate change are documented from all continents, across many sectors. The session reviews current knowledge about recent and future impacts as well as their feedbacks on the atmosphere.

The objective of this session is to demonstrate that land systems are impacted by climate change, that these impacts affect a broad range of sectors in all climate zones, and that critical feedbacks exist between the land and the atmosphere, notably for the carbon, energy, and water cycles, thus connecting land impacts and feedbacks. Recent research, presented in the session, will be reviewed from three specific angles: the improvement of process understanding for these mechanisms, the possibilities to manage carbon, energy, and water fluxes at the broad scale for the enhancement of resilience, and the identification of risks or planetary boundaries. The session is expected to provide the latest scientific understanding for a key component of the Earth system.

Co-conveners: A. Woodward (University of Auckland, Auckland - New Zealand ), M. Neira, World Health Organization, Geneva - Switzerland )


Risks and Responses

This session will review the major findings of recent assessments of the present and anticipated effects of climate change on human health. The IPCC 5th Assessment Report concluded that climate change was essentially a challenge in risk management. The session will examine what this means, and will present the results of an international collaboration that has applied the principles of risk analysis to highlight climate threats of particular concern to governments, private business and health and social services. The Lancet Commission on Climate Change and Health reported its findings this year � the session will present the major findings of the Commission, and examine in particular, the claim that a well-chosen response to climate change could become the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century. We will conclude by examining what this means for the wider public health agenda, and how the findings from the IPCC, the Lancet report and other research can make a positive contribution to the preparations for CoP21.

Co-Conveners: R. DeFries (Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology -E3B, Columbia University, USA); L. Yonglong, (Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences - RCEES, Chinese Academy of Sciences - CAS - China)


Are Climate Policy and Development Compatible Goals?

Successful policy to mitigate and adapt to climate change has been hampered by concerns that such policies require trade-offs with development goals. Some argue that climate adaptation can benefit development for the poor. Others argue that urgent needs for energy, agricultural products, and other resources should not be impeded by concerns for climate change. This session will explore these issues based on reality on the ground from multiple angles and perspectives. The role of climate in Sustainable Development Goals will be examined, as well as the synergies, trade-offs and co-benefits between climate and development objectives.

Co-Conveners: C. Vera (Center for Atmosphere and Ocean Sciences - CIMA, UMI/IFAECI, Argentina); C. M�Bow (World Agroforestry Centre - ICRAF, Kenya)

The general goal of the session is to promote the exchange between researchers from natural and social scientists working on vulnerability and adaptation studies in order to discuss the complex interconnections in which climate vulnerability is embedded, which can contribute to develop innovative adaptation strategies. Addressing the human dimension or socio-economic condition of vulnerability require strong knowledge of the sensitivity of the socio-ecological systems to particular climate exposure. Hence, sensitivity is determined by the interaction between the social (human) and bio-physical conditions (environment); all of which are place specific. The session plans to address the way context-specific human vulnerability determine the impacts of the climate variability and change and their role. The key question is why some climate events can lead to large impacts while some others do not? Contributions are expected to describe results and lessons learned from studies made at different regions of the world addressing vulnerability of different socio-economic sectors (agriculture, water, disaster risk management, etc.) to different patterns of climate variability and change.

Co-Conveners: JF. Soussana (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - France); T. Oki (Global Hydrology, Global Change, Millennium Sustainability Hydrology and Water Resources Laboratory, The University of Tokyo - Japan)

Climate change impacts on agriculture are partly mediated by changes in the global hydrological cycle. The extent and productivity of both irrigated and rainfed agriculture can be expected to change, with increased weather induced risks at both local and regional scales. As a result, the livelihoods of rural communities and the food security of a predominantly urban population are at risk from water-related impacts linked primarily to climate variability. The rural poor, who are the most vulnerable, are likely to be disproportionately affected. Adaptation measures that build upon improved land and water management practices will be fundamental in boosting overall resilience to climate change and in mitigating GHG emissions from agriculture.

Convener: S. Benson (Global Climate and Energy Project, Stanford University Precourt Institute for Energy - USA)

Global energy systems have undergone numerous transitions over human history�from wood to coal, from animals to automobiles, from candles to electric lighting. Catalysts for these changes include discovery of new energy resources, new energy conversion technologies, limitations on material and water availability, and environmental benefits from less polluting and safer energy options. Today, we are poised for yet another energy transition. Driven by ever growing global energy demand, concerns over providing affordable and secure energy supplies, the need to reduce CO2 emissions, constraints on fresh water supplies, and discovery of new energy conversion technologies�we have embarked on a transition to a low-carbon energy system. This session will highlight energy game-changers that are here today, coming soon, and are on the horizon.

Co-Conveners: R. Scholes (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Ecosystem Processes and Dynamics - South Africa), M. Araujo (Biodiversity and Global Change- BIOCHANGE, Lab MNCN, National Museum of Natural Sciences, CSI-CSIC - Spain)


How we can help organisms to adapt by themselves, what the limits are, and how we can use ecosystem processes to help people adapt

Individual elements of biodiversity and their collective expression as ecosystems are both sensitive to climate change; substantial increases in the risk of extinction and ecosystem disruption are projected under high climate change scenarios. They have an inherent ability to adapt, which has limits, particularly in relation to the rate of climate change, impediments due to other stressors, and species interdependencies. There are both long-term (strategic planning) and short-term (operational) approaches to enhancing their adaptive capacity. Ecosystem processes can be harnessed to assist in the cost-effective reduction of climate risk to both people and other organisms, through an approach called �Ecosystem-based adaptation�.

Co-conveners: JC. Hourcade (Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Developpement - CIRED - France); R. Melendez Ortiz (International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development - ICTSD - Switzerland)


Climate, finance and trade: turning a political challenge into a sustainable development opportunity

This session will address the need to align climate policies with the objective of an �equitable access to development� called for at COP 16 in Cancun. It will take as a starting point the challenging economic context which characterizes the world economy since 2008, and the resulting political tendency to postpone climate action. Indeed, policy makers face political challenges when it comes to justifying major investment in a low carbon infrastructure, as well as to maintaining an open trade in times of constrained public budgets and low and instable growth. The session will therefore make a case for turning the question upside-down and using the low carbon transition as a lever for a robust and inclusive economic recovery.

Three introductory keynotes address will a) explain the links between climate policies, trade and finance with an emphasis on the synergies between carbon pricing and financial instruments for redirecting world savings b) point to inefficiencies in the trade system which currently maintain costs of climate-friendly technologies artificially high, and propose options for addressing these, c) present the state of the art in climate finance.

Three experts involved in the political process in their respective countries and at the international scale will then discuss the political requirements for securing a virtuous circle between climate, finance and trade issues worldwide.

Co-conveners: P. Urquhart (Climate change, sustainable development and live - South Africa), J. Roy (Global Change Programme, Jadavpur University - India)


Exploring the conditionalities for climate resilient and equitable development

This large parallel session will focus on emerging regional approaches to low-carbon climate-resilient development pathways, and explore what is necessary to enable these processes to be mainstreamed. Building on recent technical studies, such as deep decarbonisation analyses, the social, behavioural and economic developmental aspects of designing and implementing these pathways will be highlighted and discussed. The session will thus integrate adaptation, mitigation and development, and showcase current knowledge on transformative solutions to bring about this necessary real-world synthesis. Examples of multi-stakeholder knowledge co-production, planning and implementation for feasible low-carbon pathways that integrate climate-resilient development will be presented and critically interrogated. The chances of a high degree of coupling of economic growth and environmental consequence depend on technology choice, process/practice bias and structural bias. So it is both a challenge and opportunity for fast growing economies to strike a strategic balance between fast-paced economic growth, structural shift and social development without being on a high GHG emissions pathway. At the same time, all countries in different states of development have pressing adaptation needs that require substantial investment and scaling up. Keeping these challenges in mind, this session will present various studies that use a variety of methodologies across countries /regions to develop an innovative economic growth agenda on low GHG emission trajectory up to 2050. Presentations would touch upon regional, national and sub-national, city scale issues. The complexities vary depending on the scale of the implementation. Respondents from different perspectives and disciplines will highlight critical social, institutional, and governance issues and challenges, including those present in situations of high poverty. This will guide the ensuing plenary discussion to further draw out issues and highlight potential regional solutions that combine feasible low carbon pathways with climate resilient and equitable development.

Co-conveners: S. Gardiner (University of Washington, Seattle - USA), H. Winkler (University of Cape Town, Energy Research Centrer - South Africa)

Equity plays a key role in the UNFCCC. This session will explore how the concept is relevant to, and may develop in, the Paris agreement. The first presentation will focus on philosophical understandings of climate justice and their relation to international negotiations. The second will offer an analysis of equity in initial country submissions. The third considers how equity might be operationalized in the 2015 agreement. The session concludes with a discussion of key obstacles to equity within the international process.