Challenges of Overshoot for the Research Community

Knowledge. Information. Regionalization.

With the world talking about UNEP’s spotlight report on “Limiting overshoot”, what next for the research community?

The climate research community has long recognized and studied overshoot scenarios, tipping points and irreversibility, and grappled with deep uncertainty. The world’s actual pathway into the future remains undetermined. Given that we will be living in an overshoot reality, regional climate information becomes a different challenge to anticipate and respond to. All over the world consequential decisions are being made at the regional scale, without serious consideration of the path-dependencies of our emerging trajectory.

We take the UNEP “Limiting overshoot” Report as a catalyst to discuss how we can innovate our research designs to better-inform agile (regional, anticipatory, and flexible) mitigation and adaptation efforts, with information for ever-evolving conditions.

The World Climate Research Programme’s (WCRP) Regional Information for Society (RIfS) Core Project will convene two online fora intended for the climate research community, anchored by panel discussions.

Webinar 1 – September 30, 12:30–14:00 UTC –  Lived Experience: Trajectories and Consequences

Panelists (subject to change): 

  • Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) 
  • John Dunne, NOAA, co-chair of CMIP Panel
  • Ana Basto, Leipzig University
  • Paola Arias, University of Antioquia, co-chair of GEWEX Hydroclimatology Panel

Webinar 2 – October 15, 07:30–09:00 UTC –  Navigating the Return: Mitigation and Adaptation Challenges

Panelists (subject to change): 

  • Richard Betts, University of Exeter
  • Debra C. Roberts, University of KwaZulu-Natal
  • Jose Manuel Gutierrez, University of Cantabria, co-chair of CORDEX
  • Steve Sherwood, University of New South Wales, co-chair of Safe Landing Climates WCRP Lighthouse Activity

Even if you have previously expressed interest in hearing more, your next step is to complete this registration so that you will receive the webinar links.

 

 

Read UNEP’s report:

Overshoot report cover-image