FOCUS – Ahead of the international conference on climate change, scheduled for December in Paris, researchers from Grenoble are mobilizing. Scientists, economists, even a political scientist and a linguist, from a group called Cop21-UGA, have offered to discuss, debate and illuminate the field of climate change. The next meeting will be held on 28th April, 2015.

Drilling in Antarctica December 2013: details about climate change found in ice cores. © Jérôme Chappellaz CNRS/LGGE

Will 2015 be a key year for international climate negotiations? In December, at the 21st Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention (Cop 21), people from nearly 200 countries will come together in Paris, to discuss measures to limit climate change.

A target date has been set by the parties, to reach a new agreement that will take effect in 2020, aiming to limit average global warming to 2° C. After the signing of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and Copenhagen’s failure in 2009, Paris harbours many hopes…

Grenoble mobilized by Cop21-UGA

In the meantime, researchers are mobilizing, especially in Grenoble, where a group called Cop21-UGA (Université Grenoble Alpes) has formed a working group; it has solid references, since about ten Grenoble laboratories contributed to the last IPCC report.

Thus, scientists, economists, even a political scientist and a linguist, from laboratories and schools in Grenoble, provide year-round perspectives on the scientific, technical and socio-economic issues induced by climate change, by offering conferences and debates.

Program: impacts of climate change on water, biodiversity and climate change, the economy of climate policies, the scope and legal effects of the Paris Protocol… The next conference in English will be held on 28th April, 2015 at 12:30pm, in the grounds of the Saint-Martin-d’Hères university, in the Weil amphitheatre. The theme of the conference, chaired by Paul Leadley, coordinator of the “Biodiversity” chapter of the IPCC working group II: “Biodiversity and climate change: main messages from and key challenges for IPCC and IPBES assessments”.

Find more information about all planned meetings in 2015, concerning the climate, in Grenoble and the Rhône-Alpes, on the Cop21-UGA website.

Patricia Cerinsek