1. Topics

Science

Science is knowledge or a system of knowledge about the physical world and its phenomena. Many environmental threats would be unknown without scientific research or discovered too late for the development of appropriate policies.

Environmental policy rests on a foundation of scientific research. However, the process of scientific research is not always geared to the needs of policymaking. Science seeks to prove or disprove hypotheses as a strategy for reaching enduring answers. Policy is limited in time and location: decisions must be made at a given time for a specific jurisdiction. Policymakers seek the best possible answers to issues because there is a constituency that requires an answer. Effective environmental policy requires facts derived from science as well as principles and goals derived from policy analysis. However, simply providing more scientific information does not create better policy. Scientists and policymakers often speak two different languages. An effective science-policy interface is often needed to negotiate and mediate between science and policy so that the evidence scientists provide is understandable to policymakers and other stakeholders.

Events and Articles

Filter by:

Showing 21 - 30 of 132 results

23rd Meeting of the CBD Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice (SBSTTA 23) and 11th Meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions (WG8J 11)

Delegates focused on the role of indigenous peoples and local communities and addressed links between nature and culture for the development of the post-2020 framework. Delegates also addressed the scientific and technical base of the post-2020 framework.
Event 20 November 2019 - 29 November 2019

51st Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-51)

The Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) has some alarming messages in its assessment of the latest scientific knowledge about the physical science basis for, and impacts of, climate change on ocean, coastal, polar, and mountain ecosystems, and the human communities that depend on them. It also evaluates their vulnerabilities and adaptation capacity, as well as options for achieving climate-resilient development pathways.
Event 20 September 2019 - 23 September 2019

50th Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-50)

The 50th session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change adopted the Summary for Policymakers of the Special Report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL) and accepted the underlying report. The SRCCL represents the first ever comprehensive look at the whole land-climate system, addressing land as a critical resource, desertification and land degradation, food security, and land and climate change responses. This is the first IPCC report in which most of the authors are from developing countries, with women accounting for 40% of Coordinating Lead Authors.
Event 2 August 2019 - 7 August 2019

Bonn Climate Change Conference - June 2019

The meeting advanced work on several issues to facilitate implementation of the Paris Agreement, due for completion at the Santiago Climate Change Conference in December 2019, including Article 6, Terms of Reference for the review of the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage, reporting tables and other issues related to the transparency framework under the Paris Agreement, and the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture.
Event 17 June 2019 - 27 June 2019

49th Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-49)

Key to determining the success (or failure) of efforts to combat global warming is a common methodology to assess greenhouse (GHG) emissions and removals, which was the main task of the IPCC in Kyoto: to adopt the 2019 Refinement to the 2006 Guidelines on National GHG Inventories prepared by scientists according to IPCC Principles and Procedures.
Event 8 May 2019 - 12 May 2019

7th Session of the IPBES Plenary and Stakeholder Day

Delegates approved of the summary for policy makers (SPM) and accepted the chapters of the Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, the first intergovernmental global assessment of this kind that shares detailed findings on the relationship between nature and human wellbeing, the drivers of biodiversity decline, the consequences of this decline, and actions that can be taken to conserve nature while achieving other societal goals.
Event 28 April 2019 - 29 April 2019

48th Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-48)

On Saturday, 6 October, the Panel adopted the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) of the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (SR15) and approved the Technical Summary and the underlying assessment report. Throughout the week and through the last night, the first Joint Session of Working Groups (WGs) I, II and III discussed the SPM line-by-line in order to reach agreement.
Event 1 October 2018 - 6 October 2018

Bangkok Climate Change Conference - September 2018

UNFCCC parties had agreed to an additional meeting in the lead up to the Katowice Climate Change Conference COP 24 to ensure the "timely completion" of the Paris Agreement Work Programme.
Event 4 September 2018 - 9 September 2018