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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

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Showing 31 - 40 of 132 results

Bonn Climate Change Conference - April 2018

Subsidiary bodies adopted a decision on the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture and recommended a decision to the COP on the review of the effective implementation of the Climate Technology Centre and Network. As a unique feature, the Talanoa Dialogue asked parties and stakeholders to share stories around the questions “Where are we?” “Where do we want to go?” and “How do we get there?”
Event 30 April 2018 - 10 May 2018

6th Session of the IPBES Plenary and Stakeholder Day

Delegates celebrated the meeting as a major milestone in the history of IPBES, noting the approval of four regional assessments on biodiversity and ecosystem services—plus a thematic assessment on land degradation and restoration—will enhance the Platform’s impact and assist policy makers around the word in developing actions to protect biodiversity and conserve or enhance nature’s contributions to people.
Event 17 March 2018 - 18 March 2018

46th Session of the IPCC (IPCC-46)

As Hurricane Irma pounded the Caribbean, and weather and other natural disasters filled the news, delegates gathered in Montreal to approve the draft outlines of the three Working Group reports, which, together with the SYR, make up the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report
Event 6 September 2017 - 10 September 2017

Bonn Climate Change Conference - May 2017

The “elephant in the room” of continued US participation in the Paris Agreement soon became a non-issue as the Trump administration delayed its decision, allowing negotiators to settle back into a “business as usual” mode of work and incrementally advance efforts to operationalize the Paris Agreement through technical discussions under the three subsidiary bodies.
Event 8 May 2017 - 18 May 2017

45th Session of the IPCC (IPCC-45)

IPCC-45 focused on the outlines for the special reports on: climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security and GHG fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems (SRCCL); and oceans and the cryosphere in a changing climate (SROCC).
Event 28 March 2017 - 31 March 2017

5th Session of the IPBES Plenary and Stakeholder Day

Due to insufficient pledges to the IPBES Voluntary Trust Fund, delegates ultimately had to adopt a budget that does not allow for the initiation of any pending assessments to reduce the risk of incurring a budget shortfall in 2018, allowing for the Secretariat to proceed in “survival mode.” While some delegates expressed their frustration about the delay in initiating these assessments, others suggested the workload of ongoing assessments was already exceeding acceptable limits, saying the first IPBES work programme was overly ambitious.
Event 6 March 2017 - 10 March 2017

44th Session of the IPCC (IPCC-44)

By the end of the meeting, the outlines for two important IPCC reports—one on limiting global warming to 1.5ºC and the other on a refinement to the 2006 National GHG Inventory Guidelines—were approved.
Event 17 October 2016 - 20 October 2016

Bonn Climate Change Conference - May 2016

Taking place in the shadow of the historic COP 21, the Bonn gathering was a low-profile meeting with an ambitious agenda aimed at rapidly taking up the technical work needed to operationalize the Paris Agreement.
Event 16 May 2016 - 26 May 2016