THE IPCC IN A CHANGING CLIMATE

As part of Sustainability week, the Centre for Changing Climates hosted a popular afternoon of research talks and discussion on The IPCC in a Changing Climate, featuring IPCC Chair, Professor Sir Jim Skea, alongside leading thinkers on climate at St Andrews across multiple disciplines.

Both the centre for Changing Climates and the IPCC work to bring together different research disciplines to address our changing climate, with the “Science, Society, Solutions” tagline of the GRC echoing the three key Working Groups of the IPCC. The event highlighted topical St Andrews research in each of these areas, with speakers including Mike Byrne, Andrea Brock, and Derek Ball. Talks were followed by a panel discussion with Prof Skea and the speakers on the role of the IPCC at a time of changing physical and social climates.

Attendees were treated to a masterclass from Prof Skea on how to answer tricky questions on climate - given that his role typically involves fielding questions from around 200 professional negotiators speaking on behalf of countries with a very diverse array of interests and positions. Prof Skea highlighted the particular political conditions the current report was being conducted within and the ways in which disagreements were dealt with - sometimes spottable within the report in the form of a long and complex section title, when contributors couldn’t agree on a shorter one! He also highlighted the need to bring all disciplines together to address our changing climate, and the ability of St Andrews over time to punch above it’s weight, by finding key areas of climate research in which to excel, very closely aligning with the aims of the Global Research Centre for Changing Climates.