Introduction:
The Planet Under Pressure 2012 Conference will provide a comprehensive update of the pressure planet Earth is now under. The conference will discuss solutions at all scales to move societies on to a sustainable pathway. It will provide scientific leadership towards the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development – Rio+20.
Building on a comprehensive update of knowledge of the Earth system and the pressure it is under, the Planet Under Pressure conference will present and debate new insights into potential opportunities and constraints for innovative development pathways based on novel partnerships.
Through workshops and seminars, the conference aims to focus the scientific community’s and the wider world’s attention on climate, ecological degradation, human well-being, planetary thresholds, food security, energy, governance and other pressing issues. The conference will act as a platform to strengthen and enlarge the global-change research community and will mark a move to a new vision for global-change research.
Key Objectives:
- A state of the planet assessment and solutions for a sustainable future
- 2500 participants combining global-change science and policy, business and development communities
- Scientific leadership towards the 2012 UN Rio+20 Conference
- Building trans-disciplinary research communities
- Identifying opportunities for enhanced partnerships between global change science and policy, industry and the public
- A new vision for international research
Conference Outline:
The four-day conference will follow this flow:
- Day 1: State of the Planet – the latest knowledge about the pressures on the planet
- Day 2: Options and Opportunities – exchanging knowledge about ways of reducing the pressures on the planet, promoting transformative changes for a sustainable future and adapting to changes in the global system
- Day 3: Challenges to Progress – clarifying what is preventing or slowing humanity from implementing potential solutions
- Day 4: Ways Ahead – a vision for 2050 and beyond, and exploring new partnerships and pathways towards global sustainability
Each day will include relevant aspects of the Conference Themes (detailed below).
Conference Themes:
Three broad themes will guide the conference:
- Meeting Global Needs: food, energy, water and other ecosystem services
- Transforming Our Way of Living: development pathways under global environmental change
- Governing Across Scales: innovative stewardship of the Earth system
Who Should Attend?
This conference will draw together a wide range of stakeholders from international global change communities, policy, development, finance, business and the wider non-government sector.
- Researchers, students and faculties from physical, natural, health and social sciences, the humanities and engineering and technology
- Delegates from the development agencies and developing world
- CEOs, decision makers and professionals from the private sector
- Policy makers from governments, NGOs and environmental agencies
- Journalists, reporters and other media
- Conservationists
Plenary Speakers & Panelists:
- Bina Agarwal, Delhi University, India
- John Beddington, UK Chief Scientific Advisor
- Jeremy Bentham, Shell International, BV
- Frank Biermann, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Richard Black, BBC
- Yvo de Boer, KPMG, The Netherlands
- Lidia Brito, UNESCO, France
- Nigel Cameron, Center for Policy on Emerging Technologies, USA
- Angela Cropper, United Nations Environment Programme
- Shobhakar Dhakal, Global Carbon Project, Japan
- Sandra Diaz, Córdoba National University, Argentina
- Luisa Diogo, Former Prime Minister, Mozambique
- Henri Djombo, Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Forestry, Republic of Congo
- Felix Dodds, Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future
- Rowan Douglas, Willis Re UK
- Warren Evans, World Bank
- Margit Fisher, First Lady of Austria
- Gustavo Fonseca, Global Environmental Facility, USA
- Anthony Giddens, London School of Economics, UK
- Yannick Glemarec, Executive Coordinator for the Global Environment Facility and Director of Environment Finance at UNDP
- Maria Ivanova, Global Environmental Governance Project, USA
- Jill Jaeger, Sustainable Europe Research Institute, Austria
- Barbara Krumsiek, CEO Calvert Group, USA
