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Event Highlights

Watch Professor Eric Wolff FRS comment on the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report

A conference to reflect on the implications of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report for the UK and urgent policy and research needs

Overview

Watch the Royal Society conference on the implications of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report for the UK and urgent policy and research needs.

Day 1: www.youtube.com/2l9QPWWk_zQ

Day 2: www.youtube.com/JVxWlVp5TzY

Read the post conference reflections from the organisers on where next for UK climate policy and research

Read the Royal Society's summary of the Sixth Assessment report and the implications for the UK. 

Download the conference programme (PDF)

The Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) delivers the starkest warning yet on the risks of climate change. The Royal Society brought together leading scientists, policy professionals and representatives from the energy and land use sectors to discuss the findings and implications of the IPCC AR6 reports. 

What is the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report?

The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report provides the most comprehensive analyses of the latest climate science, impacts and vulnerabilities related to climate change. It highlights that immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are needed, alongside urgent actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. IPCC reports underpin major international climate agreements, including the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.

The three Working Groups of the IPCC presented the latest knowledge on:

  • The physical science of climate change 
  • Climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability 
  • Mitigation of climate change: methods of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere

Working Group I reported on the most up-to-date physical science knowledge on climate change in August 2021. It highlighted that climate change is widespread, rapid and intensifying. Working Group II published its report on impacts, adaptation and vulnerabilities at the end of February 2022 and Working Group III published a report on climate change mitigation at the beginning of April 2022. 

Structure of the Conference

We heard from IPCC lead authors, working group chairs, policy professionals and representatives from the land-use and energy sectors as they reflected on the findings of the reports and explored the implications for policy and evidence-based action.

Day 1 considered the key findings of AR6, outcomes of COP26 and the implications for policy, land-use and the energy sector, and future IPCC activity. Day 2 aimed to identify the scientific research and collaborations needed to progress our knowledge of climate change and contribute to global climate policy and responses.

The conference took place at the Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AG, and online. 

For enquiries contact the Resilient Futures team

Schedule

09:00-09:05
Welcome address

Speakers

Professor Peter Bruce FRS

Wolfson Chair in Materials, University of Oxford, and Physical Secretary and Vice-President, The Royal Society

09:05-09:20
COP26 President Video Address

Speakers

The Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP

COP26 President

09:20-09:30
Overview of the conference

Speakers

Professor Eric Wolff FRS

University of Cambridge


Chair

Professor Joanna Haigh CBE FRS

Imperial College London


Speakers

Dr Valérie Masson-Delmotte

Co-Chair of Working Group I of the IPCC, and Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement

Professor Jim Skea CBE OBE

Imperial College London and Co-chair IPCC Working Group III, UK

Professor Hans-Otto Pörtner

Head of Integrative Ecophysiology, Alfred-Wegener-Institute


Chair

Professor Sir Brian Hoskins FRS

Imperial College London


Speakers

Professor Corinne Le Quéré

University of East Anglia

Dr Sarah Honour

Head of Climate Science, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS)

Oluwadabira Abiola-Awe

Ventures and Solutions Movement Associate, Student Energy

Archie Young

UK Lead Climate Negotiator, Cabinet Office


Chair

Professor Corinne Le Quéré

University of East Anglia


Speakers

Professor Andrew Jordan

University of East Anglia

Professor Paul Monks BSc, DPhil, FRMetS, FRSC

Chief Scientific Adviser, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The Baroness Brown of Cambridge DBE FREng FRS

Committee on Climate Change, UK

Professor Gideon Henderson FRS

Chief Scientific Adviser, Defra, and University of Oxford, UK


Speakers

Dr Debra Roberts

Co-chair of IPCC Working Group II and head of the Sustainable and Resilient City Initiatives Unit in eThekwini Municipality, South Africa


Chair

The Baroness Brown of Cambridge DBE FREng FRS

Committee on Climate Change, UK


Chair

15:45-16:30
Panel discussion: energy

Speakers

Emma Pinchbeck

Chief Executive, Energy UK

Benj Sykes

Vice President, UK Offshore. Head of Market Development, Consenting & External Affairs, Ørsted

Toby Park

Head of Energy and Sustainability, The Behavioural Insights Team

16:30-15:15
Panel discussion: Agriculture, forestry and land-use sectors

Speakers

Dr Stephen Cornelius

Chief Adviser – Climate Change, WWF-UK

Minette Batters

President, NFU

Dr Helen McKay OBE

Chief Forester for Scotland, Scottish Forestry


Speakers

Professor Lord Nicholas Stern CH Kt FBA FRS

Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment


Chair

Professor Keith Shine FRS

University of Reading, UK


Speakers

Dr Valérie Masson-Delmotte

Co-Chair of Working Group I of the IPCC, and Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement

Professor Jim Skea CBE OBE

Imperial College London and Co-chair IPCC Working Group III, UK

Professor Hans-Otto Pörtner

Head of Integrative Ecophysiology, Alfred-Wegener-Institute


Chair

Professor Richard Betts MBE

Head of Climate Impacts Research, Met Office Hadley Centre, and Chair in Climate Impacts, University of Exeter


Speakers

Dr Friederike Otto

Imperial College London

Professor Rachel Warren

University of East Anglia


Speakers

Dr Joeri Rogelj

Imperial College London

Professor Pierre Friedlingstein

University of Exeter


Speakers

Dr Joanna House

University of Bristol

Professor Lindsay Stringer

University of York


Speakers

Professor Richard Allan

University of Reading

Professor Andy Challinor

University of Leeds


Chair

Lightning talks

Speakers

Dr Thomas Bauska

British Antarctic Survey

Dr Celia Martin-Puertas

Royal Holloway, University of London

Dr Christopher O'Reilly

The University of Reading

Dr Corwin Wright

University of Bath

Dr Martin Wearing

The University of Edinburgh

Dr Mélanie Roffet-Salque

The University of Bristol

Dr Philip Mannion

University College London

Dr Edward Gryspeerdt

Imperial College London

Dr Carly Reddington

The University of Leeds

Rupert Stuart-Smith

The University of Oxford

Dr Simon Dikau

The London School of Economics


Speakers

Dr Anne Larigauderie

Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services


Chair

Professor Ted Shepherd FRS

University of Reading


Speakers

Professor Camille Parmesan

University of Plymouth

Professor Piers Forster

University of Leeds

Professor Gabriele Hegerl FRS

University of Edinburgh, UK

Professor Pete Smith FRS FRSB FRSE

University of Aberdeen


Speakers

Professor Eric Wolff FRS

University of Cambridge