Planet under Pressure

Based on the latest scientific evidence, the Planet Under Pressure conference will provide a comprehensive update of our knowledge of the Earth system and the pressure our planet is now under. The London conference will focus the scientific community’s and the wider world’s attention on climate, ecological degradation, human well-being, planetary thresholds, food security, energy, governance across scales and poverty alleviation.

UKCDS and our partners, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Natural Environment Research Council, the British Council, Comic Relief, CAFOD and Sainsbury’s will be running three sessions at the conference with the theme: 'Visioning a Truly Sustainable World'.

Chaired by Quentin Cooper, the sessions will highlight the importance of combining scientific endeavour with the capacity  and capability of the socio-cultural sphere. They will challenge dominant views of development, drawing upon contributions from leading figures in science, politics, culture and the media, and enabling stakeholders to begin to envision a truly sustainable world.

The conference will see the launch of the BRAVE collaboration - Big Radical Approaches towards a Vision for the Earth - you can read more about it on the BRAVE website or follow BRAVE on Twitter.

Background

The conference will discuss solutions, at all scales, to move societies on to a sustainable pathway. It will provide scientific leadership towards the Rio +20 conference, in June 2012.

Guiding the direction for the conference is the International Council for Science’s five grand challenges for global sustainability research:

• observations
• forecasting
• thresholds
• governance and economic requirements
• innovation (technological, political and societal).

The conference will also support international assessment processes, for example the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

A new vision for trans-disciplinary research and broader partnerships

The London conference will act as a platform to strengthen and enlarge the global-change research community and mark a move to a new vision for global-change research. The vision is for a conference that connects leading social and natural scientists with business, investors and the development agenda to create a new understanding and environment for tackling global sustainability challenges.

Solutions that cross scales

Working across scales will be a strong theme for the conference. The scientific community will stress that there must be many governance and technological solutions at all levels, from local and national, to regional and global. It will stress that while there are many threats, global change also provides many opportunities.

The event will include strong policy interaction and a dedicated policy day. Through workshops and seminars, delegates will be encouraged to discuss options and solutions to climate change, energy, food security, water, poverty and other pressing issues.