Tuesday Nov. 10 | COP31: Connecting Antarctica, Pacific Island States, and Coastal Nations

10:00 The Future is Already Here: Early Career Voices on a Changing Cryosphere
Four early-career researchers from across the cryosphere discuss what their generation of researchers wants decision-makers to know. Bringing together perspectives from ice-shelf hydrology in Antarctica to indigenous communities in the Arctic, the panel explores whether diverse research experiences lead to a shared perspective on what needs to happen now or reveal differing priorities for responding to a rapidly changing cryosphere.
Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS); Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge; Western University, Canada; Corvinus University of Budapest; University of Lisbon.

11:30 Impacts of Climate Overshoot and the Case for Ambitious Action
New research shows converging evidence on the socioeconomic cost of climate overshoot across regions and sectors. Average-based risk metrics systematically understate compound and extreme impacts, masking how fast the window for action is narrowing. This session explores recent advances in socioeconomic risk assessment, including storyline and stress-test scenarios, risk assessment and adaptation tailored to Alpine and coastal regions, and new insights on inequalities and vulnerabilities posed by climate overshoot.
IIASA, SPARCCLE, Assessing Climate Change risk in Europe (ACCREU), CrossEU, CMCCC, Meteo Romania

13:00 Media Event: Launch of the State of the Cryosphere Report 2026
Latest research detailed in the 2026 State of the Cryosphere Report notes thresholds likely at just 1°C of warming for the stability of the polar ice sheets, and even lower temperatures for many glaciers. The Report also notes however that the most proactive climate pathways, also released today, can bring down temperatures below 1.5°C by 2100 and below 1°C next century – but only if reductions begin immediately.
ICCI

14:30 Media Event: Launch of the UNEP Spotlight Report on Cryosphere and Overshoot
Co-authors will share key messages on the physical risks of overshoot, scientific gaps, and policy implications of the cryosphere’s response to peak global temperature and duration of overshoot. Designed for journalists as well as negotiators, scientists, and adaptation policy experts, the event will highlight the scientific basis of the 1.5C goal from a cryosphere standpoint, and how overshoot can be minimized with urgent phase-out of fossil fuel use.
ICCI

16:00 Why Changes in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean Matter for the Pacific and Global Climate Futures
Abrupt and potentially irreversible changes are already occurring in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, with far-reaching global consequences. Even brief overshoot of the 1.5°C warming threshold increases the risk of crossing critical tipping points, including irreversible Antarctic Ice Sheet loss and multi-meter sea-level rise that could threaten Pacific Island nations and major megacities including Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and Shanghai. Continued loss of ice may amplify warming through climate feedback, while heatwaves, ocean change and ice melt intensify biodiversity loss in Antarctica and beyond. These changes can also affect Pacific ecosystems and communities through disruptions to global ocean circulation, weather patterns, and the supply of nutrients that support marine productivity.
Australian Antarctic Division

18:00 AMOC in Focus: Towards a Scientific Consensus to Inform Climate Policy Under Uncertainty
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a fundamental component of the Earth’s climate system, influencing regional and global climate, sea-level, marine ecosystems and the carbon cycle. Recent scientific developments have intensified debate about the current state of the AMOC, the likelihood of future weakening, and the potential consequences for societies and ecosystems. At the same time, uncertainties remain substantial, underscoring the need for an independent, comprehensive and policy-relevant scientific assessment. This session will present the ongoing AMOC in Focus initiative, a joint effort of JPI Climate and JPI Oceans and Canada involving more than 50 leading international experts. Designed to complement and inform the IPCC AR7 process, the assessment is systematically evaluating the latest scientific evidence on AMOC dynamics, associated risks, confidence levels and knowledge gaps through a rigorous, transparent review process. It will highlight critical scientific questions and present why this matters for policies in climate mitigation, adaptation, and risk management.
JPI Climate, Government of Ireland, Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), CMCC

Wednesday Nov. 11 | Adaptation Financing for Mountain and Coastal Regions

10:00 Climate Financing in Mountain Regions: Role of MDBs in Glaciers-related Financing
Adaptation financing cryosphere context – focused on water, agriculture and infrastructure. How to finance climate adaptation solutions, the glacier financing white paper, overshoot and practical solutions on adaptation finance.
Asian Development Bank, BNP Paribas, ESA, KfW, ICCI

11:30 Bridging Climate Finance Gaps to Address Water-Related Challenges in Bangladesh’s Coastal and Hilly Areas
Bangladesh’s coastal and hilly regions are highly vulnerable to a range of climate-related hazards, including cyclones, sea-level rise, salinity intrusion, floods, and landslides. While the coastal region receives climate finance for various adaptation interventions to address climate-induced water-related challenges, hilly areas often face significant gaps in accessing adequate funding for implementing necessary adaptation measures. This session will explore the financing gaps in addressing water-related challenges across climate-vulnerable regions and provide recommendations for ensuring inclusive, equitable, and context-specific adaptation responses.
Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research (C3ER), BRAC University; Ministry of Finance, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh; University of Dundee; KaathPencil; Climate Action Network South Asia (CANSA); British High Commission.

13:00 Launch Event: Living Sagarmatha: Nepal Mountain Resilience Strategy
Release of the ‘Living Sagarmatha: Nepal Mountain Resilience Strategy’ document.
Government of Nepal, UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Nepal, Mountain Partnership, Karnali Integrated Development and Research Centre (KIRDARC)

14:30 Innovative and Private Sector Finance for Adaptation and DRR in Mountain and Coastal Regions
A new funding model for investing in adaptation and DRR, launched at COP31, offers a fresh take on unlocking private sector capital and driving resources to communities for locally led adaptation, using a standard and proven delivery mechanism. LoCAL+ is the next generation tool for financing adaptation in LDCs, SIDS and fragile countries, developed and honed over decades by UN Capital Development Fund. Public and private sectors come together with
country partners in this forward-looking event.
UNCDF, Ministry of Finance, Government of Nepal; and ministerial representation from the Solomon Islands (TBD).

16:00 Polar Signals, Global Action: Knowledge Security for Evidence-Based Climate Planning
Climate decisions are made before the future is certain. Polar science shows what is changing, what is approaching thresholds, and where the costs of delay are rising. This session puts reliable polar intelligence at the center of climate decisions; from adaptation planning and Loss and Damage finance to coastal investment. As political choices shape climate action, the evidence must lead: decisions should follow the science, not opinion or speculation to protect communities worldwide.
European Polar Board, Bulgarian Antarctic Institute, TÜBİTAK KARE, European Polar Coordination Office

18:00 Connected Risks, Resilient Futures: Infrastructure Resilience in Mountain Regions
Climate change is intensifying natural hazards in mountain regions, where cascading failures across interconnected infrastructure can disrupt essential services, livelihoods, economies, and communities far beyond the point of impact. This side event will highlight the human and economic costs of such disruptions and the resilience dividend of investing in resilient infrastructure, including ecosystem-based solutions, Indigenous knowledge, and community-led approaches.
Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), Governments of Nepal/Bhutan/Italy, ICIMOD, MDBs- ADB/WB, Geohazards International, Mountain Partnership Secretariat

19:30 Indigenous Youth Meet Academia: Mountain Knowledge for Climate Action
A conversation between indigenous youth and academic researchers on how indigenous ecological knowledge from mountain communities can be recorded, respected and used in climate research and education. It opens with a screening of The Last Village, a youth-produced film on the life of indigenous communities in Swat, Pakistan, which premiered at COP30 and IUCN. The event brings young and indigenous voices together with academia. It also links local mountain knowledge with the science of mountain environments.
EarthWarriorz, Abudhabi University, COMSAT

Thursday Nov. 12 | Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice

10:00 Shipping on Thin Ice: Cutting Fuel Use to Slow Arctic Warming
Arctic warming makes every ton of avoidable fossil-fuel combustion matter. This session asks how wind propulsion, efficiency, slower speeds, electrification and systemic change can cut shipping’s CO₂ and near-term climate pollutants now, while zero-emission fuels scale. Participants will explore what shipping can deploy this decade to reduce pressure on the Arctic and help keep 1.5°C within reach.
Seas At Risk, University of Melbourne, Clean Arctic Alliance, representative of an IMO Pacific Delegation

11:30 From Sea Ice to Sea-Level Rise: Antarctica’s Cascading Chain of Change
Record-low Antarctic sea ice now exposes ice shelves to extremes like marine heatwaves, atmospheric rivers, and swell reaching once-sheltered coasts. SCAR INSTANT/AntClimNow will trace the chain from sea ice loss and extreme events, e.g., the Feb 2022 heatwave/atmospheric-river event that drove the Conga ice-shelf collapse, to the long-term sea level commitment already locked in for coastal cities worldwide if more sectors of Antarctica were to collapse in the near future.
SCAR INSTANT, National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics, AntClimNow, New York University, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology

13:00 What Legacy Will IPY5 Leave for Climate Action?
The 5th International Polar Year (IPY5) offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to connect polar research with education, participation and climate action. SCAR and PEI will convene an interactive, intergenerational dialogue on how early-career researchers, educators and youth can help shape IPY5 and the UN Cryosphere Decade to strengthen understanding of cryosphere change and its global consequences, and build a lasting legacy for global climate action. This session also explores how cryospheric science, pedagogy, and diverse knowledge systems can equip learners to understand the importance of avoiding ice loss and translate knowledge into climate action, and reflects on the Polar Resource Book (PRB), a legacy of IPY4.
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), Polar Educators International (PEI), Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Istanbul Technical University & SCAR Action Group on Equality, with representatives from IPY-5, ECS polar researchers, Youth, and Indigenous/local knowledge or place-based education representatives.

14:30 Declining Antarctic Sea Ice Decline and its Impacts – Physical and Ecological
Antarctic sea ice has declined markedly since 2016, with wide-ranging consequences, and has likely entered a ‘new state’. This event will summarize the latest science on the recent decline in Antarctic sea ice, its present and predicted impacts on emperor penguins, an Endangered species that relies on stable fast ice, and the broader physical and climatic consequences of Antarctic sea-ice decline. It will also consider the significance and policy implications of these changes, including how achieving emissions targets could limit future impacts.
Durham University, ICCI

16:00 From Land to Table: Indigenous Foods in a Changing Arctic
Rapid Arctic sea-ice loss is transforming Indigenous food systems, affecting harvesting, mobility, food access, cultural practices, and well-being. This event explores how climate change intersects with colonial and socioeconomic conditions to shape Arctic Indigenous food sovereignty. It highlights Indigenous knowledge and Indigenous-led approaches to protecting food systems, health, and self-determination in a rapidly changing Arctic.
Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS); Leeds University; Western University, Canada; independent consultant in rural and indigenous economic development from Northern Canada; Virginia Polytechnic and State University; Inuit Elder (Virtual)-Hamlet Office of Pangnirtung, Nunavut.

18:00 Arctic Shipping, Black Carbon, and Polar Fuels
Super-pollutant (and short-lived climate forcer) black carbon is increasingly recognized as a top priority in terms of addressing the climate crisis. Along with methane and ozone, it is recognized to be responsible for nearly half of global warming to date, but because it is short-lived immediate action to reduce emissions will have rapid results. Despite efforts to reduce emissions across the Arctic, a recent report prepared for the CAA analyzing shipping data shows that between 2019 and 2024 black carbon emissions from ships have increased substantially in all of the Arctic regions considered. The need for action to address ship sourced black carbon was first recognized 15 years ago, and since COP30 there is now a proposal on the table for consideration which would require all shipping in the Arctic to move away from heavy maritime oil fuels to lighter distillate fuels and new low-carbon fuels. This session will look at the threat posed by black carbon, the latest information on emissions from Arctic shipping and how action to reduce emissions could kick-start efforts by the international shipping sector to protect Arctic snow and ice.
Clean Arctic Alliance, AMAP, ICCI, IMO, Equal Routes, Opportunity Green, SAR

19:30 Evening Meditation
Shared Seas, Shared Humanity
A guided meditation connecting Antarctic ice with the lives and futures of coastal and island communities. Cultivate a sense of shared humanity across distance, cultures and changing seas.
Brahma Kumaris

Friday Nov. 13 | Permafrost Thaw: More Carbon Emissions for Centuries with Overshoot

10:00 Advancing the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences: Overarching Challenges and implementation Mechanism
This side event will present the vision, scientific priorities and early progress of the UN Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences (2025-2034) and connect science with COP31 climate action. It will bring together Arctic, Antarctic and high-mountain partners under a shared global cryosphere framework, identify priority opportunities for joint research, observations and data, capacity development and science-policy exchange, and mobilize partnerships and support for Decade implementation.
UNESCO, ICIMOD, WMO, ICCI, the Emirates Polar Program and the Nippon Foundation as well as relevant members of the Decade Strategic Management Committee.

11:30 Permafrost and the Climate System
More information available soon.
AWI, Woodwell, Bolin Centre, ESA

13:00 Permafrost Hazards Locally and Globally
More information available soon.
AWI, Woodwell, Bolin Centre, ESA

14:30 A Conversation with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) about Shipping and System Change
The global shipping industry has the potential to both contribute to, and positively tackle the biggest challenges that we face today – climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and inequality. There are opportunities to reimagine maritime governance systems and improve practices in ways that enable a just and equitable transition and multi-solve to reduce emissions, protect wildlife and avoid pollution – such as targeted regulations, focused marine protection, and improved efficiency.
Equal Routes, IMO, Atina Schutz, Representatives from Aleut International Association (AIA) and/or Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), Makivvik

16:00 After Nepal: Indigenous Knowledge and South-South Science for HKH Glacier Risk
Glacial lake floods are accelerating across the Hindu Kush Himalaya, most recently in Nepal. Early warning systems too often exclude the mountain communities who read these rivers best. This session brings HKH glaciologists, Indigenous knowledge holders from Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral, and South-South partners from the Andes and Central Asia to share what works: community-based monitoring, elder knowledge, and lessons for locally-owned early warning that outlasts donor cycles.
Climate Forward Pakistan, Indigenous climate activist from Nepal, ICIMOD

18:00 Direct Human Consequences of Permafrost Thaw: Environmental Contamination, Health, Livelihoods and Adaptation
More information available soon. Also present on key findings from the Cryosphere Beyond a Planetary Safe Operating Space research paper, with topics spanning permafrost to ice sheets.
AWI, Woodwell, Bolin Centre, ESA

19:30 Young People and Our Dying Glaciers
This will be a discussion led event with a slideshow running in the background of
melting glaciers in Iceland and elsewhere. The focus will be the feelings and
emotions of young people as we see rapid melting of our glaciers. The event will be run by youth NGOs, and speakers will be youth and young academics/students within the field alongside youth living in rapidly changing regions. The event will be open discussions, science communication, and a general plea for action to preserve what we can of glaciers for the future. Speakers will be from a variety of Nordic youth NGOs.
Nordic Youth Climate Alliance (NYCA) and the Icelandic Young Environmentalists (Ungir Umhverfissinnar, UU)

Saturday Nov. 14 | Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets: Irreversible Impacts of Sea-level Rise

10:00-11:10 Financing Solutions: Sea-level Rise and Coastal Resilience
Financing perspectives on sea-level rise, coastal resilience, and climate finance solutions.
BNP Paribas, ORRAA, Singapore, Italy, France, Clean Air Fund, European Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, AXA

11:20-12:20 GLOBE Parliamentary Dialogue on Oceans, Cryosphere, Coastal and Marine Resilience
Members will engage with parliamentarians from around the world to discuss shared opportunities and challenges to advance ocean, coastal, and marine climate solutions. The dialogue will compare legislative approaches to ocean resilience, biodiversity protection, marine science, and sustainable ocean management while identifying areas for continued international parliamentary cooperation and stronger science-based policymaking.
SEEC/ICCI

13:00-13:50 Institute for Global Decarbonization Progress
More information coming soon.
Institute for Global Decarbonization Progress (iGDP)

14:00-15:00 Congressional Dialogue on Western Drought and Snowpack Loss
The 2026 Western snow drought across much of the US West was made 4.4 times more severe due to climate change. January set a record for the lowest snow cover in 26 years of satellite monitoring. These losses are mirrored in other snow-dependent communities across the world; but only a foretaste of what will come with any but limited overshoot of Paris Agreement goals. As current political action has thus far failed to curb emissions, this session will look at the risks from and implications of growing snow drought under a period of overshoot. As snow patterns change, large swathes of the western U.S. and other regions globally will suffer from increasing pressure on water supplies, and some may become inhabitable. Members will share how the deepening drought is shaping conversations in their districts about climate mobility, how it may form future policy discussions both locally and nationally, and how changes in the Western states and globally underscore the need for urgent emissions cuts.
SEEC/ICCI

15:10-16:20 The Wilkes Subglacial Basin: One of Antarctica’s Least Understood Regions but a Potential Source for Multi-meter Sea-level Rise
The Wilkes Subglacial Basin, in East Antarctica, holds enough ice to raise global mean sea level by 3-4 meters — comparable to the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet — yet it is one of the least understood regions of Antarctica. The limited evidence we have points to the possibility that some changes are already occurring and that major, irreversible changes in this basin could occur under climate conditions that are projected to occur soon and potentially by the end of this century. This side event will summarize the latest observations and projections for this region, emphasizing that limiting warming to +1.5 °C, with only limited overshoot, might be
sufficient to avoid a multi-meter sea level commitment from this basin.
Durham University

16:30-17:30 Sea-Level Rise and the Right to Remain: Legal Innovation for Pacific and Coastal Communities
Antarctic ice loss has locked in sea-level rise that will reshape where and how coastal communities live. Whether this becomes a justice outcome depends on the legal response: who holds a right to remain, how statehood and self-determination persist as baselines shift, and who can access protection. This dialogue will examine how sea-level rise and climate-driven displacement are creating new legal and policy challenges for Pacific Island and coastal communities. Members will engage legal, mobility, and regional experts on the right of communities to remain in place, adaptation and relocation policy, and the role of U.S. leadership in supporting durable, locally driven responses to accelerating coastal risk.
SEEC/ICCI, Beyond Climate Collaborative (BCC), Just Atonement Inc., Earth Refuge

18:00 Beyond False Solutions: Reducing Shipping’s Outsized Impact on the Arctic
Growing Arctic shipping sits at the intersection of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, with outsized impacts on ice melt, Arctic ecosystems, Indigenous and coastal communities. Equal Routes and partners across Arctic nations will examine evidence on GHGs and pollutants including black carbon and methane, challenging false solutions of scrubbers, LNG, and the Northwest Passage/Northern Sea Route, and highlight practical measures to
reduce shipping’s near-term impacts.
Equal Routes, Clean Arctic Alliance, Ocean Conservancy, Clean Air Fund, Aleut International Association (AIA), Makivvik Corporation.

Tuesday Nov. 17 | Polar Oceans: Acidifying Waters, Shifting Marine Habitats

10:00 Who Gets the Green Shipping Transition? Building a Fairer Global Shipping System
Shipping decarbonization will reshape flows of investment, energy, infrastructure and jobs. But who will benefit? This interactive session explores how Pacific and climate-vulnerable countries can participate in, rather than simply bear the costs of the transition. Through wind, clean energy, finance and reduced energy demand, participants will consider what a genuinely equitable global shipping transition could look like.
Seas At Risk, University of Melbourne, representative of an IMO Pacific Delegation

11:30 The Changing Cryosphere in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: From Science to Regional Action
The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), often referred to as the Third Pole, contains one of the world’s largest stores of snow and ice outside the polar regions. Its glaciers, seasonal snow, permafrost, and high-altitude ecosystems play a critical role in regulating regional hydrology, sustaining river systems, and supporting the livelihoods, economies, and ecosystems of nearly two billion people downstream. However, the HKH cryosphere is undergoing rapid and profound changes due to rising temperatures and climate change. Glacier retreat, declining snow persistence, permafrost degradation, and changes in the timing and availability of meltwater are reshaping the region’s water systems and increasing the risks of cascading hazards. Keeping 1.5°C alive is a water-security decision for more than 240 million mountain people and 1.9 billion downstream yet mid-latitude glaciers face near-total loss above 2°C. 
ICIMOD, Bhutan, Bangladesh, UNESCO, ICCI

13:00 Key Takeaways from the UNEP/ICCI Overshoot and Cryosphere Report and State of the Cryosphere Report 2026
Latest research detailed in the 2026 State of the Cryosphere Report notes thresholds likely at just 1°C of warming for the stability of the polar ice sheets, and even lower temperatures for many glaciers. The Report also notes however that the most proactive climate pathways, also released today, can bring down temperatures below 1.5°C by 2100 and below 1°C next century – but only if reductions begin immediately.
ICCI

14:30 Safeguarding Polar Regions from Dangerous Geoengineering
An assessment by 42 leading cryosphere scientists of several geoengineering proposals aimed at the polar regions.
ICCI

16:00 Antarctic Ocean Change and the Future of Coastal Communities
Antarctic Bottom Water, the densest ocean current, is freshening and slowing because of sea ice loss with cascading consequences for global ocean circulation and sea-level rise in Pacific Island states and coastal nations. This session brings together early-career and established oceanographers to present current observations and connects the deep-ocean science to the frontline communities already living with its consequences.
Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS); TU Braunschweig; Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI); LMU Munich; University of Gothenburg; University of Auckland; Fijian climate activist.

18:00 Arctic Sea Ice Loss and its Impacts
More information available soon.
Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI)

19:30 Documenting a Changing Cryosphere: From the Arctic to Antarctica
Through more than a decade of photographic expeditions, documentary photographer and explorer Christian Clauwers has documented the rapidly changing cryosphere and its global consequences, from Antarctica and the Arctic to high mountain regions, remote islands and vulnerable coastal communities. His work translates scientific realities into compelling visual narratives, connecting scientific research with policy and public awareness. Since 2014, Clauwers has undertaken repeated expeditions to Svalbard, including documenting the Eidembreen periglacial lagoon research project in 2025 and scientific activities in Ny-Ålesund in 2026. His Antarctic work, ongoing since 2017, spans the Antarctic Peninsula, Weddell Sea, Ross Sea and wider Southern Ocean. Drawing on these firsthand experiences and extensive photographic documentation, his contribution to ICCI offers a visual perspective on the changing polar environments and their significance for our planet.
Documentary Photographer Christian Clauwers

Wednesday Nov. 18 | Mountain Glaciers and Snow: Monitoring Hazards and Building Resilience

10:00 Youth at the Frontlines of Glacier Loss: Finance, Adaptation and Policy Innovation
This session will explore the interconnected priorities of emissions reductions, mountain glaciers, climate finance, adaptation, and youth leadership in the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences. Young negotiators from the Youth Negotiators Academy, representing mountainous and coastal regions, will share insights from COP31 on advancing climate finance and adaptation priorities for these regions. The discussion will examine the importance of integrating cryosphere and glacier-related risks into Loss and Damage provisions and negotiations. It will also highlight the urgent need for Disaster Risk Reduction as Nepal and other glacier-dependent regions face escalating hazards, including glacial lake outburst floods and related disasters.
Youth Negotiators on Climate Finance and Adaptation, YoU-CAN, Climate Young Negotiator Programme, Glacier Expert from Columbia

11:30 From Ice to Impact: Cryosphere Change and the Global Climate System
From Arctic warming to Antarctic ice loss and Türkiye’s mountain cryosphere, changes in snow and ice are reshaping oceans, sea-level, water security and climate risks worldwide. Bringing together AMAP’s 2026 Arctic Climate Update and Türkiye’s polar research, this session will connect cryosphere observations to global impacts and COP31 decision-making, highlighting what can still be avoided through science-based action consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C.
TÜBİTAK Polar Research Institute, Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) Secretariat, Arctic Council Working Group, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS)

13:00 From Peaks to Policy & Public: Including Cryosphere Thresholds Helps Reduce Risk and Build Resilience
Mountain glaciers and snowpack are among the most immediate cryosphere concerns for policymakers, as their critical “water-tower” functions across the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Andes, Alps and other ranges are already under threat. Cryosphere thresholds are being crossed in real time, from the 2025 Birch Glacier collapse in Switzerland, which destroyed 90% of Blatten, to the August 2026 glacial collapse and outburst flood along the Nepal–Tibet border that killed more than 270 people, while record or near-record Arctic sea-ice lows demonstrate that instability extends far beyond mountain regions. This session brings together science communicators and educators to examine how recent events and evidence can strengthen UNFCCC policy action, public understanding, preparedness and next-generation capacity building, helping bridge the growing divide between cryosphere science, policy and action.
UNESCO DAC Working Group 5, AMAP, Arctic Council, Polarhub, Polar Educators International (PEI), Women’s Forum of Ladakh, University of Calgary, ICIMOD

14:30 When the Water Tower Retreats: Building Water Security for Himalayan Communities
Glacier retreat and changing snowfall are widening the gap between water availability and agricultural demand across the Himalayas. This event presents field evidence from 12 Automated Ice Reservoirs across Ladakh, exploring how cryosphere science, local knowledge, automation and community water governance can translate into practical adaptation. Speakers will examine what has worked, what has failed, the economics of scaling, and how such approaches can support mountain communities facing accelerating water insecurity.
Acres of Ice, representatives of Ladakh’s mountain communities and Water Management Committees

16:00 From Polar Fieldwork to Climate Action: Türkiye’s Science and Youth for the Cryosphere
Türkiye combines Arctic and Antarctic field research with international cooperation and youth engagement to strengthen cryosphere science. This session will showcase observations of ice, ocean and climate processes, alongside programmes that bring students and early-career researchers into polar research. It will explore how national science, education and long-term capacity-building can support policy-relevant knowledge and climate action consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C.
TÜBİTAK Polar Research Institute

18:00 A Call to Action: Developing Polar Flagship Programmes for IPY5
Building on the Monaco Polar Symposium 2026, this session will present 17 emerging polar flagship initiatives, shaped through discussions across the polar community, and explore how international collaboration, IPY5 momentum and targeted incubation can help transform them into mature, fundable programmes. It will conclude with the Call to Action and Expression of Interest, inviting individuals and organisations to join emerging coalitions and develop programmes eligible for support through a Polar Programme Development Grant from the Polar Initiative.
Polar Initiative, Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, SCAR, IASC

19:30 Documentary – Overshoot Asymmetries in the Cryosphere: A Journey Beyond the Limits
Ecological overshoot is explored through the changing cryosphere, where retreating glaciers, transforming landscapes and Sámi territories reveal the unequal effects of environmental change. The theme was developed through the field experience of an Arctic-specialized filmmaker and an environmental science journalist, travelling across northern Sweden and Norway. The resulting documentary becomes the starting point for a debate on overshoot, how it is narrated, communicated and perceived.
Documentary Filmmakers/Photographers Isacco Emiliani and Marta Abbà, University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway, Sámi representative

Thursday Nov. 19 | Overshoot and Feasible Pathways to 1.5°C Emissions Reductions

10:00 Policy Brief: South American Indigenous Voices and Forest Management
A Mexican civil society organization working on community forest management, territorial rights and forest governance. We are preparing a policy brief for COP31 focused on the Deforestation Roadmap and on the lessons that more than four decades of experience in Mexico and Central America can contribute to international efforts to halt deforestation. One of the main messages of the brief is that effectively addressing deforestation requires strengthening territorial rights, community institutions and local capacities to govern and conserve forests over the long term. We would like to organize a one-hour event during COP31 to present and discuss the policy brief. The presentation will be led by Indigenous and community leaders from Mexico and Central America, who will share their experiences on territorial governance, community forest management and efforts to halt deforestation.
Mexican Civil Council for Sustainable Forestry (CCMSS)

11:30 Global Tipping Points: The Cryosphere on the Edge
Four of the five most vulnerable Earth system tipping points are in the cryosphere. This session examines the implications for NDCs, with Tim Lenton introducing tipping science and experts from the University of Exeter and British Antarctic Survey addressing ice sheets, sea level rise, permafrost thaw and cascading feedbacks. Talks will be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A session. The event coincides with the launch of a new report from Exeter’s Global Systems Institute on cryosphere tipping.
University of Exeter

13:00 Safeguarding Polar Regions from Dangerous Geoengineering
An assessment by 42 leading cryosphere scientists of several geoengineering proposals aimed at the polar regions.
ICCI

14:30 Methane: Our Climate Emergency Brake
Rapid fossil methane reductions can help limit near-term warming and the risk of irreversible cryosphere impacts. With satellite observations making major methane emissions increasingly visible, what will turn detection into action? The discussion would connect methane science with practical regulation and enforcement, proven mitigation measures, and importer requirements such as the EU Methane Regulation.
Leave it in the Ground Initiative (LINGO) and Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA)

16:00 Kelp Forests at the Climate Frontier: From Cryosphere Change to Coastal Resilience
High-latitude kelp forests are increasingly exposed to warming, acidification, changing currents, marine heatwaves and cryosphere loss. This session will bring together scientists, Indigenous and local stewards, governments and practitioners to examine impacts on kelp ecosystems, fisheries and coastal communities, and how monitoring, protection, restoration, regional collaboration and adaptation finance can strengthen resilience.
Kelp Forest Alliance, Australia; Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO/MPO); Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW); Indigenous kelp practitioner/researcher, Australia; and a representative of the Norwegian Government.

18:00 Sea-Ice Reality Check: True or False? Ask the Experts
What does science really tell us about sea-ice loss, recovery, and reversibility? Test your knowledge in this interactive “Ask Me Anything” session with sea-ice experts. We encourage negotiators, journalists and other COP participants to bring questions directly to this panel of sea-ice experts, alongside those questions already collected in advance. They will be answered in a live roundtable discussion, connecting overshoot and reversibility, consequences of sea-ice loss, recovery of physical ice versus ecosystems, and the consequences of delayed action.
Organized jointly by BEPSII (Biogeochemical Exchange Processes at Sea-Ice Interfaces) and ASPeCT (Antarctic Sea Ice Processes and Climate) Expert Groups, with a strong in-person core complemented by international experts joining virtually: REV Ocean, University of Helsinki, BAS, University of Groningen, Fisheries and Ocean Canada, University of Edinburgh, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke)

19:30 Five-Year Pledges, Thousand-Year Consequences: A COP31 Stress Test of Climate Governance
Climate decisions are made over years, while cryosphere change can commit societies to consequences lasting centuries or longer. During the first days of COP31, participants will be invited to take a short “Cryosphere Governance Stress Test”. This interactive event will reveal the results and ask whether current climate-governance mechanisms adequately address long-term and potentially irreversible cryosphere risks, and what needs to change.
Organized jointly by BEPSII (Biogeochemical Exchange Processes at Sea-Ice Interfaces) and ASPeCT (Antarctic Sea Ice Processes and Climate) Expert Groups, with a strong in-person core complemented by international experts joining virtually: REV Ocean, University of Helsinki, BAS, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke)

Friday Nov. 20 | Cross-Cutting & Early Career Scientist Presentations

10:00 Keeping Cool: Mobilizing Science and Faith Together to Protect the Cryosphere
Climate change is having catastrophic impacts on the global cryosphere. Effective cryosphere protection requires both science-informed policy options and the moral resolve to act for the common good. While researchers and faith leaders both advise policy makers, they nearly always do so independently. We explore how cryosphere protection could be strengthened through closer interaction and coordinated efforts between researchers and faith-based organizations.
Brahma Kumaris, Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO), Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) at GFZ

11:30 Schools Action on Zero Waste and Green Workforce
Sustainability and climate change implementation are not happening at the expected time rate to develop the needed transition, adaptation or mitigation that can achieve resilience at a local, regional and global scale. Education for Sustainable Development with an integral, local, regenerative model boosts concrete climate action at educative communities and their geographical areas of influence, including zero waste, food security, ecosystem restoration, responsible consumption, renewable energies, water management and green building. School articulation, measurement, investigation, capacity building and community engagement has a strong impact with systemic growth.
Environment and Energy Ministry of Ecuador, Education, Culture and Sports Ministry of Ecuador, UNESCO Ecuador

13:00 Solar Cooking – A Pathway to Emissions Reduction and Climate Crisis Mitigation
Solar Cookers International improves human health, economic well-being, women’s empowerment, and the environment by promoting climate-friendly solar cooking to address the challenge of 2 billion people cooking with polluting fuels. Over 4.8 million solar cookers have been identified worldwide, and if all those cookers were in use at once, they could prevent ~7.2 million metric tons of CO₂e annually. A panel will showcase this solution and how governments can include clean cooking in their NDCs.
Solar Cookers International, InterAction, EcoGaia