COP25 Cryosphere Pavilion

The COP25 Cryosphere Pavilion was held in Madrid, Spain (IFEMA Hall 8) under the presidency of the Chilean government from 2-13 December 2019.

watch cop25 cryosphere pavilion side events

Background

COP25 represents a key juncture as countries move towards their first revisions of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) since the signing of the Paris Agreement, and will therefore focus its agenda on initiatives that promote more ambitious climate action, both mitigation and adaptation. The Chilean government, as COP-25 President has made the Cryosphere one of its priority issues leading to such greater climate ambition, and is hosting a Cryosphere Pavilion as one expression of this priority.

Cryosphere science makes clear that later timing of emissions reductions, and temperature “overshoot” scenarios can trigger cryospheric changes and global feedbacks that may be rapid and – more seriously — to some degree irreversible. The challenge for cryosphere science, per both the IPCC Special Reports on 1.5 Degrees (2018), and Oceans and Cryosphere (2019) is to capture the reality that while humans may trigger these events in the next few decades through insufficient action; many global impacts of such delay will not be seen fully for centuries.

Due to its long and extensive experience in Antarctic, Southern Ocean and Andean glacier research; Chile is in a privileged position to lead a process to increase awareness of the global importance of Cryosphere: establishing an operational and practical link between science, and the political decision-making process on climate action and multilateral negotiations. The process aims to generate greater political level and public support for climate action plans consistent with a 1.5ºC goal, incorporated into 2020 NDCs specifically to prevent global feedbacks from accelerating Cryosphere collapse at temperatures beyond 1.5 degrees.  We look forward to this exciting cooperation at COP25.

Cryosphere Pavilion Schedule

The COP25 Cryosphere Pavilion provides a space for permanent exhibits, expert conferences and ministerial events, with one or more Focus Days on each of the following Cryosphere dynamics. In addition, December 7 will also focus on national actions and the policy response, and December 12 will see the release of the “Cryosphere 1.5° Report” which combines the results of the IPCC SR1.5 and SROCC.

Youth and Early Career Scientists Day: Dec 2
Mountain Glaciers and Snow Days: Dec. 3 and 11
Ice Sheets Days: Dec. 4 and 10
Permafrost Day: Dec. 5
Sea Ice: Dec. 6
Cryosphere Action Day: Dec. 7
Polar Oceans (Acidification/Freshening/Warming): Dec. 9
National Action and Policy Response Days: Dec. 12

Side Event Media Advisories

To download our early-access press releases, please click on the following title cards or follow the link below:

Release of the Cryosphere 1.5° Report

The Cryosphere 1.5° Report: Where Urgency and Ambition Meet was released on December 12th, 2019. These five cryosphere dynamics — Mountain Glaciers and Snow, Ice Sheets, Permafrost, Sea Ice and Polar Oceans — are all extremely sensitive to the temperature range between today’s temperature (at about 1°C above pre-industrial) to 1.5°C, 2°C and above. Today will see a series of shorter side events focused on these dynamics, interspersed with presentations of the Cryosphere 1.5° Report’s main messages on the importance of 1.5°C NDC pathways, as delegates begin to head home and set those NDCs in the months leading up to COP26 in Glasgow.

Cryosphere 1.5° Event Program: December 12, 2019

09:30 – Summary Messages
10:00 – Mountain Glaciers and Snow
11:00 – Polar Oceans (video)
11:30 – Permafrost
12:00 – Ice Sheets (Greenland and Antarctica) and Sea-level Rise
13:00 – Where We Are – Climate Action Tracker Update
13:30 – Summary Messages
14:00 – Mountain Glaciers and Snow
15:00 – Sea Ice
16:00 – Permafrost
17:00 – Ice Sheets (Greenland and Antarctica) and Sea-level Rise
18:00 – Summary Messages and Closing

Read the Cryosphere 1.5° Report

Content for Educators

We hosted more than seventy speakers throughout COP25, bringing climate and cryosphere experts into conversation with negotiators and government representatives from across the world. Our team of early career researchers volunteering at the Cryosphere Pavilion also used displays based on the latest IPCC report to help communicate the latest scientific findings with policy makers.

We encourage educators and all interested to download the following DropBox file, which includes the COP25 Cryosphere Pavilion presentation slides and displays. They convey the importance of reducing emissions to slow the melting of ice sheets, loss of glaciers, and thawing permafrost. These vulnerable snow and ice regions are essential to global health and well-being, and their degradation has intergenerational impacts on a centuries timescale.

Download COP25 Presentations and Displays

Contact Us

If you have any questions, please reach out to: