ICCI will again coordinate Pavilion activities, in strong cooperation with various partners, including lead organizing partners for the various Focus Days.

The Cryosphere Pavilion will carry forward the cryosphere’s message towards urgent ambition with another strong array of policy-relevant side events at COP29. Our assigned space this year will again combine exhibit, side event and office space in a single consolidated Pavilion in the Blue Zone, and is taking place in coordination with the Ambition on Melting Ice (AMI) Co-chairs Chile and Iceland. For more information, see the comprehensive COP29 Cryosphere Pavilion webpage.

Breadth is strongly encouraged: scientists, Indigenous peoples, Youth and all those who participate in these side events help raise cryosphere impacts and the need for 1.5°C-consistent NDCs as we head for COP30 in Brazil next year. Baku is especially dependent on mountain water resources, with more than a quarter of its water supply coming from glaciers and snow; so we anticipate an especially strong focus on mountains this year.

There will be six or seven one-hour slots each day, with sufficient breaks to allow set-up of the next event. A full list of this year’s eight Focus Days can be found near the bottom of this page. Instructions for side event applications are directly below.

Proposals for side events should be submitted as emails or word documents by Monday, September 2 (earlier applications most welcome) to Amy Imdieke at: amy@iccinet.org with the email subject line: “COP29 Cryosphere Pavilion: Side Event Application”.

August 1                        Side event applications open

September 2                 Application period ends; notification of successful applications begin immediately.

September 20               Last date for notification of successful or reserve status

November 11-22           COP29, Baku, Azerbaijan

Please note that any side event applications received after the September 2 deadline will be evaluated on a space-available basis, given the high demand for side events and limited scheduling room available.

All COP29 Cryosphere Pavilion side events will be livestreamed and saved on ICCI’s YouTube channel.

For more information on logistics in connection with COP29, kindly see the COP29 host website at: https://cop29.az. Please note that at this time ICCI is unfortunately not able to assist with travel, visas, or accommodations.

Learn More about the COP29 Cryosphere Pavilion

Hope for the Cryosphere: Feasible Pathways to 1.5°C Emissions Reductions | This day will focus on those pathways as feasible options to prevent global impacts from cryosphere, with a narrowing window for action.

Mountain Glaciers and Snow: Healthy Ecosystems or Water Resource Loss | Mid-latitude glaciers suffer nearly total loss at overshoot above 2ºC, but preserve some basis for regrowth, and some stabilization of water and other ecosystem services at 1.5ºC. However, mountain-dependent regions, in particular the HKH face challenges today.

Ice Sheets: Choosing Between 3-20+ Meters Irreversible Sea-level Rise | The WAIS and its collapse will cause 4-6m of SLR over time, and may already have passed that point even today; but chances of slowing or preventing that collapse are far better without overshoot of 1.5ºC. In Earth’s past, even 2°C has resulted in 12-20 meters of SLR over time.

Polar Oceans: Stabilized CO2 or Millennia of Acidification | Polar oceans and high latitude seas already show fisheries and shell impacts today, because these colder waters absorb CO2 more quickly. Those impacts will be greater still with overshoot of CO2 concentrations especially above 450ppm, which with current growth of 2-3ppm annually will be breached around 2030. Warming, freshening and invasion by low latitude species all only add stress towards (in worst-case emissions) a mass extinction event.

Permafrost Thaw: More Carbon Emissions for Centuries with Overshoot | Permafrost carbon emissions drive some degree of global warming. Those emissions are increasing: they are already on the order of Japan’s; but overshoot to 3-4°C will introduce a “permafrost contribution” closer to that of China or the U.S. today, but lasting 100-200 years; necessitating generations of negative emissions well after anthropogenic emissions cease.

Sea Ice: Stabilizing Climate or Accelerating Warming if Loss Expands | Antarctic sea ice hit a record low this year, with potential feedbacks to ice sheet loss and global ocean currents. In the Arctic Ocean, ice-free summers will still occur within the 1.5ºC limit; but by 1.7°C, this is projected to become an annual phenomenon. By 2°C, projections show ice-free periods stretching from July to October most years; with feedbacks including increased permafrost thaw and Greenland ice loss/sea-level rise; and harm to Arctic food chains and communities.

Financing for Mountain and Coastal Regions: Adaptation, or Loss & Damage? | Mountain areas are key for climate adaptation efforts due to their transboundary and global importance, serving as water towers and global biodiversity hotspots. Coastal areas, similarly, have a high vulnerability to climate change as well. Critical steps forward include leveraging finance, such as finding synergies between mitigation and adaptation projects, from the local to national and regional level.

Cross-cutting | If you event relates to Cryosphere Science and Policy but is more cross-cutting, feel free to so designate.

If you have any questions, please reach out to: