Glaciers, snow cover and permafrost are disappearing all over the world as a result of global warming. Faced with this emergency, scientists are working to improve the physical science underpinning past, present and future climate change; and thus strengthen our understanding of how the climate system is changing in response to human activity. Hosted largely by the COP26 Cryosphere Pavilion Hub in Geneva, this session explored the scientific findings emerging from the Sixth Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Panelists discussed how to raise ambition levels to achieve tangible outcomes, described the consequences of overshoot on mountain and polar regions across the world, and provided new strategies that can be adopted to reduce risk.
The Switzerland Moderator was Claire Doole. Speakers from this session include Vice rector Jean-Marc Triscone (University of Geneva); Ambassador Stefan Estermann (Head of Prosperity and Sustainability Division, FDFA); Prof. Samuel Jaccard (University of Lausanne); Prof. Sonia Seneviratne (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich); Prof. Matthias Huss (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich); Prof. Markus Stoffel (University of Geneva); Prof. Geraldine Pflieger (University of Geneva); Dr. Elena Manaenkova (Deputy Secretary-General, WMO); Dr. Sebastian König (Chief Scientist & IPCC Focal Point of Switzerland at the Federal Office for the Environment); with the participation of members of the Swiss delegation.
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