SB60 Updates and AMI Press Conference

Dear Cryosphere Capsule readers,

It has been a pleasure seeing many of you in Bonn this week during the annual UNFCCC Subsidiary Body meetings! Updates on the main cryosphere takeaways from both the recent ATCM/CEP conclusion in Kochi as well as a debrief on SB60 will be shared next Friday, especially as we look forward to the urgent ambition and action needed in Baku at COP29 this November.

We would like to share a recording from a particularly cryosphere-relevant press conference that took place here yesterday, centered around the UN Secretary-General’s Wednesday, June 5 call for G20 countries to rapidly decarbonize off fossil fuels this decade. Leading cryosphere scientists and representatives from countries in polar, mountain, downstream, and low-lying regions shared the latest irreversible damage projections from cryosphere loss if temperatures exceed the 1.5°C limit, making clear that it must serve as a guardrail.

The press conference was organized by the Ambition on Melting Ice (AMI) high-level group in coordination with ICCI and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). A recording of the press conference with slides can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5DID5VVkq8

Speakers:
Dr. Fabien Maussion, Associate Professor in Polar Environmental Change, University of Bristol
Dr. James Kirkham, AMI Chief Science Advisor
Mr. Eduardo Silva, Lead Negotiator, Chile, and AMI Co-Chair
Ms. Izabella Koziell, Deputy Director General, International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)
Ambassador Carlos Fuller, Belize
Ms. Pam Pearson, Director and Founder, International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI), Moderator.

We hope for a productive SB60, and very much look forward to touching base again next week!