2021 was yet another year of uncertainty, with many changes and disruptions to our plans, activities, and goals. EGU’s science for policy programme was no exception to this with the Science for Policy Pairing Scheme and annual Science for Policy Event taking a back seat. We hope that 2022 will not only bring new activities but also rekindle those that were put on hold as a result of the pandemic. ...[Read More]
This month’s GeoPolicy blog post introduces the European Science-Media Hub (ESMH) along with its key initiatives. It also takes a deeper dive into the organisation through a Q&A that we were thrilled to have with the Head of the European Parliament’s Scientific Foresight Unit Theo Karapiperis and the coordinator of the ESMH Svetla Tanova-Encke. In 2017, the European Parliament’s Panel f ...[Read More]
Hello Noel, thanks for joining us today! Could you tell us a little about yourself before we dive in? Thank you so much for having me, Simon! I’m an American climate scientist currently working in Brussels as a project manager at the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy. I finished my Ph.D. in 2013 with a project that focused on understanding how well global climate models produce rainfall a ...[Read More]
The 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will take place from 31 October to 12 November 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland. With the exception of 2020, COPs are held annually and provide a space for world leaders to negotiate climate policies, targets, and the next steps that need to be take to reduce global emissions. ...[Read More]
Now that summer is over, policy events are back in full swing! With most events still being online, they are easily accessible and generally free of charge. The EGU has an External Science for Policy Events Calendar that lists upcoming policy-related events that are likely to be of interest to geoscientists. This can be a useful resource if you’re trying to find events that will introduce you to t ...[Read More]
The EGU’s #vEGU21 streamed a wide variety of virtual sessions from Short Courses to Union Symposia. While most #vEGU21 sessions had a specific scientific focus, a few highlighted topics that were of interest to geoscientists across multiple disciplines. The Union Symposia 3: “A Climate and Ecological Emergency: Can a pandemic help save us…?” was one of these sessions with a high level of participa ...[Read More]
Most of the EGU’s GeoPolicy blog posts focus on overarching topics that I believe will be useful for the majority of scientists who read them. I see myself as a facilitator who connects scientists and policymakers, providing impartial information to promote more effective knowledge exchange and subsequently evidence-informed policies. This month’s GeoPolicy post however, takes a differ ...[Read More]
The EGU sponsors an annual science-policy pairing scheme each year to help promote a culture of evidence-informed policymaking and encourage stronger science-policy partnerships! The EGU’s 2020/21 pairing scheme was slightly different from normal, being run virtually rather than in person as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions. This month’s GeoPolicy blog post is written by Renée Bic ...[Read More]
Last year, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) published their Science for Policy Handbook that provides advice on how to bring science to the attention of policymakers. The Handbook is divided into 19 Chapters covering different areas of science for policy as well as some of the challenges that scientists face when engaging with policy and potential solutions. This month’s GeoPo ...[Read More]
As of 19 February 2021, the US officially re-joined the Paris Climate Agreement, a landmark international accord to limit global warming by 2°C (and ideally to 1.5°C) compared to pre-industrial levels. The Paris Climate Agreement aims to bring the world together to avoid catastrophic warming that will impact us all and to build resilience to the consequences of climate change that we are already s ...[Read More]