Global Sustainability (Jan 2023)
Ten new insights in climate science 2023
- Mercedes Bustamante,
- Joyashree Roy,
- Daniel Ospina,
- Ploy Achakulwisut,
- Anubha Aggarwal,
- Ana Bastos,
- Wendy Broadgate,
- Josep G. Canadell,
- Edward R. Carr,
- Deliang Chen,
- Helen A. Cleugh,
- Kristie L. Ebi,
- Clea Edwards,
- Carol Farbotko,
- Marcos Fernández-Martínez,
- Thomas L. Frölicher,
- Sabine Fuss,
- Oliver Geden,
- Nicolas Gruber,
- Luke J. Harrington,
- Judith Hauck,
- Zeke Hausfather,
- Sophie Hebden,
- Aniek Hebinck,
- Saleemul Huq,
- Matthias Huss,
- M. Laurice P. Jamero,
- Sirkku Juhola,
- Nilushi Kumarasinghe,
- Shuaib Lwasa,
- Bishawjit Mallick,
- Maria Martin,
- Steven McGreevy,
- Paula Mirazo,
- Aditi Mukherji,
- Greg Muttitt,
- Gregory F. Nemet,
- David Obura,
- Chukwumerije Okereke,
- Tom Oliver,
- Ben Orlove,
- Nadia S. Ouedraogo,
- Prabir K. Patra,
- Mark Pelling,
- Laura M. Pereira,
- Åsa Persson,
- Julia Pongratz,
- Anjal Prakash,
- Anja Rammig,
- Colin Raymond,
- Aaron Redman,
- Cristobal Reveco,
- Johan Rockström,
- Regina Rodrigues,
- David R. Rounce,
- E. Lisa F. Schipper,
- Peter Schlosser,
- Odirilwe Selomane,
- Gregor Semieniuk,
- Yunne-Jai Shin,
- Tasneem A. Siddiqui,
- Vartika Singh,
- Giles B. Sioen,
- Youba Sokona,
- Detlef Stammer,
- Norman J. Steinert,
- Sunhee Suk,
- Rowan Sutton,
- Lisa Thalheimer,
- Vikki Thompson,
- Gregory Trencher,
- Kees van der Geest,
- Saskia E. Werners,
- Thea Wübbelmann,
- Nico Wunderling,
- Jiabo Yin,
- Kirsten Zickfeld,
- Jakob Zscheischler
Affiliations
- Mercedes Bustamante
- ORCiD
- University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil
- Joyashree Roy
- ORCiD
- Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand
- Daniel Ospina
- ORCiD
- Future Earth Secretariat, Stockholm, Sweden
- Ploy Achakulwisut
- ORCiD
- Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Bangkok, Thailand
- Anubha Aggarwal
- ORCiD
- Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India
- Ana Bastos
- ORCiD
- Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
- Wendy Broadgate
- ORCiD
- Future Earth Secretariat, Stockholm, Sweden
- Josep G. Canadell
- ORCiD
- CSIRO Environment, Canberra, Australia
- Edward R. Carr
- ORCiD
- Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA
- Deliang Chen
- ORCiD
- University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Helen A. Cleugh
- ORCiD
- Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
- Kristie L. Ebi
- ORCiD
- University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Clea Edwards
- ORCiD
- Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
- Carol Farbotko
- ORCiD
- Griffith University, Nathan, Australia
- Marcos Fernández-Martínez
- ORCiD
- Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), Barcelona, Spain
- Thomas L. Frölicher
- ORCiD
- University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Sabine Fuss
- ORCiD
- Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC), Berlin, Germany Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Oliver Geden
- ORCiD
- German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Berlin, Germany
- Nicolas Gruber
- ORCiD
- ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Luke J. Harrington
- ORCiD
- University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
- Judith Hauck
- ORCiD
- Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar- and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
- Zeke Hausfather
- ORCiD
- Stripe, San Francisco, CA, USA Berkeley Earth, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Sophie Hebden
- ORCiD
- Future Earth Secretariat, Stockholm, Sweden
- Aniek Hebinck
- ORCiD
- Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Saleemul Huq
- ORCiD
- International Centre for Climate Change & Development (ICCCAD), Dhaka, Bangladesh International Institute for Environment & Development (IIED), London, UK Independent University Bangladesh (IUB), Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Matthias Huss
- ORCiD
- ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
- M. Laurice P. Jamero
- ORCiD
- Manila Observatory, Manila, Philippines
- Sirkku Juhola
- ORCiD
- University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Nilushi Kumarasinghe
- ORCiD
- Future Earth Secretariat, Montreal, Canada Sustainability in the Digital Age, Montreal, Canada
- Shuaib Lwasa
- ORCiD
- Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Hague, Netherlands
- Bishawjit Mallick
- ORCiD
- Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
- Maria Martin
- ORCiD
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, Germany
- Steven McGreevy
- ORCiD
- University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands
- Paula Mirazo
- ORCiD
- Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
- Aditi Mukherji
- ORCiD
- CGIAR, Kolkata, India
- Greg Muttitt
- ORCiD
- International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Geneva, Switzerland
- Gregory F. Nemet
- ORCiD
- University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- David Obura
- ORCiD
- CORDIO East Africa, Mombasa, Kenya
- Chukwumerije Okereke
- ORCiD
- University of Reading, Oxford, UK
- Tom Oliver
- ORCiD
- University of Reading, Reading, UK
- Ben Orlove
- ORCiD
- Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Nadia S. Ouedraogo
- ORCiD
- UN Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Prabir K. Patra
- ORCiD
- Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokohama, Japan Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN), Kyoto, Japan
- Mark Pelling
- ORCiD
- University College London, London, UK
- Laura M. Pereira
- ORCiD
- University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Åsa Persson
- ORCiD
- Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Stockholm, Sweden Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
- Julia Pongratz
- ORCiD
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany
- Anjal Prakash
- ORCiD
- Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India
- Anja Rammig
- ORCiD
- Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
- Colin Raymond
- ORCiD
- University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Aaron Redman
- ORCiD
- Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education Project (MECCE), Saskatoon, Canada
- Cristobal Reveco
- ORCiD
- Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS), Hamburg, Germany
- Johan Rockström
- ORCiD
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, Germany University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
- Regina Rodrigues
- ORCiD
- Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
- David R. Rounce
- ORCiD
- Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- E. Lisa F. Schipper
- ORCiD
- University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
- Peter Schlosser
- ORCiD
- Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
- Odirilwe Selomane
- ORCiD
- University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
- Gregor Semieniuk
- ORCiD
- University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA
- Yunne-Jai Shin
- Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
- Tasneem A. Siddiqui
- ORCiD
- University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Vartika Singh
- ORCiD
- Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRIN), New Delhi, India Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India
- Giles B. Sioen
- ORCiD
- Future Earth Secretariat, Tsukuba, Japan National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Japan
- Youba Sokona
- ORCiD
- African Climate Policy Centre, Bamako, Mali
- Detlef Stammer
- ORCiD
- University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Norman J. Steinert
- ORCiD
- NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Bergen, Norway Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway
- Sunhee Suk
- Future Earth Secretariat, Tsukuba, Japan Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
- Rowan Sutton
- ORCiD
- University of Reading, Oxford, UK
- Lisa Thalheimer
- ORCiD
- United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, Bonn, Germany University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Vikki Thompson
- ORCiD
- Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), De Bilt, Netherlands
- Gregory Trencher
- ORCiD
- Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- Kees van der Geest
- ORCiD
- United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, Bonn, Germany
- Saskia E. Werners
- ORCiD
- United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, Bonn, Germany Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
- Thea Wübbelmann
- ORCiD
- Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS), Hamburg, Germany
- Nico Wunderling
- ORCiD
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, Germany Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Jiabo Yin
- ORCiD
- Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
- Kirsten Zickfeld
- ORCiD
- Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada
- Jakob Zscheischler
- ORCiD
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Lepzig, Germany Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2023.25
- Journal volume & issue
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Vol. 7
Abstract
Abstract Non-technical summary We identify a set of essential recent advances in climate change research with high policy relevance, across natural and social sciences: (1) looming inevitability and implications of overshooting the 1.5°C warming limit, (2) urgent need for a rapid and managed fossil fuel phase-out, (3) challenges for scaling carbon dioxide removal, (4) uncertainties regarding the future contribution of natural carbon sinks, (5) intertwinedness of the crises of biodiversity loss and climate change, (6) compound events, (7) mountain glacier loss, (8) human immobility in the face of climate risks, (9) adaptation justice, and (10) just transitions in food systems. Technical summary The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Reports provides the scientific foundation for international climate negotiations and constitutes an unmatched resource for researchers. However, the assessment cycles take multiple years. As a contribution to cross- and interdisciplinary understanding of climate change across diverse research communities, we have streamlined an annual process to identify and synthesize significant research advances. We collected input from experts on various fields using an online questionnaire and prioritized a set of 10 key research insights with high policy relevance. This year, we focus on: (1) the looming overshoot of the 1.5°C warming limit, (2) the urgency of fossil fuel phase-out, (3) challenges to scale-up carbon dioxide removal, (4) uncertainties regarding future natural carbon sinks, (5) the need for joint governance of biodiversity loss and climate change, (6) advances in understanding compound events, (7) accelerated mountain glacier loss, (8) human immobility amidst climate risks, (9) adaptation justice, and (10) just transitions in food systems. We present a succinct account of these insights, reflect on their policy implications, and offer an integrated set of policy-relevant messages. This science synthesis and science communication effort is also the basis for a policy report contributing to elevate climate science every year in time for the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Social media summary We highlight recent and policy-relevant advances in climate change research – with input from more than 200 experts.
Keywords
- Climate risks
- Earth system governance
- just transition
- mitigation and adaptation
- science-policy
- vulnerability
