Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber on Why two degrees matters: climate mitigation and adaptation

About the Speech:

It is becoming increasingly difficult to limit global temperature rise to 2oC -- deemed to be the limit for avoding dangerous climatic change. Drawing on the recent PIK report for the World Bank, Turn Down the Heat -- Why a 4oC Warmer World Must be Avoided, Professor Schellnhuber delivered an address on the latest scenarios emerging from climate science, focussing on climate impacts and adaptation.

About the Speaker:

Hans Joachim Schellnhuber is the Director and Founder of the renowned Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). He holds a chair in theoretical physics at Potsdam University and is an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute (USA). Schellnhuber has been a long-standing member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. He served as chief government advisor on climate and related issues during the German G8/EU twin presidency in 2007 and as a principal advisor to the European Commission President Barroso. He is currently chair of the German Advisory Council on Global Change and chair of the standing committee on climate, energy and environment of the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina). He is the recipient of numerous awards and honours and is the author or co-author of more than 250 articles and 50 books.
This address is the first event in the ESB Lecture Series 2013, kindly sponsored by ESB.