8 December 2011
Adaptation Roundtable Highlights Need to Translate Science into Practical Action
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Participants at the "High-level Dialogue and Adaptation Roundtable: Global Sustainability in a Changing Climate" called for closer ties between the disaster risk reduction community and climate science, as well as for COP 17 negotiators to listen to the scientific community.

7 December 2011: Speaking at the “High-level Dialogue and Adaptation Roundtable: Global Sustainability in a Changing Climate,” Margareta Wahlström, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Reduction and Head of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR), stressed the need to “translate the best science on climate change into practical action.”

The roundtable convened at the African Pavilion on 6 December 2011, in Durban, South Africa, on the sidelines of the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the UNFCCC, and brought together 35 politicians and scientists. Wahlström indicated that the disaster risk reduction (DRR) community would welcome closer ties with the scientific community. She noted that these ties were an important part of developing a global risk management strategy, which may be used by the world’s leaders.

The event was also attended by South African President Jacob Zuma, who stressed the need for a multilateral rules-based system. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), called on COP 17 to “listen to the voice of science.” The roundtable was co-organized by, inter alia, the Stockholm Environment Institute, the Stockholm Resilience Centre and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. [UN/ISDR Press Release] [Roundtable Agenda]

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