Scientists from 36 Southern countries in Trieste for climate policies

TRIESTE, 14 MAY – Offer scientists from the southern hemisphere the skills to access and participate in the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the body managed by the United Nations that tells governments how to develop climate policies. This is the objective of the workshop “Joint Network of Climate Science, Mentoring and Capacity Building”, organized by the World Academy of Sciences for Scientific Advancement in Developing Countries (TWAS) and started today in Trieste. In this way, TWAS wants to guarantee scientists from the global south a role at the interface between science and politics. The workshop, funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, will host until May 16th 47 climate scientists from 36 developing countries (some of which will suffer the impacts of climate change more than others), including 12 doctoral students supported by TWAS-Sida doctoral scholarships. Leading the work are 15 experts including Ladislaus Chang’a, meteorologist from Tanzania, vice president of the IPCC; Anna Pirani, senior research associate of the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC) and Italy’s alternate Focal Point for the IPCC, and Edmond Totin of the National Agricultural University of Benin. At the beginning, Chang’a spoke of an “event of historic significance”. Pirani insisted that “diversity is a fundamental element for the authority and relevance of the IPCC’s work”. Participants will discuss knowledge gaps in climate science and the IPCC’s upcoming seventh assessment cycle. The World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries (TWAS) has been a driving force for developing scientific capacity in the Global South for 40 years; was founded in 1983 in Trieste as a global scientific academy.