Track Chairs

• João Joanaz de Melo, Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research (CENSE), School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon, Portugal.
  jjm@fct.unl.pt
• Tamás Pálvölgyi, Department of Environmental Economics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary.
  palvol@eik.bme.hu
• Andreas Andersson, Department of Ecotechnology and Sustainable Building Engineering, Mid Sweden University, Sweden.
  Andreas.Andersson@miun.se
  

Goals and Objectives of the Track

We live in troubled times with many societal challenges, recently aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The severity of the pandemic may or may not have eased by the time we convene for ISDRS 2021, but we can be sure of two things: (i) in many respects, life will be different before and after the pandemic; and (ii) the economic crisis, while temporarily reducing some polluting emissions, also delayed the adoption of key measures to face climate change, such as tax reform, sustainable energy transition, land use and safeguard of vulnerable ecosystems.

There is no sustainable future without changing our collective mentalities and behavior. The growing human population (even with better technology, which has proved to be a help but not a panacea), the consumer’s needs and the multinational value chains are the main drivers of the increasing resource use. Conservative ecologic footprint calculations (which do not account for non-renewable resource consumption or persistent pollution), indicate that we are already using up renewable resource flows equivalent to 1.5 planets. Planetary boundaries are a reality we must contend with sooner rather than later. Greenhouse gas emissions in particular account for a large part of the resource consumption overshoot.

The range of impacts of climate change is now better known to science, although we should be aware of relevant uncertainties. Humankind responsibility on climate change is explicitly acknowledged by the political and international community, but the decarbonization commitments of the NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) of the Paris Agreement are not enough to comply with set goals. What we need now is to walk the talk.

We need to both predict and communicate better the science of climate change. We need to create a sense of urgency that can be translated into action, particularly with segments of society that have a different outlook towards the future: youth, progressive business, politicians with the will to change society rather than marketing cosmetic (“green washing”) changes.

In this track of ISDRS 2021 we wish to discuss effective approaches to climate change predictions and solutions. What works? Where are the best science-driven practices? How can we foster real, long-term change? What are the priorities? Who are the key target-groups which we, as a scientific community, must engage and help to action?

Contributions from the following areas are welcome:

• Advances in the mapping of the carbon cycle;
• Strategies to cope with the energy-climate-water-land nexus, including the potential and strategies to use natural carbon flows and storage to reduce carbon footprint towards affordable and clean energy;
• Scale effects of predictions of climate change impacts, considering local, regional, national, transnational and global levels;
• New approaches to predict mutual impacts of climate change, energy systems and ecosystems, from resource supply to end-use energy services demand, including impacts of renewable (but not always sustainable) energy sources such as bioenergy or hydropower;
• Strategies and incentives to promote energy savings and improve energy efficiency, the cornerstone of energy policy;
• Integrated methods and tools, e.g. integrated assessment modelling, quantitative data, indigenous knowledge, risk assessment;
• Communication of impacts of climate change and related environmental damages, to decision-makers and other key actors;
• Case studies at the regional, local and community level;
• Environmental, economic and social determinants of climate change vulnerability and adaptation.

Length and content of the proposed abstract to the track

Each proposed abstract (in connection to an area pointed out above) of between 300 and 500 words (including all aspects),

1. shall be best organized (without headlines) along usual structures (e.g. intro/method/findings or results/ discussion/conclusions)
2. does not need to, but can include references
3. shall provide in a final section
   a. to which SDG(s) and SDG-target(s) their proposed abstract especially relate to (e.g. “SDG+Target: 14.1.”).
   b. a brief indication how the proposed contribution relates to the topic of the Conference (“ACCELERATING PROGRESS TOWARDS SDG’s IN TIMES OF CRISIS”).

Abstracts which do not outline points 3.a.) AND 3.b.) might not be given special consideration in the selection for potential publications and might be considered less relevant in the Review.

Submission

Please submit your abstract by visiting the abstract submission system (you will be required to setup an account first) at
https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/login?redirect=/stages/2332/submitter

Extended deadline for abstracts: 15 February 2021

PLEASE ALSO CONSIDER A PARTICIPATION IN OUR PHD-WORKSHOP! 
https://2021.isdrsconferences.org/phd-workshop/