The scientists go to the Federal House

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is currently publishing its latest Assessment Report, which summarizes knowledge about the state of climate change, developments and possible courses of action. Many researchers from Switzerland are also involved. The 1st part of the IPCC-Parts 2 and 3 will follow in February and March 2022, respectively. The reports are a reliable and widely cited source when it comes to climate issues. Parliamentarians should therefore learn the results quickly and at first hand," says Irène Kälin. The President of the National Council, together with the parliamentary group Climate and the Academies of Arts and Sciences, invites to a dialogue on the IPCC reports in the Federal Parliament on May 2, 2022.

Waiting only hurts

"It is essential to act decisively now on the basis of the scientific fundamentals. The longer we wait, the smaller the options for action will become and the more crises we will have to deal with at the same time. Science provides an important basis for this. But only in a close and constructive dialogue with politics and society can the challenge be successfully met," says Christian Huggel, IPCC co-author at the University of Zurich.

"We need a better exchange between science and policy. It is essential that parliamentarians have the opportunity to discuss the content of recent IPCC reports directly with the researchers who were involved in those reports," says Sonia Seneviratne, IPCC lead author at ETH Zurich.

"As an author on IPCC Working Group 3 on climate mitigation, I see tremendous progress in our scientific understanding of what climate policies work and how they can also help solve other problems, such as biodiversity loss. It's important to talk to policymakers not only about the science of climate change, but also about the scientific knowledge of mitigation," emphasizes Anthony Patt of ETH Zurich.

Various events planned

The Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences conduct the dialogue on several levels. A series of events is planned on the IPCC reports, together with the authors of the reports from Switzerland. On the day of publication, the Academies will communicate the results at media conferences. On April 12, at the Swiss Global Change Day broadly informed about the reports and on May 2 the dialogue with the members of parliament will take place.

In mid-July 2022, the World Biodiversity Council IPBES will publish its two latest reports. Again, information events will take place and the President of the National Council will invite to a dialogue in the Federal Palace.

Source: Swiss Academy of Sciences