Antje Wiener in Wellington: Social Change toward Climate more Important than Physical Tipping PointsProf. Wiener presents the Hamburg Climate Futures Outlook 2023 at Te Herenga Waka’s Political Science and IR Programme

17. Februar 2023

Is limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius currently plausible? Prof. Wiener will present the recent findings of the Cluster of Excellence “Climate, Climatic Change, and Society” (CLICCS) at Universität Hamburg on Friday, 3:00-4:30 PM (NZDT) at Victoria University of Wellington, chaired by Prof. James Renwick. The talk will be hosted at Government Buildings Lecture Theatre 3 (GBLT3) on Pipitea Campus. The Seminar will also be live-streamed via Zoom, to join the seminar use https://vuw.zoom.us/j/9771619225  (Password: 010860)

Wieners remarks are based on a new study on climate futures (presented to the public at a first press conference on 1st February 2023). In this study an interdisciplinary group of 63 researchers systematically assessed to what extent social changes are already underway – while also analyzing certain physical processes frequently discussed as tipping points. The finding is that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is currently not plausible. It thus cautions against both optimism and dramatic conclusions. Thus, the study includes progress of climate policy as including external disruptive events such as COVID and the Ukraine crisis. The participating team of interdisciplinary researchers systematically assessed to what extent social changes are already underway – while also analyzing certain physical processes frequently discussed as tipping points. The key conclusion is that social change is essential to meeting the temperature targets set in Paris. But what has been achieved to date is insufficient. Accordingly, climate adaptation will also have to be approached from a new angle. Press release and the full report of CLICCS  are available via https://www.cliccs.uni-hamburg.de/results/hamburg-climate-futures-outlook.html

The event will be followed by afternoon tea, please RSVP via https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=Iz7mz1FpfkKGg7uE3PHSDPlSjn2iwotMomF2mzIkT99UQVExRkRNUlNaQ0tPSjFPVDJJR1lQUUc2Mi4u