Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP)
The ESSP is a partnership for the integrated study of the Earth System, the ways that it is changing, and the implications for global and regional sustainability.
The urgency of the challenge is great: In the present era, global environmental changes are both accelerating and moving the earth system into a state with no analogue in previous history.
To learn more about the ESSP, clink on links to access Strategy Paper and a video presentation by the Chair of the ESSP Scientific Committee, Prof. Dr. Rik Leemans of Wageningen University, The Netherlands.
The Earth System is the unified set of physical, chemical, biological and social components, processes and interactions that together determine the state and dynamics of Planet Earth, including its biota and its human occupants.
Earth System Science is the study of the Earth System, with an emphasis on observing, understanding and predicting global environmental changes involving interactions between land, atmosphere, water, ice, biosphere, societies, technologies and economies.
DIVERSITAS Executive Director honoured for work in international science
- Anne Larigauderie with Hal Mooney and Julia Marton-Lefevre at award ceremony
Dr. Anne Larigauderie, DIVERSITAS Executive Director, was recently awarded the knight of the legion of honour by the French government for her work in international science.
The honour was presented by Julia Marton-Lefevre, Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature on behalf of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research of France.
Congratulations to Anne for due recognition for her enormous contribution to the advancement of biodiversity science.
ESSP Session at Global Media Forum
The ESSP and its parent programmes (DIVERSITAS, IGBP, IHDP, WCRP) will convene a session at the Global Media Forum on 21 June 2010 in Bonn, Germany. This ESSP session on 'Media-ting Change' will focus on how the global environmental change research community can learn from how climate change has been reported in the media.
Click here for more details.
Media Reporting of Climate Change Study
As part of the ESSP session at the Global Media Forum, this study aims to understand how climate science is transmitted through the media and how this transmission influences policy. In particular, we are interested in studying the period (November 2009 - February 2010) encompassing the 15th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Convention of the Parties (COP-15) in Copenhagen, and the journalistic coverage of the claims of IPCC errors and other issues of research misconduct.
Taking part in this study - by completing an online survey - will take 5 minutes. It is voluntary and your responses will be confidential. The survey is on a secure website using data encryption and secure networks. Your input is anonymous.
To learn more / participate in the survey, please click here.
ESSP in Dialogue with UNFCCC Parties at SBSTA 32
The Earth System Science Partnership and its research partners, including the GEC research programmes, START and APN presented to the 32nd session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) on 3 June 2010. Panelist presentations and dialogue with UNFCCC Parties can be viewed here.
Global Biodiversity Outlook - 3
The study, 'Biodiversity Scenarios: Projections of 21st century change in biodiversity and associated ecosystem services', led by Dr. Paul Leadley et al. (co-chair DIVERSITAS bio-DISCOVERY), coordinated by DIVERSITAS, UNEP-WCMC, and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), was released as part of the Global Biodiversity Outlook - 3 (GBO-3) by the Executive Secretary of the CBD on 10 May 2010 in Nairobi.
Download Report here
Diana Liverman Awarded Royal Geographical Society Medal
Congratulations to Professor Diana Liverman who was awarded the Royal Geographical Society Medal. Diana received her medal for 'encouraging, developing and promoting understanding of the human dimensions of climate change'. The prestigious medals and awards of the Royal Geographical Society have recognised excellence in geographical research and fieldwork since 1832. The founder's medal, approved by Queen Elizabeth II, has historically been awarded to prominent explorers and scientists. Diana certainly epitomises this spirit.
Global Water System Project - Global Catchment Initiative Conference
The Global Water System Project (ESSP Joint Project) will convene a Global Catchment Initiative Conference, 6 - 8 December 2010 in Bonn, Germany. The Conference will bring together scientists, practitioners and young academics, promoting exchange and feedback between the various actors concerned in river basin research and management.
Click here for more details.
WCRP Open Science Conference - Climate Research in Service to Society. 24 - 28 October 2011, Denver, Colorado, USA
The WCRP will assemble for the first time ever its entire research community, and engage other key international research programmes, in a major Open Science Conference (OSC) in October 2011. Through a unique synthesis of presented research findings, the OSC will assess our current state of knowledge on climate variability and change, identify the most urgent scientific issues and research challenges, and ascertain how the WCRP can best facilitate research and develop partnerships critical for progress.
Click here for more details
CGIAR Challenge Program on Climate Change, Agriculture & Food Security
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Challenge Program "Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security" (CCAFS) is a major collaborative endeavour between the CGIAR and their partners, and the ESSP.
It is aimed at overcoming the additional threats posed by a changing climate to achieving food security, enhancing livelihoods and improving environmental management in the developing world. Click here for more details about CCAFS.
In May 2010 the CCAFS Conference and planning workshop gathered a range of stakeholders in Nairobi to discuss climate change, agriculture and food security and to lay out the future international Mega Programme 7 on Climate Change. Click here for more details.
Carbon Budget 2008
The ESSP Global Carbon Project (GCP) has launched the 2008 update of the global carbon budget and trends, published in Nature Geoscience. The 2008 carbon budget highlights that despite the economic effects of the global financial crisis, carbon dioxide emissions from human activities rose 2 per cent in 2008 to an all-time high of 1.3 tonnes of carbon per capita per year. GCP scientists say that rising emissions from fossil fuels last year were caused mainly by increased use of coal but there were minor decreases in emissions from oil and deforestation. The GCP also estimates that the growth in emissions from developing countries increased in part due to the production of manufactured goods consumed in developing countries.
Click here to access the Global Carbon Project (GCP) 2008 carbon budget.
The GCP, jointly with UNESCO, SCOPE and UNEP have developed a Policy Brief on this year's carbon budget release. The brief is intended for a broad audience, particularly the climate policy community. Click on link to download the Policy Brief:
- Low resolution (pdf, 1.5 Mb)
Solutions Orientated Global Change Conference
The UK has successfully bid to host a major international science conference in 2012. The London conference, Planet Under Pressure: new knowledge, new solutions, aims to attract 2500 of the world's leading thinkers on global change research. The four day conference is sponsored by the International Council for Science (ICSU) global environmental change research programmes. It will bring together natural, physical and social scientists, together with economists. It will also involve engineers, health specialists and many other disciplines, plus national and international policy-makers, industry representatives, technologists, NGOs and development experts.
Click here for more details.
ESSP Strategy for Integrative Global Environmental Change Research and Outreach
As a result of an independent review (commissioned by the International Council for Science and the International Group of Funding Agencies for Global Change Research), the ESSP has developed a new strategy that will provide an internationally coordinated and holistic approach to Earth system science. The approach - developed by the global environmental change (GEC) research programmes (DIVERSITAS, IGBP, IHDP, WCRP), ESSP Joint Projects (GCP, GECAFS, GWSP and GECHH), START and MAIRS - integrates natural and social sciences at the regional to global scale. The strategy paper emphasizes that the mainstay of the ESSP is to identify and define Earth system science challenges, enable integrative research to address these challenges, and build scientific capacity.
Click on links to access ESSP strategy paper and an interview with ESSP Chair, Prof. Dr. Rik Leemans to learn more about the new journal on Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability.
Click on links to access issue 1 (October 2009) and issue 2 (December 2009).
LOICZ Storm Surges Congress
GWSP Digital Water Atlas
The Global Water System Project (GWSP) has launched its Digital Water Atlas. The purpose and intent of the Digital Water Atlas is to describe the basic elements of the Global Water System, the interlinkages of the elements and changes in the state of the Global Water System by creating a consistent set of annotated maps. The project will especially promote the collection, analysis and consideration of social science data on the global basis. Click here to access the GWSP Digital Water Atlas.
A Strategy for Global Environmental Change Research in Africa
The African Network for Earth System Science (AfricanNESS) science plan and implementation strategy "A Strategy for Global Environmental Change Research in Africa" has been completed and is now available for download. The plan focuses on four top-level issues: food and nutritional security; water resources; health; and ecosystem integrity. Framed around these issues, the science plan describes a strategy for global environmental change research in Africa that concentrates on eight thematic clusters: rainfall, land cover, livelihoods, cities, diseases and pests, Africa and the earth system, marine, and integrated development. Examples of possible research programs are provided for each of these areas. Finally, the plan outlines a way of implementing and organizing a network of earth system scientists in Africa, and connecting them to scientists around the world. The science plan was developed over a period of three years through the collective efforts of many African scientists, as well as colleagues from outside the African continent. The editors gratefully acknowledge the support from the US National Science Foundation, the South Africa National Research Foundation, IGBP, ESSP, START, and the ICSU Regional Office for Africa. Printed copies of the report are available on request from the IGBP Secretariat.
Click here for electronic version of the report.
Carbon Neutral
The ESSP office was carbon neutral in its office operations and travel in 2009. The ESSP supported the Anemon-Intepe wind project in Turkey. Click here for more details.
The Global Carbon Project has published an ESSP commissioned report, "carbon reductions and offsets" with a number of recommendations for individuals and institutions who want to participate in this voluntary market. Click here to learn more and to download the report from the GCP website.
The ESSP is a joint initiative of four global environmental change programmes:
