Media Briefing at ESSP Open Science Conference, Beijing

Date: Thursday 9 November 2006
Time: 10:35
Place: Convention Hall 1, Beijing International Convention Center

(Beijing, 9 November 2006) From the Amazon to Monsoon Asia to sub-Saharan Africa, regions around the world are facing unprecedented challenges induced by global environmental change. How regions can cope with the consequences of natural and human-driven changes to the Earth?s environment, what future changes they can expect, and what the nature of those changes will be is the focus of an Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) Open Science Conference being held 9-12 November in Beijing. Conference sessions will underscore how regional sustainability challenges can best be met by an integrated, global approach.

The Conference will open with welcoming remarks from conference chair Gordon McBean and a senior Chinese government official, followed by talks from top global environmental change researchers. A Media Briefing will be held at 10:35 during the coffee break of the opening session in the same venue; media have been allocated special seating to facilitate a timely start for the briefing.

Speakers at the media briefing will include:
* Gordon McBean, conference co-chair and professor, University of Western Ontario, Canada;
* Dahe Qin, conference co-chair and administrator of the China Meteorological Administration, whose opening remarks will address global environmental change scientific assessment and response strategies in China;
* Congbin Fu, research professor with the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, who will talk about the new ESSP Monsoon Asia Integrated Regional Study (MAIRS). Please see Media Alert 2 for more details on MAIRS.

Other media briefings to be held during the conference:

Briefing 2: Friday 10 November, 10:30, Plenary Session 2, Earth System Science in a societal context:
The need for interdisciplinary approaches  Highlights of ESSP’s efforts to address the Earth System science -sustainability connection.  Speakers: Will Steffen, Australian National University; Diana Liverman, Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University; Tony McMichael, Australian National University; Felino Lansigan, University of the Philippines Los Banos; Michael Raupach, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research

Briefing 3: Saturday 11 November, 10:30, Plenary Session 3, Global Environmental Change (GEC) science links with policy and development agendas  “Science for Sustainability” is one of the Conference’s central themes and this will be an important session addressing key sustainability and policy issues from a regional and global perspective. Speakers: Thomas Rosswall, International Council for Science (ICSU); Kevin Trenberth, National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA; Steve Lennon, ESKOM, South Africa; Daniel Murdiyarso, Center for International Forestry Research, Indonesia; Meryl Williams, Australian Center for International Agricultural Research

Briefing 4: Sunday 12 November, 16:00, Summary of major outcomes of the ESSP Open Science Conference, including a conference Declaration on ESSP’s commitment to provide scientific contributions to policy that will put us on a more sustainable path.  Speakers: Conference co-chairs Gordon McBean and Dahe Qin

Media Contact:

Mary Ann Williams
phone: +46 8 673 9562
fax: +46 8 16 64 05
email: osc@essp.org

Local Conference Organiser
Yu Jun
phone: +86 10 6217 2957
fax: +86 10 6217 4797
email: lfish3@gmail.com