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Russia-UK cooperation: assessment of national level climate change impacts

Specialists from the Institute of Global Climate and Ecology (IGCE) and UK company Ricardo Energy & Environment will present and discuss outcomes of the bilateral project ‘Assessing and Communicating Country Level Climate Impacts in Russia and the UK.’

Russia-UK cooperation: assessment of national level climate change impacts

The meeting will take place in the Residence of the UK Ambassador to the Russian Federation. This is one of the events scheduled for the ‘Russia-UK Year of Science and Education 2017’.

There are a wide range of reports and assessments on the impact of climate change that provide evidence for action. At a global level, the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (issued in 2013-2014) presented global information on observed changes in climate and their causes, future climate change risks and impacts and opportunities for addressing climate change (mitigation and adaptation).

Many countries, including Russia and the UK, publish national level reports setting out risks and impacts related to climate change. However, countries use different approaches and methodologies for assessing and presenting national level climate change impacts. The UNEP CLICC (Country Level Impacts of Climate Change) multilateral project has developed a common format for communicating impacts of climate change at a national level. The approaches developed under CLICC have been applied in this project.

The experiences of Russia and the UK in assessing climate change impacts on permafrost (Russia) and flooding (UK) will be discussed at the meeting on 1 March. The impacts will be presented using the CLICC templates to facilitate discussion and dialogue. The exchange of knowledge and experiences on presenting national level impacts of climate change is important to aid global understanding of impacts and to assist with the development of national adaptation plans outlined under the Paris Agreement.

Scientists from the UK and Russia (from Roshydromet and the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as from universities), representatives of private sector organisations, governmental agencies and mass media will also take part in the meeting.

Published 24 February 2017