Some of the world’s leading early and mid-career researchers and innovators will gather in Rio de Janeiro from 16-19 July to address the impact that rising global temperatures will have on coastal communities, oceans and water resources.
From developing solutions to marine plastic pollution to exploring sustainable use of the Amazon rainforest, the Frontiers of Development symposium, will provide a unique opportunity for researchers from engineering, social sciences, natural sciences, humanities, biomedical sciences and medicine to share their expertise and develop new research collaborations to tackle the global issues caused by climate change.
The symposium is a collaboration between the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the British Academy and the Royal Society under the UK government’s Global Challenges Research Fund.
The United Nation’s Emissions Gap Report suggests that global temperatures are set to increase by 3°C above preindustrial levels by 2100, with 275 million people worldwide living in areas that are predicted to be flooded due to rising sea levels. Addressing the challenges brought on by rising global temperatures, the symposium will focus on three main themes; the use of the sea and its resources for sustainable economic development; protecting the marine ecosystem; and reducing the risk of, and building resilience against, climate induced disasters.
Professor Minhan Dai, Director of the Marine Environmental Laboratory at Xiamen University, China and Co-chair of the symposium, said:
“Coastal communities around the world are facing unprecedented threats from global scale environmental and climate change. There are no magic solutions to the challenges brought about by rising temperatures but it is clear that it requires a global, collaborative response, one where we bring together regional and large-scale initiatives to learn from each other and combine knowledge from across disciplines. Communication, interaction and cooperation are key to saving millions of people across the world from a bleak future.”
Professor Francis Pope, Academy GCRF Networking Grant Awardee and Frontiers of Development symposium attendee, said:
“A warming climate places stress on already stressed cities. We must look for ways to increase city resilience at the individual, community, citywide and national levels. At the Frontiers of Development symposium I am hoping to meet a multidisciplinary audience who will work together to find interdisciplinary solutions to global problems, improving the health of this changing world.”
The Frontiers of Development symposium is part of the UK-Brazil Year of Science and Innovation, a joint initiative led by the UK and Brazilian governments and funded through the Newton Fund. The initiative promotes collaboration between researchers, entrepreneurs and businesses from the UK and Brazil to address four key global challenges: climate and biodiversity; sustainable agriculture; health and life sciences; and energy.
Follow the symposium on Twitter at #FrontiersDev
Frontiers of Development aims to bring together outstanding researchers from a range of disciplines, based in both the UK and the Global South, to build the necessary networks and relationships needed to support high-impact research around development challenges. The programme encourages the next generation of research leaders to work collaboratively across multiple subjects to address the issues faced by developing countries.
The symposium is part of the Resilient Futures Initiative, a collaboration between all four UK national Academies under the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). The event will be co-chaired by Professor Mark Pelling, UKRI GCRF Challenge Lead for Resilience to Environmental Shocks and Change and Professor of Geography at Kings College London and Professor Minhan Dai, co-chair for the symposium and Director of the Marine Environmental Laboratory at Xiamen University, China.
To read more about the Academy’s GCRF work visit this page