Hybrid Event: From changing Polar regions to policy responses – Strengthening EU and global climate preparedness

Wednesday 24^th January 2024  at 14:15 – 16:00 CET

European Parliament (Room ASP 5G1) & online

Hosted by MEP Urmas Paet

Co-Chair of the Arctic Working Group of the European Parliament Intergroup on ‘Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development’

LINKS TO REGISTER:

• Registrations for physical participation are now closed.
• Please register here for online participation to the event.

This event will showcase the latest findings of OCEAN:ICE and Arctic PASSION on how changes in the polar regions impact European climate, infrastructure and livelihoods. Both the Arctic and Antarctic play a pivotal role in regulating the global climate. Changes at the Poles are having direct impacts on communities around the world. In Europe, an increased number of recent extreme events has shown the urgency of mitigation and adaptation strategies that are based upon multiple disciplines and knowledge systems.

Advancing polar scientific research and well-coordinated observations, dissemination and open access to knowledge are key components of the decision making process. This is emphasized by recent European Parliament resolutions. As attention in Europe and across the globe turns increasingly towards the Poles, European projects including OCEAN:ICE and Arctic PASSION aim to present/illustrate status and implications of their current research and observation activities to highlight impacts on the European Union and beyond. 

The work of both projects will contribute to future EU engagement with the polar regions and inform future EU policy and are relevant to the recently released “Joint Communication on a stronger EU engagement for a peaceful, sustainable and prosperous Arctic”, and the European Parliament-commissioned report “Antarctica: What role for the European Union?”.

OCEAN:ICE is co-funded by the European Union, Horizon Europe Funding Programme for Research and innovation under grant agreement Nr. 101060452 and by UK Research and Innovation.

Arctic PASSION has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101003472.

Further information regarding the co-organizers:

The OCEAN:ICE project focuses on understanding how the Antarctic Ice Sheet and the surrounding Southern Ocean influence our global climate. The data and models of the project will ultimately be able to reduce the level of uncertainty around how much the Antarctic Ice Sheet will melt in the near and far future, and provide information about  potential tipping points, changes to  sea level rise, and the potential impacts of sea level rise on European coastal areas.

Arctic PASSION aims to contribute to the international effort for  the co-creation and implementation of a more coherent, integrated Arctic observing system. Main actions include to extend and better coordinate pan-arctic observations to close gaps and overcome fragmentation, to strengthen inclusion of science, Indigenous and local knowledge, to streamline access to and interoperability of Arctic data, and to develop services tailored to Arctic stakeholders and right holders needs. 

European Polar Board is an independent organisation focused on major strategic priorities in the Arctic and Antarctic. EPB Members include research institutes, logistics operators, funding agencies, scientific academies and government ministries from across Europe. 

OCEAN:ICE is co-funded by the European Union, Horizon Europe Funding Programme for research and innovation under grant agreement Nr. 101060452 and by UK Research and Innovation. ARCTIC PASSION is funded by funded by the European Union, Horizon 2020 Funding Programme for research and innovation under grant agreement Nr. 101003472

FINAL AGENDA:

14:00 – 14:15:                   Welcome of participants – Networking coffee

14:15 – 14:25:                   Opening remarks by MEP Urmas Paet

14:25 – 14:50:                   Presentations by:

• Michael Karcher, Project Coordinator of Arctic PASSION and Senior Scientist at the Alfred Wegener Institut
• Ruth Mottram, Project Coordinator of OCEAN:ICE, Danish Meteorological Institute and the initiator of OCEAN:ICE, and Andrew Meijers, Senior Scientist at British Antarctic Survey

14:50 – 15:20:                   Panel discussion with the participation of:

• Elisabetta Balzi, Head of Unit ‘Healthy Ocean & Seas’ (RTD.B.4), DG RTD, European Commission
• Clara Ganslandt, Special Envoy for Arctic matters, European External Action Service (EEAS)
• Inuuteq Holm Olsen, Head of Mission / Minister Counsellor, Greenland Mission to the EU

15:20 – 15:50:                  Q&As with the audience

15:50 – 16:00:                   Closing remarks by MEP Urmas Paet