The long road to Paris - how the climate change agreement was made

1500-1600: Talk: The long road to Paris - how the climate change agreement was made, David Warrilow 

I will review the long interaction between science and policy on climate
change and specifically how the work of the Inter-governmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) has influenced international climate negotiations,
culminating in the Paris agreement. I will give some insights into how
the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) makes use of
science, and also what it’s like to be at a Conference of the Parties.
Finally I will review what was agreed at Paris, what the next steps are
and how science might prepare for emerging policy challenges. 

1600-1800: Climate cake! Bring a plot (or diagram, or photo) relevant to your research, pin it up on a poster board, and eat cake!

Speaker Bio:

Before his recent retirement David Warrilow was a senior government science advisor and international negotiator on climate change and environmental issues, such as ozone depletion and air pollution. He led the UK delegations to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for over 20 years and was a lead negotiator for the EU on the scientific issues covered in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). He managed a significant research programme at the Department of Energy and Climate Change providing underpinning scientific evidence and analysis of climate change, energy and ozone depletion in support of the UK’s domestic and international policies. Communicating the science of climate change to non-specialists has been a key aspect of his career.  

Prior to this he undertook research at the Met Office on the development of observing systems, hydrometeorology and flood design, and climate modelling of land surface process.  

Since retiring from the civil service in January 2016 David has undertaken several speaking engagements on the scientific background to the Paris Climate Agreement and on the use of science to support policy. He has been asked by the Royal Meteorological Society to lead a Special Interest Group on Climate Science.