CLIPORE - Mistras climate policy research program
WHAT IS THE CHALLENGE?Addressing human-induced climate change is one of the most pressing challenges for society and will greatly impact many aspects of human life. It will affect the way societies are organized, the way cities are built and the way transport and energy systems are designed. To cope with climate change and its effects everyone must cooperate, including individuals, enterprises, NGOs and nation states. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is taken as a point of departure for the research performed under the Programme. Today, the UNFCCC is the most important international forum for combating and handling the effects of global climate change. However, the fact that the Kyoto Protocol has not gained the participation of the United States of America and other key greenhouse-gas emitting countries is a serious impediment to achieving the environmental aims of the UNFCCC. Defining the shape and scope of international collaboration under the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol will be critical for enabling global participation in future efforts to address climate change. Negotiations for the second commitment period will formally start in 2005. This situation makes it particularly important and timely to invest now in investigating ways of enhancing the negotiation process and its results.HOW CAN THE PROGRAMME CONTRIBUTE TO A SOLUTION?
In order to meet the challenge of global warming and to develop new policies for addressing it, it is of utmost importance to improve the social science understanding of the complexities of the economic and societal processes that influence mitigation and adaptation possibilities. The Climate Policy Research Programme supports research that is strategically relevant to management of the climate problem, in a small number of areas in which research is likely to make a contribution not only in Sweden, but also internationally. Stimulating such investigation is the primary objective of Mistra´s Climate Policy Research Programme. The second objective is to increase the capacity of the Swedish research community to make meaningful contributions in this important area of social science research.
WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THE RESULTS?
The Swedish Climate delegation and other European decision makers, other researchers in this field, the Swedish private sector, and environmental NGOs are the primary target groups for the research performed under this Programme.
