Open seminar with Johan Rockström: Scientific Update on the State of the Planet

Join us for an open seminar with Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and one of the world’s leading sustainability scientists. During the seminar, Professor Rockström will provide an overview of the current state of the planet based on the latest scientific evidence and knowledge available today.

The seminar will be held in English on Friday, 9 October, from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. at Háskólabíó.

Please register for the seminar here:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/MysuFrcYs6

After approximately 11,000 years of remarkably stable climate conditions, humanity is now facing multiple, interconnected environmental changes. These affect nature and societies, human health and well-being, and economic stability, while also threatening the stability of the Earth system itself.

In his lecture, Rockström will present the latest scientific understanding of the state of the planet and the risks associated with destabilising the climate and its natural systems. He will discuss, among other things, the Planetary Boundaries, tipping points in the Earth system, and what this knowledge means for our understanding of sustainability and sustainable development.

Scientific evidence shows that humanity has already transgressed seven of the nine Planetary Boundaries. There is still an opportunity to reverse course and bring our societies back within safe planetary limits, but doing so will require rapid and far-reaching changes across the social and economic systems that have the greatest impact on the planet.

Programme

Welcome and opening
Hafdís Hanna Ægisdóttir, Director of the Sustainability Institute at the University of Iceland and moderator of the seminar.

Reflection
Andri Snær Magnason, writer.

Keynote by Johan Rockström
A lecture on the state of the climate and nature, the Planetary Boundaries, and the systemic transformations needed to bring our societies back within safe planetary limits.

Conversation
A conversation between Johan Rockström and Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir, Rector of the University of Iceland, moderated by Hafdís Hanna Ægisdóttir.

The seminar is organised by the Sustainability Institute at the University of Iceland in collaboration with the Institute of International Affairs at the University of Iceland, the Environment and Natural Resources Programme, the Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, the Faculty of Earth Sciences, the Institute of Earth Sciences, and the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy. The seminar forms part of the event series Climate Issues and Research.

The event will not be livestreamed. Rockström’s lecture will, however, be recorded and made available afterwards on the Sustainability Institute’s website, www.sshi.hi.is.

About the speaker
Johan Rockström is Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Professor in Earth System Science at the University of Potsdam and Professor in Water Systems and Global Sustainability at the Stockholm University. He is an internationally recognized scientist on global sustainability issues and led the development of the Planetary Boundaries framework for human development in the current era of rapid global change.

About the event series:
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time and calls for targeted research, interdisciplinary expertise, and stronger connections between science and society. A new event series at the University of Iceland, Climate Issues and Research, sheds light on the current state of climate research in Iceland, the key knowledge gaps, and the urgent need to strengthen the coordination, communication, and application of research findings.

The aim of the event series is to create a platform for informed discussion on climate research and its role in policymaking and decision-making in Iceland. Emphasis is placed on fostering dialogue among scientists, as well as between the academic community, public administration, industry, and the general public.