Background
Following the publication of the Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (ACCE) report in 2009, SCAR has made use of its status as an observer organization to participate in several United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meetings to present its climate change science.
In June 2013 SCAR attended the UNFCCC Bonn Climate Change Meeting. This highlighted in particular the Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (ACCE) Executive Summary update, which had been published in April 2013 (Turner et al., 2013, Polar Record, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0032247413000296). This was the most significant SCAR publication in the area of Climate Change since 2009 and was the subject of a press briefing, webcast live by the UNFCCC and archived on their website. A talk on “Antarctica and Global Climate” was also given by the SCAR Executive Director at a UNFCCC side event on “Rapid Climate Change in Polar and Mountain Regions”, organized by the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative. In addition, SCAR had an exhibit booth for the first week of the Meeting and attended relevant sessions of the UNFCCC Standing Bodies. SCAR has worked closely with ICCI on promoting Antarctic research at UNFCCC events since 2013 and has also worked with the International Science Council on official side events.
More recent contributions to the Conference of the Parties (COP) meetings have centered around participation at the Cryosphere Pavilions that have been a feature of recent COPs, managed by ICCI . SCAR has partnered with ICCI on side events at the Cryosphere Pavilions since 2019 and the most relevant recent publication from SCAR has been the 2022 version of the Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment report, which was heavily referenced at the COP27 meetings in 2022.
