Climate Change: Bert Bolin and Beyond
On 26 September 2013 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will approve the Working Group I (WGI) contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report. To honour the significant achievements of Professor Bert Bolin as one of the founding fathers of the IPCC and its first chairman from 1988 to 1997, the WGI Assessment report Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis will be dedicated to him. The symposium will highlight new results from the Swedish science community that build upon Bert Bolin’s activities as a scientist and acknowledge his role as leader and mentor.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, the Bolin Centre for Climate Research and the IPCC invite to the symposium Climate Change: Bert Bolin and Beyond in honour of Professor Bert Bolin, the first chairman of the IPCC and member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Programme:
Chair: prof. Alasdair Skelton, Director of the Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University
• Welcome and opening remarks: Prof. Barbara Cannon, President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
• IPCC assessments and their relevance to climate policy: Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Sweden’s contribution to the IPCC and UNFCCC process: Hon. Lena Ek, Minister for the Environment, Swedish Ministry of the Environment
• The scientific basis for Bert Bolin’s later IPCC work: Prof. Henning Rodhe, science colleague of Bert Bolin
• Aerosol particles – Cooling the climate and polluting the air: Assoc. Prof. Ilona Riipinen, Department of applied environmental science, Stockholm University
• Clouds and climate – Still a cloudy picture: Dr. Frida Bender, Department of meteorology, Stockholm University
• Highlights of the Working Group I contribution to the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (AR5): Prof. Thomas Stocker, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group I
• Dedication of Working Group I AR5 to Bert Bolin: Prof. Qin Dahe and Prof. Thomas Stocker, Co-Chairs of IPCC Working Group I
Date: 4pm–5.45pm, 27 September 2013
Venue: The Beijer Hall, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Lilla Frescativägen 4A, Stockholm
ABOUT BERT BOLIN
After receiving his BA at Uppsala University, Bert Bolin came to Stockholm, where he was employed in 1948 as assistant to Professor Carl-Gustaf Rossby at the new meteorological department at Stockholm University. Following his doctorate in 1956, he began his outstanding research on the global carbon cycle. Bert Bolin was an outstanding scientific leader and motivator. Through his broad expertise, his ability to grasp essential contexts and his diplomatic talent, he became a natural leader wherever he got involved: the European space research in the 1960s, the Swedish polar research, and especially internationally within the major key research organizations that he helped to build up. He actively contributed to the creation of both the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the Secretariat of which is located at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences since its inception in 1987 thanks to him. Bert Bolin’s most important achievement is associated with the foundation of the UN climate panel, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He led the panel’s work during the first crucial years (1988–1997). His highly significant role as leader of the IPCC remains widely acknowledged. This work also made him known and respected far beyond the scientific community. Bert Bolin was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1961. He has received numerous prestigious awards. Before his death, he got to experience the major breakthrough of the climate issue and the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the IPCC. Bert Bolin died on 30 December 2007 at the age of 82.
Press contact:
Perina Stjernlöf, Press Officer, phone 46-8-673 95 44, 46-70-673 96 50, perina.stjernlof@kva
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, founded in 1739, is an independent organization whose overall objective is to promote the sciences and strengthen their influence in society. The Academy takes special responsibility for the natural sciences and mathematics, but endeavours to promote the exchange of ideas between various disciplines.
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