Climate change is considered a global emergency that requires international cooperation and coordinated solutions at all levels. Geoscience and geoscience societies have important roles to play. This session will invite speakers to present geoscientists' perspectives and discuss where we are going, what we (don't) know of the problems, and how are we (not) succeeding. The UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris reached a breakthrough Agreement in 2015. The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty joined now by 193 States and the European Union. Its overarching goal is to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degC above pre-industrial levels (UNFCCC). Recent scientific inputs by IPCC, stress the need to limit global warming to 1.5 degC by the end of this century; as crossing this threshold risks unleashing far more severe climate change impacts, including more frequent and severe droughts, heatwaves and rainfall. To this end, greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest. Also, the implementation of the Agreement is considered essential for the Sustainable Development Goals set in 2015.

Climate change is considered a global emergency that requires international cooperation and coordinated solutions at all levels. Geoscience and geoscience societies have important roles to play. This session will invite speakers to present geoscientists' perspectives and discuss where we are going, what we (don't) know of the problems, and how are we (not) succeeding. The UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris reached a breakthrough Agreement in 2015. The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty joined now by 193 States and the European Union. Its overarching goal is to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degC above pre-industrial levels (UNFCCC). Recent scientific inputs by IPCC, stress the need to limit global warming to 1.5 degC by the end of this century; as crossing this threshold risks unleashing far more severe climate change impacts, including more frequent and severe droughts, heatwaves and rainfall. To this end, greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest. Also, the implementation of the Agreement is considered essential for the Sustainable Development Goals set in 2015.