PAST EVENT: The Planet Under Pressure 2012 Conference - 26-29 March 2012

The 2012 international Planet Under Pressure conference will provide a comprehensive update of the pressure planet Earth is now under. The conference will discuss solutions at all scales to move societies on to a sustainable pathway. It will provide scientific leadership towards the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development - Rio+20.

Based on the latest scientific evidence, the London Planet Under Pressure conference will provide a comprehensive update of our knowledge of the Earth system and the pressure our planet is now under. The London conference will focus the scientific community's and the wider world's attention on climate, ecological degradation, human well-being, planetary thresholds, food security, energy, governance across scales and poverty alleviation.

The conference will discuss solutions, at all scales, to move societies on to a sustainable pathway. It will provide scientific leadership towards the 2012 UN Rio +20 conference, also in 2012.

www.planetunderpressure2012.net

The key aims of the conference include:

?2500 participants combining global-change science and policy, business and development communities
?Scientific leadership towards the 2012 UN Rio +20 conference
?Building trans-disciplinary research communities
?Identifying opportunities for enhanced partnerships between global change science and policy, industry and the public
?A new vision for international research
Building on a comprehensive update of knowledge of the Earth system and the pressure it is under, the Planet Under Pressure conference will present and debate new insights into potential opportunities and constraints for innovative development pathways based on novel partnerships.

The four-day conference will follow this flow:

• Day 1: State of the planet: the latest knowledge about the pressures on the planet
• Day 2: Options and opportunities: exchanging knowledge about ways of reducing the pressures on the planet, promoting transformative changes for a sustainable future and adapting to changes in the global system
• Day 3: Challenges to progress: clarifying what is preventing or slowing humanity from implementing potential solutions
• Day 4: Ways ahead: a vision for 2050 and beyond, and exploring new partnerships and pathways towards global sustainability

Conference themes
A.    Meeting global needs: food, energy, water and other ecosystem services

B.    Transforming our way of living: development pathways under global environmental change

C.     Governing across scales: innovative stewardship of the Earth system