Scientists meet in France to discuss climate change
A view of the compound of the Unesco headquarters in Paris. Scientists will meet for four days from July 7, 2015 to discuss climate change. PHOTO | EUNICE KILONZO |
What you need to know:
- Kenyan researchers in Paris to present papers on the impact.
- The conference runs from July 7-10.
PARIS
Kenyan scientists will on Tuesday join their peers in France to discuss how the changing climate patterns are disrupting livelihoods in Kenya.
This will be part of a four-day scientific conference, “Our common future under climate change”, that will be opened by French President Francois Hollande at the Unesco Headquarters in Paris. Over 2,000 scientists across the globe are expected to discuss how areas such as agriculture, health and the economy will suffer in the wake of adverse climate changes.
Among the papers presented that touch specifically on Kenya are those of researchers from the University of Nairobi and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development arm on climate prediction. They will discuss the rising water levels of Rift Valley lakes such as Naivasha, Magadi, Bogoria, Elementaita and Baringo that are in turn submerging schools and hotels around them.
This will have a direct impact on tourism in the region as well as the number of malaria cases and water-borne diseases such as cholera affecting the those living around the water bodies.
ILL PREPARED
Another research paper will look at how infrastructure on islands such as Lamu and Mombasa is ill prepared for the impact of rising sea levels and sea storms, the use of Information Communication Technology in detection of climate change in Kenya, and the use of alternative sources of energy to reduce pollution.
The conference according to Jean-Pierre Poncet, a representative of the French Government at Unesco, will “prepare a road-map for upcoming international conferences concerning climate change”.
Mr Poncet was referring to the 21st United Nation’s Conference of the Parties (COP21), which will be hosted by France in December 2015 that will, among other things, produce a framework for a steady increase of individual and collective actions towards minimising and adapting to climate change.
According to the conference website, it will “define the form that action has to take in order to engage in a necessary transition to low-carbon and adapted economies and societies”.
The July 7-10 Scientific Conference has four overarching objectives:
1. Provide state-of-the-art scientific knowledge on climate change.
2. Explore a wide range of pathways combining climate change forecasts, storylines and scenarios.
3. Scientific evidence will be assessed to explore a large array of potential technological, social and institutional solutions to some of the challenges created by climate change.
4. Offer negotiators, policy-makers, businesses, NGOs, and the public an up-to-date panorama of the insights that science can provide on climate change and how to tackle it.
