ERC President Maria Leptin will take part as a speaker in several sessions of the 9th UN Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology & Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (STI Forum) on 9 and 10 May 2024 in New York City. ERC grantee Joyeeta Gupta, Professor of Environment and Development, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Amsterdam and Professor on Sustainability, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, will also be a speaker.

Watch the recording of the high level panel “More and more effective funding and capacity for SDG related research and innovation in all regions” (SDG17) with Maria Leptin (speaks from 2’31) recording.

The ERC is also jointly organising an official side session (virtual only) on AI and climate with ERC President Leptin and ERC grantees Gustau Camps-Valls, Veronika Eyring, Pierre Gentine and Markus Reichstein amongst the speakers. Please see how to connect by Webex below.

ERC session: Pushing Frontier Research in Climate Modelling and Understanding with AI for Urgent Mitigation and Adaptation Needs
9 May, 08.30 - 09.45 (NYC time)

Welcome and introduction by Prof. Maria Leptin, ERC President  
Presentation by ERC grantees Profs Gustau Camps-Valls, Veronika Eyring, Pierre Gentine, Markus Reichstein
Q&A
Presentation and Q&A by Alessandro Rainoldi,  Head of Unit, European Commission’s Join Research Centre (JRC)
Closing remarks by Prof. Maria Leptin

How to connect

Join link: https://eeas.webex.com/eeas/j.php?MTID=m3bb849719986d8ea44556ce0e8b1d443  
Webinar number: 2794 241 1641  
Webinar password: KmY2PqrWS95 (56927779 from phones and video systems)  
Join by phone:
+32-262-00867 Belgium Toll
+1-650-215-5226 United States Toll
Access code: 279 424 11641

The European Research Council (ERC) funds curiosity driven science in all areas including social sciences and humanities using scientific excellence as sole selection criterion. The session will mainly present frontier research at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Earth system sciences with leading experts in the field. Amongst the speakers are the Principal Investigators of the ERC Synergy Grant project named “Understanding and Modelling the Earth System with Machine Learning (USMILE)”: Veronika Eyring, Gustau Camps-Valls, Pierre Gentine and Markus Reichstein.

The session will illustrate how science and innovative technologies can be combined to enhance our understanding of the fundamental physical principles needed to tackle climate change and will present necessary tools to address them, thus linking to SDG 2 (zero hunger) and SDG 13 (climate action), which permeate through and leverage many other goals.

Earth system models have made significant progress over the last decades, but systematic errors compared to observations and uncertainties in climate projections remain. This is mainly due to the imperfect representation of subgrid-scale or unknown physical and biological processes. More accurate climate information is urgently required. The session will present a next-generation Earth system modelling approach with AI that calls for accelerated models, machine learning integration, systematic use of Earth observations, and modernized infrastructures. The synergistic approach will allow faster and more accurate policy-relevant climate information delivery. This multiscale approach complements high-resolution (kilometer-scale) climate modelling activities with hybrid AI Earth system models that include essential Earth system processes and feedbacks, yet are still fast enough to deliver large ensembles for a better quantification of internal variability and extremes as well as their impacts on ecosystems and their services, such as global food production and security. Together, this framework can form a step change in the accuracy and utility of climate projections, meeting the urgent mitigation and adaptation needs of society and ecosystems in a rapidly changing world.

The ERC is organising the side session together with the EU Delegation to the UN and the JRC.
 
 
Session with the President at main event
 
9 May 12:00 – 13:00 (NYC time)
 
High level panel:
More and more effective funding and capacity for SDG related research and innovation in all regions (SDG17) (recording)

This session will explore the status of global research cooperation and funding - especially in the Global South – for the achievement of the SDGs. It will bring together key public and private funders of research and development (R&D) and other key R&D actors.

Chair: Her Excellency Inga Rhonda King, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to the United Nations, Co-Chair of the 2024 STI Forum Innovators lightning talk (selected winners of UN innovation competition)

• Daniela Carvajalino Tobon, Atuservicio Bogotá  
• David Oluwajomiloju Idunnuoluwa, Bboxx

Moderator: Carlos Henrique Brito Cruz OBE, Senior Vice-President, Research Networks, Elsevier; and Co-chair, Secretary-General’s Group of Ten High-level Representatives of Scientific Community, Civil Society and Private Sector Panel

• Tanaka Akihiko, President, Japan International Cooperation Agency
• Alejandro Adem, President, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canada, and Chair, Global Research Council
• Thandi Mgwebi, Group Executive, National Research Foundation, South Africa
• Li Jinghai, President of the International Panel of Mesoscience, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and of TWAS, Research Fellow, Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences Process Engineering

High-level respondents: 

• Maria Leptin, ERC President
• Heide Hackmann, Director, Future Africa, University of Pretoria
• Antonio Garcia Zaballos, Lead Specialist Telecommunications - Broadband Platform Coordinator, Inter-American Development Bank

Programme
 
The theme of this year’s edition of STI Forum is “Science, technology and innovation for reinforcing the 2030 Agenda and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises: the effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions”. In the face of accelerating climate change, the burgeoning capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI), and the urgent pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the convergence of these domains presents both formidable challenges and unprecedented opportunities. As governments, the private sector, and the academic science and engineering communities come together at the STI Forum, the focus is on harnessing the transformative power of science, science advice, and a wide range of technology solutions, most notably AI, to address the pressing challenges of climate change and achieve the SDGs by 2030.

Contact: Sabine Simmross