First Future Earth Forum connects expertise to accelerate sustainability

Organised by the Science and Technology Alliance for Global Sustainability, the Forum immediately follows the UN Climate Summit 2014, at which world leaders from government, finance, business and civil society are invited to meet in order to galvanise climate action. The 2014 Future Earth Forum will bring together a high-level group of researchers and decision makers from finance, business, re-insurance, foundations, UN bodies and media in order to generate the solutions-oriented research that society needs.

The objectives of this first-ever Future Earth Forum will be to introduce Future Earth, its vision and history, and to catalyse the partnerships and networks required to co-design the Future Earth research agenda and deliver a step-change in making science responsive to the needs of society.

The Forum will bring together the multi-disciplinary expertise and resources needed to co-design and undertake critical global change research in innovative new ways, connecting stakeholders with the research most relevant to them in order to deliver sustainability science that is of value to governments, business and society.

The focus of the 2014 Future Earth Forum is systemic risk in the financial, agricultural and peacekeeping sectors. Discussion at the Forum is expected to result in the identification of specific, immediate challenges for sustainability science to which Future Earth can contribute solutions-oriented knowledge in the coming years.

Future Earth is committed to building and connecting global knowledge to intensify the impact of research and find new ways to accelerate sustainable development. The Forum aims to further this commitment by developing a network of partners that share Future Earth’s vision and mission, in order to build the support required to advance leading-edge sustainability research and accelerate our transformations towards sustainability.

The Forum is intended to be an annual international event aimed at convening diverse stakeholders to foster dialogue and build partnerships to tackle critical issues related to global environmental change.

The organisers of the Forum are the Science and Technology Alliance for Global Sustainability comprising the International Council for Science (ICSU), the International Social Science Council (ISSC), the Belmont Forum of funding agencies, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations University (UNU), and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as an observer.