www.igbp.net

Core projectsAnalysis, Integration and Modelling of the Earth System (AIMES)

Global Land Project (GLP) with IHDP

International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) with ICACGP

Integrated Land Ecosystem-Atmosphere Processes Study (iLEAPS)

Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research (IMBER) with SCOR

Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) with IHDP

Past Global Changes (PAGES)

Surface Ocean-Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS) with SCOR, WCRP and ICACGP

Joint projects and activities (Earth System Science Partnership)

Global Carbon Project (GCP)

Global Water System Project (GWSP)

Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)

Global Environmental Change and Human Health (GECHH)

Monsoon Asia Integrated Regional Study (MAIRS)

Global Change System for Analysis Research and Training (START)

SynthesisIGBP’s second synthesis is being developed in 2011 and 2012.

Join our network www.igbp.net

PartnersDIVERSITAS an international programme of biodiversity science

International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP)

World Climate Research Programme (WCRP)

Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP)

Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR)

International Commission on Atmospheric Chemistry and Global Pollution (ICACGP)

Regional collaborationAsia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN)

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI)

The European Alliance of Global Change Committees

AfricanNESS, the African Network for Earth System Science

Current fast-track initiativesUpper-ocean nutrient limitation: processes, patterns and potential for change (in collaboration with SCOR) (2009-2011)

Regionalisation of the Nitrogen Visualisation Tool (2009-2011)

Megacities and the coastal zone: air-sea interactions (2009-2011)

IGBP secretariatRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences Box 50005, SE-104 05 Stockholm Sweden T: + 46 8 16 64 48 E: comms@igbp.kva.se

Brazil regional officeInstituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE) Avenida dos Astronautas, 1758 Jd. Granja - CEP: 12227-010 São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil T: +55-12 3945 7108/7109

Science for a SuStainable p l a n e t

IGBP is a world-class provider of Earth system science:Expertise

• Coordinating twelve international projects• Developing international science plans• Providing scientific leadership for international processes, for example the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change • Promoting capacity building in developing countries

Coordination• Managing a network of 10,000 experts in global-change research• Coordinating national committees in 74 nations • Supporting regional alliances

Communication• Providing regular policy advice to international policymakers. IGBP reports global-

change research directly to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change through the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA)

• Producing summaries for policymakers on key issues, for example ocean acidification, atmospheric pollution and geoengineering

World-claSS reSearch

the anthropocene“A daunting task lies ahead for scientists and engineers to guide society towards environmentally sustainable management during the era of the Anthropocene.”

Paul J. Crutzen (Nature)

The word “Anthropocene” was coined by Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen, a former Vice-Chair of IGBP, and Eugene Atoermer. The term, which first appeared in IGBP literature (Global Change 41 (2000)), recognises the move to a new geological epoch dominated by humanity’s influence on the planet.

the Great accelerationSince its inception in 1987, IGBP has assembled overwhelming evidence of the unprecedented scale of changes to Earth’s most important biological, chemical and physical processes.IGBP’s first synthesis, Global Change and the Earth System, highlighted the rate of change in human activity since the 1950s, leading scientists to coin the term “Great Acceleration”.

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ViSion

Research prioritiesThe planetHow does planet Earth function as a complex adaptive system?

The planet under pressureHow is human activity affecting Earth’s biogeochemical cycles? And, how are Earth-system changes affecting society?

Transformation in an era of rapid global changeHow can we inform, catalyse and support appropriate actions at all governance levels from local through to national, regional and global?

IGBP’s vision is to provide essential scientific leadership and knowledge of the Earth system to help guide society onto a sustainable pathway during rapid global change. Climate-Change Index

The IGBP Climate-Change Index brings together four key Earth-system parameters (temperature, sea level, Arctic sea-ice minimum, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration) to provide an annual snapshot of the state of Earth’s climate.

iGbp

FuTuREIGBP’s Earth-system

modelling project (AIMES) helped coordinate the

development of a new suite of global emissions scenarios

for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Fifth AssessmentReport.

OCEan aCIdIFICaTIOnOcean acidification threatens important marine organisms

like this coccolithophore. IGBP’s marine projects provide international coordination of

ocean acidification research.

ImPaCTS, adaPTaTIOn.

VulnERaBIlITyIGBP and the Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change hold joint meetings, for example, on impacts,

adaptation and vulnerability, to climate change in the

developing world.

uRBanIzaTIOnAn IGBP megacities initiative

is investigating how urban emissions and consumption

lead to complex and interlinked environmental

problems.