Future Earth

Future Earth is a 10-year international research programme devoted to building knowledge about the environmental and human aspects of Global change, and to finding solutions for sustainable development. Its mission is to intensify the impact of scientific research on sustainable development.

It represents an evolution in international scientific research co-ordination from research programmes arranged around scientific disciplines to an interdisciplinary research programme bringing together natural and social sciences, as well as the humanities, engineering and law, and focused on designing and producing research together with stakeholders from outside the scientific community.

Mission and principles

Future Earth's mission is to "build and connect global knowledge to intensify the impact of research and find new ways to accelerate sustainable development". Its vision is for "people to thrive in a sustainable and equitable world". To do this, Future Earth mobilizes the international community of global environmental science researchers to:

• Inspire and create interdisciplinary science relevant to major global sustainability challenges
• Deliver products and services that society needs to meet these challenges
• Co-design and co-produce solutions-oriented science, knowledge and innovation for global sustainable development
• Build capacity among scholars world-wide

History

Future Earth was launched in June 2012, at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).

It brings together existing research programmes on global environmental change DIVERSITAS, the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP), and will work in close partnership with the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP).

Structure

The Governing Council of Future Earth is 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.

The Science Committee of Future Earth is chaired by Dr Mark Stafford Smith, who is the Science Director of CSIRO’s Climate Adaptation Flagship in Canberra, Australia. The co-chairs are Professor Melissa Leach, who is Director of the Institute of Development Studies, and Dr Belinda Reyers, Chief Scientist in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa.

The Engagement Committee of Future Earth is chaired by the Indian economist and politician Jairam Ramesh, and the co-Chair is Amy Luers, Director of Climate Change for the Skoll Global Threats Fund. A globally distributed consortium was appointed as the Secretariat of Future Earth in July 2014, with offices in Montreal (Canada), Stockholm (Sweden), Boulder, Colorado (USA), Tokyo (Japan) and Paris (France).

Paul Shrivastava is the Executive Director.

Projects

Scientific research and synthesis in Future Earth is carried out by a number of international networks, known as ‘core projects’, many of which were launched under the umbrella of the existing four global environmental change programmes, DIVERSITAS, the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP) and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). Some further projects arose out of the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP). A formal process for the affiliation of these projects into Future Earth began in 2014. The projects are:

• AIMES (Analysis, Integration and Modelling of the Earth System)
• bioDISCOVERY
• bioGENESIS
• CCAFS – Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, a collaboration among the CGIAR Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers
• ecoHEALTH
• ecoSERVICES
• ESG – Earth System Governance
• GCP – Global Carbon Project
• GLP – Global Land Project
• GMBA – Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment
• GWSP – Global Water System Project
• IGAC – International Global Atmospheric Chemistry
• IHOPE – Integrated History and Future of People on Earth
• ILEAPS – Integrated Land Ecosystem-Atmosphere Processes Study
• IMBER – Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research
• IRG – Integrated Risk Governance Project
• LOICZ – Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone
• MAIRS – Monsoon Asia Integrated Regional Study
• PAGES – Past Global Changes
• PECS – Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society
• SOLAS – Surface Ocean-Lower Atmosphere Study
• UGEC – Urbanization and Global Environmental Change

External Links

Official website