ERC President Maria Leptin will take part as a speakers 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. The ERC is also organising a side session on AI and climate on this occasion. (only virtual).
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.
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)
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 present frontier research at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Earth system sciences with leading experts in the field. 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.
More information to follow
Contact: Sabine Simmross