In the wake of Paris Agreement, scientists must embrace new directions for climate change research

Abstract

At each Conference of Parties (COP), scientists hand over the climate change problem to diplomats and policymakers. A COP also offers scientists a chance to take stock of their research, confront emerging policy questions, identify research gaps, and update their research agendas. We, as an interdisciplinary group of academic experts who have been providing independent insights to the COP21 French presidency and negotiation team (1), have seen not only the importance of science in policymaking but also its limitations and sometimes its lack of alignment with the complex environmental and societal issues addressed in the negotiations. Here we analyze research gaps and identify new directions of research in relation to a number of facets of the Paris Agreement, including the new 1.5 °C objective, the articulation between near-term and long-term mitigation pathways, negative emissions, verification, climate finance, non-Parties stakeholders, and adaptation.