Climate Change

Population dynamics play important roles in the causes and consequences of climate change; these need to be better understood and taken into account when designing mitigation and adaptation strategies. By establishing a scientific panel on climate change the IUSSP recognizes the importance of this new field of research.

The overall aims of the panel are to (i) strengthen and expand the network of population researchers working in this field; (ii) encourage the development of a richer and deeper understanding of the ways population processes interact with climate change; and (iii) ensure this improved understanding is made available to a wide range of researchers and policymakers.

The panel will organize a number of meetings and other activities to achieve these objectives. Pursuing these aims will require some cross-disciplinary research and integrating insights from other disciplines including the earth sciences. Secondary aims therefore are to reflect on the conditions which foster fruitful engagement in such cross-disciplinary research, and whether these have implications for demographic training.