May Update

Congratulations Professor Dame Jane Francis
A huge Congratulations to Professor Dame Jane Francis who has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society. This honour is reserved for outstanding scientists at the forefront of their fields around the globe. We are very lucky to have Professor Dame Francis as a valued member of our Independent Science Panel.

Read more about the Royal Society Fellows and Foreign Members here.

Ant – ICON
The first Community Engagement meetings for Ant-ICON were held earlier this month. The meetings provided the opportunity to hear from the Steering Committee as well as ask questions and discuss ideas. Platform researchers Dr Daniela Liggett and Natasha Gardiner from the Science Policy Interface Expert Group are part of the Steering Committee. You can watch the recorded meetings here.

Planning for the season ahead
Now the quarantine expectations for the season ahead are clear, project teams are working through their plans for the upcoming season. The Platform Leadership Team and Programme Leaders are working with each project and field event to ensure the 2021/22 field season is a success.

New Zealand joins the 50x30 Initiative
Professor Tim Naish, ASP Programme Manager, and Assoc. Professor Rob McKay, Antarctic Research Centre Director, are the first to sign New Zealand up to the 50x30 initiative. The initiative is an alliance between cryosphere and emissions research institutions, and governments that have accepted the scientific necessity to reduce emissions 50% by 2030, in order to prevent cascading and irreversible damage from the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the cryosphere.
You can read the mission statement here.

Professor Tim Naish says the Paris Agreement set a target of limiting global warming to well below 2 and preferably 1.5°C compared with pre-industrial levels.

“Overshooting the goal could result in many metres of sea-level rise, with major impacts across multiple generations. To avoid this, the science shows us we must be on a pathway to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030. New Zealand’s emissions reduction target in the New Zealand Climate Change Commission’s recent draft report to government does not achieve this. While admirable, the target of 36 percent by 2035 will not avoid an overshoot of the Paris goal.