Cities must address climate change, and there is a need for a “long-term, cross disciplinary studies to reduce carbon emissions and urban risks from global warming.” Setting the agenda and six research priorities in the latest issue of “Nature” are Dr. Shobhakar Dhakal and 10 other leading scientists who have co authored an article of “Six research priorities for cities and climate change.”
The 1 March 2018 issue of the prestigious journal “Nature,” which has published this piece is set against the backdrop of the IPCC Cities and Climate Change Science Conference, being held in Edmonton, Canada, from 5-8 March 2018. “IPCC and nine global partners will bring together some 700 researchers, policymakers and practitioners from 80 countries, where participants will establish a global research agenda that will inform the IPCC special report on cities,” says Dr. Shobhakar, who is the Head of Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Change, at AIT.
The piece has been authored by members of the scientific steering committee for the IPCC conference, here they identify six priorities for cities and climate-change research. Says Dr. Shobhakar: “The six priority areas that we have identified are expansion in observations, understand climate interactions, study informal settlements, handle disruptive technologies, support transformation, and recognize global sustainability context.”
The authors also suggest steps forward including the need to strengthen partnerships and produce knowledge together, with specific roles for universities, scientists, local governments, researchers, policymakers, practitioners and other city stakeholders.
Coauthors of the article which was published in the “Comment” section of Nature include Xuemei Bai of Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, Richard J. Dawson of Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, Diana Ürge-Vorsatz of Central European University, Budapest, Hungary. Gian C. Delgado of National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico, Aliyu Salisu Barau of Bayero University Kano, Nigeria, Dr. Shobhakar Dhakal of AIT, Thailand, David Dodman of International Institute for Environment and Development, London, UK, Lykke Leonardsen of Program for Resilient and Sustainable City Solutions, City of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, Valérie Masson-Delmotte of Université Paris Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France,Debra C. Roberts of University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. and Seth Schultz of C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, New York City, New York, USA.
The publication can be accessed at this link: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-02409-z
Besides this publication, Dr. Shobhakar has also published two more articles in the journal Nature Climate Change, which is the top ranked journal in the field of Climate Change.
“City transformations in a 1.5 °C warmer world”, Nature Climate Change (2018), doi:10.1038/s41558-018-0101-5
William Solecki, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Shobhakar Dhakal, Debra Roberts, Aliyu Salisu Barau, Seth Schultz & Diana Ürge-Vorsatz
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0101-5
“Locking in positive climate responses in cities” Nature Climate Change (2018); doi:10.1038/s41558-018-0100-6
Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Richard J. Dawson, Roberto Sanchez Rodriguez, Xuemei Bai, Aliyu Salisu Barau, Karen C. Seto & Shobhakar Dhakal
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0100-6