The fifth National Global Change Conference underway at the University of the Free State (UFS) is in the process of highlighting the most pressing climate change challenges, and discussing the possible measures to tackle the worsening impact of climate change overall.
Climate change affects societies across the world on varying scales.
Held in the Wynand Mouton Theatre on the UFS Main Campus in Bloemfontein, the event officially started on Monday (30/01) and will end on Thursday (02/02).
A panel of 17 speakers, who include experts such as researchers, share their views relating to climate change.
This event is attended by members of industry and government, numerous businesspeople, funders and several foreign diplomatic missions.
The purpose of the conference is to share and debate current local research and development initiatives that form part of the Global Change Grand Challenge (GCGC), which is one of the focus areas developed through the Department of Science and Innovation’s Ten-Year Innovation Plan.
The GCGC supports knowledge generation and technological innovation to enable South Africa, Africa and the world to respond to global environmental change, including climate change, in an informed and innovative way.
The four-day event is taking place under the theme “Research and innovation accelerating transformations to global sustainability”.
It is jointly organised by the Department of Science and Innovation, the National Research Foundation (NRF), the South African Global Change Science Committee (GCSC) and UFS.
The conference is a unique opportunity for open dialogue on important global change issues, and active participation by early-career researchers is strongly encouraged.
Topics to be discussed include the state of the southern oceans; the role of physics in power grids; climate and health, water resources and global crises; and agriculture in a changing environment.
