IRD has served as an observer for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change since 2014 and was actively involved throughout 2015 preparing for COP21 with its partners from the French higher education and research system, and especially with the academic and scientific communities from developing countries.
It co-organised two major international scientific conferences in the run-up to COP21, Climate-Smart Agriculture (Montpellier, 16 – 18 March) and Our Common Future under Climate Change (Paris, 7 – 10 July), mobilising the scientific community from the Global South and upholding the conviction set out in the final declaration of the Paris conference, which affirms that research is pivotal not only in investigating and raising global awareness of climate change, but also in identifying solutions to mitigate and adapt to environmental changes and assessing their implementation and level of acceptability to populations.
Drawing on the research conducted over several years, IRD also co-organised more than 70 scientific events in France and other countries where it works, and contributed to preparatory workshops and scientific coordination work related to COP21 on a number of French campuses via the COMUE university and institutions communities.
IRD was the only French EPST (Public Scientific and Technical Research Establishment) to have its own stand in the Climate Generation space at Le Bourget during COP21, where it welcomed 89,000 people, and was also present at the Solutions21 exhibition at the Grand Palais, on the stand run by the French ministry for national education, higher education and research (42,000 visitors).
Through the dozens of events co-organised with its partners at Le Bourget and the various actions over the two weeks of COP21, IRD reaffirmed a number of positions that it believes arise directly from current scientific knowledge, or its limits:
