The Urgency of Tackling Climate Change with Integrated Solutions and System Transitions

At the Nano Open Webinar on May 17, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Şiir Kılkış, researcher and advisor to the president at TÜBİTAK, will discuss the urgency of tackling climate change with integrated solutions and system transitions.

Climate change already involves global surface temperature warming by 1.1°C on average. Limiting this rise to a maximum of 1.5°C continues to be an urgent need to remain within the physical boundaries of the Planet instead of a level marked by 3.2°C that is the trend for our climate future based on current policies and practices. The most recent findings of the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is put forth with a focus on the physical science basis, impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability, and mitigation of climate change, underscoring the scientific urgency more than ever. In the Synthesis Report released in March 2023, mitigation and adaptation opportunities in all sectors and systems, including those within the scope of energy systems, cities, settlements, and infrastructure are emphasized, along with the possibility of directing development pathways to sustainability. Increasing societal co-benefits while reducing greenhouse gas emissions provide related key opportunities for accelerating these efforts. In this presentation, the main findings will be summarized and system transformations that can respond to the urgency in creating solutions to climate change will be discussed with a focus on integrated approaches. Opportunities within urban systems, which account for 67-72% of global greenhouse gas emissions, will be highlighted. While creating solutions to climate change globally, awareness on the applicability of the scientific findings at every level and scale will be raised through the contributions that can be made for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reaching net-zero carbon targets within our university campuses, too. Creating solutions for climate change everywhere is a necessity for achieving sustainable development.

To register for the Nano Open Webinar, which will take place on May 17, 2023 at 11:00 am on Zoom, please visit; http://otolab.sabanciuniv.edu/SUNUMActivityRegistrationForm 

About Assoc. Prof. Dr. Şiir KILKIŞ

Assoc. Prof. Şiir Kılkış is conducting scientific research focused on climate change and sustainability. During the Sixth Assessment Cycle (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), she served actively as a Lead Author extending to cross-Working Group collaborations. She is the first scientist from her country to be selected as a Lead Author in assessment reports and served in the core team for the approval of the mitigation focused scientific findings. She graduated with honors in Science, Technology and International Affairs from Georgetown University where she focused on climate change and received the Gold Medal of this interdisciplinary field. In her doctoral research at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, she developed a Rational Exergy Management Model for utilising energy resources more rationally. She provides scientific guidance for climate change and sustainability as Senior Researcher and Science Advisor to the President at the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye. In the Earth System Sciences Graduate Program of METU Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, she applies innovative educational approaches focused on sustainable development. She is a member of the International Science Committee of the SDEWES Centre for energy, water and environmental systems, and the Earth Commission for a safe and just corridor guided by the Earth system boundaries. She has been among the top 2% in the fields of energy, environmental sciences, and enabling/strategic technologies and has received international and national awards.