Yesterday Noveber 30th, COP21 was finally inaugurated by President Hollande. Of course it is hard in such a speech to know what are just words and to what extent there will be force behind them. Clearly he is riding on a wave of some sympathy. Two weeks ago he came and shook hands with me and those next to me in the front row, after spending a few hours debating at the Collège de France. He said he wanted to speak not only for France but for Science. Then came the terrorist attacks and he was propelled into his role as the strong leader of France.

Note: This blogpost was first published as an RWI Impact note in November 2015. 

Note: This blogpost was published by the Economist on November 18, 2015 read original blogpost here

Looking out of the window I see a Paris bathed in sunshine on this warm winter Sunday. But the headlines talk of bathing in blood. This blog post will be about art school, climate science, statistics and the politics of terror. Each of us must struggle to find balance in life.

Most Swedes know that our country was covered by ice during the ice-ages – latest some 20 000 years ago. We know this because our lands are still “rebounding” like a spring – or a sponge - that has been compressed (except that this goes on for thousands of years). It is just a few mm per year but it gives a feeling for how mighty the forces of nature are.

That must have been a heavy load of ice! In fact when I fly in to Gothenburg I look down and think that a third of that distance was ice… Still I never compared this to Antarctica. 

Note: This blogpost was published by the Economist on October 12, 2015 read original blogpost here

Wednesday Evening 9th April Berlin. 

We just decided to prolong the extra evening session from 7 PM to 10 PM and then to 1 AM. Towards midnight the room is looking empty with only 150 people present but the Japanese delegation has seven people. Many are in “contact groups” consisting of authors and country delegates trying to agree on issues that have held up the plenary for hours earlier during the week.

Sunday 6th April.
60 people have been sitting from 8.00 AM to 11 PM in the Estrel Hotel. These 60 are the CLAs (Coordinating Lead Authors) and some Lead Authors and the Cochairs and the staff of the Technical Support Unit.  So far it is “practice”, we have been going through our Summary For Policymakers (SPM). This is the document that is to be agreed, line by line with the governments of the world in the Approval Session.