Arctic Basecamp will be at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos this week for the seventh time, but this time virtually as well as physically, launching new tools to help mitigate climate risks and hosting a programme of events that aims to kick-start policy decisions and find solutions to the climate crisis.
Each year at Davos, the Arctic Basecamp scientists set up a real polar science expedition basecamp, which acts as a workplace and event space during the day as well as dormitory at night, camping in sub-zero temperatures to bring a message of global risk from polar change to world leaders at the WEF.
The polar regions are the control centre for our climate system, and they are undergoing rapid change that drives global risk for all of us. Earth scientists have identified 16 key climate tipping points and nine out of those 16 are in the polar regions. Five of the six that are closest to tipping are in the poles.
Added to this the Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet and Arctic Basecamp’s mission is to spread awareness of the global risks this poses to health, societies and businesses – and to spark bold action, with previous speakers at the Arctic Basecamp tent including Christiana Figueres, the former US Vice President Al Gore and Greta Thunberg.
This year Arctic Basecamp will unveil the Global Climate Risk Platform (go live during Davos week), a new and improved risk platform that will curate worldwide climate risks and make polar science more accessible to business leaders, policymakers and anyone looking to learn more and mitigate climate risks.
They will also launch the Global Risk Aggregator (links to Beta version), an interactive web tool which provides daily AI-driven visualisations of global climate threats sourced from credible outlets worldwide and linked back to polar change.
Arctic Basecamp in VR
Arctic Basecamp’s presence at Davos will be virtual in the Global Collaboration Village, an immersive virtual experience within a purpose-driven platform, powered by next-generation technology and initiated by the World Economic Forum, in partnership with Accenture and Microsoft. Powered by next-generation technology the Global Collaboration Village brings leaders from around the world together to solve real-world problems through the collaborative potential of extended reality.
Arctic Basecamp provided crucial scientific advice and support in the creation of the Climate Tipping Points Hub, an integral part of the Global Collaboration Village, and is one of the first Village partners to have a VR event space, where it can host discussion linking polar climate change to global risks.
Inside the VR Arctic Basecamp tent.
It is there, on 18 January, that it will host a virtual reality (VR) panel, The Global Risks Associated with Sea Level Rise from a Melting Greenland inside the Village’s main Congress Centre.
Arctic Basecamp Davos 2024 programme
Pitched outside the Hotel Schatzalp, the Arctic Basecamp tent will play host throughout the week to polar scientists, youth activists, global business leaders, policymakers, innovators and disruptors for events, science briefings, debates and discussions on polar issues.
Some highlights include an invitation to Come and Meet our Arctic Youth Ambassadors and Early Career Researchers on Monday 15 January, featuring a youth delegation from the We Are Family Foundation who will discuss with the Arctic Basecamp scientists local and global solutions that businesses and governments can adopt for our climate future.
Leaders from the global campaign SHE Changes Climate, Arctic Basecamp and the research and strategic communications agency Kite Insights will on Tuesday 16 January come together for the event Women Climate Leaders - Circle of Trust, and on Wednesday 17 January Arctic Basecamp will host a live-streamed high-level panel discussion on the present and future climate impacts on health at the SDG Tent.
Arctic Basecamp will collaborate with the University of Exeter on its own Davos events programme, and Professor Gail Whiteman, Founder and Executive Director of Arctic Basecamp as well as a Professor of Sustainability at the University of Exeter Business School, will be involved in other key events throughout the week, participating in the session Earth Decides: Cultivating Informed Optimism in the main WEF Congress Centre and leading the WEF Open Forum session On Thin Ice: The Consequences of Climate Breakdown (livestreamed here), which will address the irreversible collapse of Arctic summer sea ice.
It’s our seventh year at the World Economic Forum and this year we are busier and more ambitious in what we’re trying to achieve than ever, which is important because Arctic change affects businesses, communities and all aspects of life no matter where you live.
The Arctic Basecamp tent will as ever be a vibrant hub of activity during Davos week, a place where innovative, real-world global solutions to the climate crisis are showcased and discussed by top climate scientists, business leaders, policymakers and youth leaders. Our aim is to galvanize the global community to be more aware of Arctic change and to pressure their leaders into taking urgent action, because what’s at stake in the Arctic is the future of humanity itself.
Professor Gail Whiteman, Founder and Executive Director at Arctic Basecamp
Arctic Basecamp Davos 2024 programme
See here for more details on the Arctic Basecamp programme for the World Economic Forum at Davos.
Media Enquiries
Please contact:Helen Clay, Communications Director, Arctic Basecamp, helen@arcticbasecamp.org
About Arctic Basecamp
Arctic Basecamp Foundation is a non-profit science communication organisation focused on communicating the global climate risks from polar change. On a mission to “speak science to power", the foundation aims to expand the global reach of its advocacy and research on how polar risks are impacting the global climate crisis. Each year, Arctic Basecamp scientists and collaborators set up a real Arctic science tent, camp there and run impactful events on the impacts of climate change alongside the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting at Davos.
