Reading list for my first climate summit

Members of the Lund delegation to COP21 planning for Paris.

I'm excited and honored to be attending the climate summit in Paris as an accredited observer from Lund University. This is where nearly 200 countries will come together and aim to reach an agreement about how to change the path we're now on (a business-as-usual world headed for +4-5°C) to a more sustainable world that avoids the worst impacts of climate change. 

This will be my first time attending the United Nations climate negotiations, and I am looking forward to learning more about the process and how to make my research more relevant to policy, as well as to serve as an advisor to the Youth in Landscapes initiative at the Global Landscapes Forum, and take part in the Anthronaut Experience- a virtual reality hackathon with scientists, artists, designers, and virtual reality experts to make climate science narratives a 3D experience.

As I'm busy packing my bags, I'm gathering reading material for the 16-hour train ride to Paris. Here's what I'll be reading up on: 

General background: 

• The Road to Paris blog curated by my friends and colleagues Denise Young and Johannes Mengel at the International Council for Science is a good place to start- see the highlights here. 
• Seven key issues to be addressed at the Paris climate summit, by my friend and former labmate Simon Donner. 

Current perspectives: 

• Both Nature and Science have special issues devoted to the history of the talks, and what's at stake.
• The current issue of the Economist also features the Paris talks on their cover. 

Preparing for attending the meeting: 

• The COP21 Information Hub is a good place to start for official info on schedules & logistics. 
• Side events schedule
• Science-related events, curated by Johannes and Nora at ICSU 
• Help for Multilateral Environmental Agreement negotiators who encounter problems from Foundation for International Environmental Law & Development - helpful, plain language overview of how negotiations work, and what to do in situations such as "A more experienced negotiator bullies you" or "negative media reports about your country." 
• Guidelines for civil society participation at UNFCCC 
• RINGO news- Lund University is part of the "Research and Independent Non-Governmental Organizations to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change." RINGO hosts a daily briefing at 09:00. 

Keeping up with the negotiations in real time:

• During the meeting, the Earth Negotiations Bulletin covers the previous day's events and where the negotiations now stand on their website and through Twitter.

I'll be following and Tweeting to the #COP21 hashtag, and also posting under the #LUCOP21 hashtag for members of the Lund University delegation at the COP. Please follow me on Twitter and let me know if you have any questions about the meeting, I'll do my best to answer!