Sino-Argentine Workshop Held in Beijing to Discuss Antarctic Climate Change and its Sustainable Development

The Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) held an international workshop focused on Antarctic Climate Change and its Sustainable Development in Beijing on July 24-25, 2024. The event was part of the joint international cooperation project, “Using Earth Observations to Address Ecology and Environment Change in the Pan-Antarctic Cryosphere” undertaken by AIR. 

The workshop brought together over 20 experts and scholars from eight institutions, including the National University of Tierra del Fuego (UNTDF), the Argentine Antarctic Institute (IAA), the Southern Science Research Center of National Science and Technology Research Council (CADIC). The attendees engaged in in-depth discussions on the progress of the project and explored future directions for collaboration.

Keynote speeches were delivered by ZHANG Bing, Deputy Director of AIR, LU Xiaofeng, Senior Business Officer of American and Oceanian Affairs under the Bureau of International Cooperation at CAS, Daniel Alfredo Fernandez, Rector of UNTDF, Guillermo Jose Martinez Pastur, Principal Researcher of CADIC, and Sebastián Marinsek, Director of the Glaciology Department of the Argentine Antarctic Institute. Their talks highlighted significant research findings on Antarctic ecosystems and climate change, and they discussed critical cooperation topics such as establishing a joint research center, data sharing, and personnel exchanges.

Dr. Sebastián Marinsek, Director of the Glaciology Department of the Argentine Antarctic Institute, and Dr. Guillermo Jose Martinez Pastur, Principal Researcher of CADIC, delivered keynote speeches titled "Argentine Scientific Activities in Antarctica" and "Patagonian forests vulnerability to climate change: Consequences for management and conservation”, respectively. 

After two days of intensive discussions, participants reached a broad consensus on future cooperation. They conducted a preliminary review of the collaborative research, particularly on addressing Antarctic climate change and sustainable development. The draft outlines potential cooperation in areas such as climate change, carbon cycle, Sub-Antarctic, Antarctic, and High Mountain Asia (HMA) ecological linkages, social science, and human impacts, as well as sustainable development research. 

To facilitate collaboration, all parties agreed to jointly organize one to two annual workshops hosted by AIR, UNTDF, CADIC, and IAA. They also committed to pursuing funding opportunities for joint activities and proposed establishing collaborative research platform to support joint research projects between Chinese and Argentinian institutions. The meeting concluded with a preliminary consensus on research arrangements for the next six months, identifying the signing of a collaborative research agreement as a top priority.

Since its inception, the "Using Earth Observations to Address Ecology and Environment Change in the Pan-Antarctic Cryosphere" project has made significant progress. The project has achieved milestones through collaborations with international partners such as CADIC, IAA, and UNTDF. The cooperation has led to the development of comprehensive pan-Antarctic ecological and environmental data products through the Earth observation data. These datasets have provided valuable insights into the complex patterns of polar ecological and environmental changes, illuminating the interconnections between the three poles. 

The team has made initial progress in constructing a pan-Antarctic spatial observation data-sharing and information service platform. The project has also yielded tangible outcomes, including several research peer-viewed research papers and a national invention patent. The completion of the basic research tasks underscores the project's pivotal role in expanding our understanding of pan-Antarctic ecological and environmental dynamics. 

Group photo.