By Rich Bowden:

A Gold Coast conference focusing on the world’s ability to adapt to climate change has been described as a “turning point” for climate change science.

United Nations Environment Program chief scientist Joseph Alcamo told the near 1000 scientists and government representatives and lawmakers from around the world that climate change was inevitable and world governments should make plans now to implement climate adaptation policies.

“We are faced with a certain amount of inevitable climate change,” he said.

“Therefore we’re going to have to plan to adapt to a certain amount of this climate change and I think it’s something that the general public should also realise and accept.”

Alcamo said the pace of adaptation was critical.

“Equally important to adaptation is to slow down climate change so that, first of all, the pace of change is slow enough that we can adapt to it and so that the total amount of change is not going to be so extreme that it will have big impacts.”

The conference has also heard that farmers remain one of the most vulnerable groups with regard to climate change with Dr Rajendra K. Pachauri telling the conference that innovation measures are critical in farm management, crop development and water harvesting. He said nations will combine to establish a research institution specifically to work on answers to these challenges.

Federal Climate Change Minister Penny Wong opened the conference at the Gold Coast Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Tags: alcamo climate conference, climate change gold coast, pachauri climate, Penny Wong, un climate change conference