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Jonathan Overpeck, director of the UA Institute for the Study of Planet Earth, will address the conflict over climate change.

By University Communications
May 2, 2008

Environmental conflict resolution is the focus of a national conference being presented later this month by the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at The University of Arizona, the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution and several federal agencies.

The fifth national "ECR2008" will be held in Tucson on May 20-22.

Jonathan Overpeck, professor and director of the UA's Institute for the Study of Planet Earth, will address the plenary luncheon on May 22. His topic is “Climate Change and Conflict: A Provocative Assessment.” Overpeck was a coordinating lead author for the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment, which was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2007.

The ECR2008 conference will foster environmental conflict resolution processes using innovative technology and communication tools, the latest research and other collaborative processes, and how to navigate choices to make informed decisions that will improve outcomes for stakeholders.

ECR2008 is primarily geared toward government representatives, nongovernmental organizations, tribal nations and members, community-based groups, environmental advocates, corporations, resource managers and users, private individuals, and professionals in the conflict resolution, mediation and consensus-building fields.

Co-sponsors include the U.S. Department of the Interior; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration; and the U.S.D.A. Forest Service. Additional agency partners assisting with developing the conference program are the Council on Environmental Quality, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution is a federal program established in 1998 by Congress to assist parties in resolving environmental, natural resource and public land conflicts. It offers impartial, nonpartisan professional expertise, services and resources to all parties involved in environmental disputes, regardless of who initiates or pays for assistance.