From ocean pollution and oil spill mapping to carbon dioxide removal, nature-based solutions and the growing role of Artificial Intelligence, CMCC’s presence at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2026 will bring cutting-edge climate research to the foreground. Across several convened and co-convened sessions, CMCC scientists will engage with the global geoscience community on topics at the intersection of climate science, risk management, and sustainable development – bringing findings that are as relevant to policymakers and practitioners as they are to the scientific community itself.

From 3 to 8 May 2026, Vienna will once again become the world capital of geosciences. The EGU General Assembly – organised by the European Geosciences Union, Europe’s leading organisation for Earth, planetary, and space science research – brings together over 20,000 scientists from across the globe for the largest geoscience conference on the continent.

CMCC is among the institutions playing an active and leading role at this year’s Assembly. CMCC scientists will contribute to and chair several scientific sessions, spanning a wide spectrum of research at the frontier of climate science.

• Marine pollution – how pollutants disperse through ocean environments and the ecological and socioeconomic risks they pose
• Coastal early warning systems – new tools to anticipate and respond to threats including storm surges, tsunamis, and marine heatwaves
• Multi-hazard risk assessment – integrating new technologies to generate actionable risk information for communities and policymaker including through the use of AI and machine learning
• Carbon Dioxide Removal – the potentials, risks, and monitoring of strategies such as direct air capture, Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage, and ocean-based CDR in the context of the Paris Agreement
• Nature-based solutions for water resilience – practical applications for managing floods, droughts, and freshwater security

On the environmental and ocean side, CMCC is convening sessions on marine pollution monitoring, modelling, and risk mapping – examining how pollutants disperse through marine environments and what socioeconomic and ecological consequences they carry – as well as on coastal resilience and multi-hazard early warning systems, where researchers are developing new tools to anticipate and respond to threats ranging from storm surges and tsunamis to marine heatwaves.

CMCC scientists will also lead discussions on the effects of climate and environmental changes on landslide activity, a field where machine learning, AI-driven modelling, and physical simulations are converging to better predict slope instability under evolving climatic conditions.

A second major cluster of CMCC contributions addresses the intertwined challenges of climate mitigation and adaptation. A dedicated session convened by CMCC will explore the role of Carbon Dioxide Removal strategies – including direct air capture, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, and ocean-based approaches – in meeting the temperature targets of the Paris Agreement, with a focus on their potentials, risks, and monitoring frameworks.

At the same time, CMCC will co-convene a session on nature-based solutions for water resilience, translating the EU Strategy on Nature-Based Solutions into concrete action for managing floods, droughts, and freshwater security.

Sessions on multi-hazard risk assessment and disaster risk management are also a key topic, integrating innovative technologies to produce actionable risk information for communities and policymakers.

Held as a hybrid event at the Austria Center Vienna and accessible online, the Assembly offers a unique forum where researchers can present cutting-edge findings, debate ideas, and forge new collaborations across all disciplines of the Earth and space sciences – from climate dynamics and ocean modelling to natural hazard risk and planetary exploration.

The 2026 edition spans hundreds of sessions, oral and poster presentations, and thematic press conferences on some of the most pressing scientific challenges of our time – including CMCC researcher Katie Johnson’s Press Conference “Can early warning maps outpace systemic vulnerability? Insights on extreme fire, heat, and gaps in EU climate laws”, taking place on 6 May 2026 at 10:00 CEST.

Find the full list of sessions involving CMCC scientists at EGU General Assembly 2026, here.