The International Conference on Regional Climate (ICRC)-CORDEX 2019 was held in Beijing, China, 14-18 October 2019. The Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) is a Programme under World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) with the vision to advance and coordinate the science and application of regional climate downscaling through global partnerships. Almost 500 people presented at the conference while another 400 participated via the webcast.

During the five-day conference, the Third Pole (TP) region came into the spotlight in several sessions linked with high-mountain environment, especially in the session organized by the Third Pole Environment (TPE) entitled “Third Pole Environment: high resolution simulation/reanalysis and its implication/application”. The TPE project of “High resolution climate modelling with a focus on mesoscale convective systems and associated precipitation over the Third Pole region” was also endorsed as a new Flagship Pilot Studies (FPS) of WCRP-CORDEX. Led by Prof. Deliang Chen, member of the TPE executive committee and August Rohss Chair of University of Gothenburg (Sweden), this new FPS involves over 20 researchers from 11 countries and focuses on the high-resolution climate modelling over the TP to better understand precipitation processes such as convection, which will help address climate-related challenges with a regional focus.

“We focus on water, ecosystem and human activity, particularly on the changing Asian Water Towers and their impacts and on adaptation strategy with the cooperation between scientists and policymakers.” said Prof. YAO Tandong, co-chair of the TPE and professor at Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ITPCAS). Prof. Yao also pointed out some urgent and critical questions regarding the Asian Water Tower (also known as the TP), the answering of which will help provide scientific advice to ensure green development in the region and beyond. The endorsement of the TPE project by WCRP-CORDEX FPS marks that the vision and scientific insights of TPE has received ever greater recognition and stronger support from the international science community.