The format of the conference will consist of a main line of invited and selected plenary presentations covering all fields of global carbon cycle research. Several extended poster sessions and a few parallel sessions on specific topics will complement the plenary. Participants will be asked to submit an abstract, which will be compiled into an electronic abstract volume prior to the conference and made available to all participants. A special interlinked issue with journals ESD, ACP and BG will be published for conference related papers.