Since 1981 the worldwide scientific community meets every four years at an international conference for an exchange of the latest knowledge and to gain a better understanding on the multitude of interdisciplinary aspects of the global carbon cycle. The objective of the conference is to provide a multidisciplinary forum for all aspects of modern carbon cycle research pertinent to understanding the natural and anthropogenic controls of atmospheric carbon dioxide and its interactions in the global Earth system with a special focus on the contemporary anthropogenic perturbation.