New climate change centre - linking research to action

11 April 2000

A new national £10m centre for climate change research is announced today which will investigate the full implications of climate change for the UK.

The University of East Anglia will lead a consortium of nine institutions. The main 'Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research' as it will be called, will be based at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, and regional offices will be set up at the University of Southampton and University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology.

The minister for science and innovation, Lord Sainsbury, said, "This new and exciting initiative brings together climate scientists, economists, social scientists, and engineers. It is essential they work together to assess fully the implications of climate change for the UK, and so help us make well-informed decisions about what to do."

The centre will complement the work sponsored by the Department of the Environment, Transport & the Regions at the Hadley Centre and in the UK Climate Impacts Programme. It will contribute to the development of the UK's strategies on mitigation and adaptation which were announced last month when the Government launched the UK Climate Change Programme.

Jointly funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI), the centre will seek the views of the public, regularly brief politicians and the media, and engage industry through its business liaison programme.

Dr Mike Hulme, Executive Director of the Tyndall Centre said, "There are many signs that our current management and environmental systems are poorly able to cope with a changing climate, as evidenced by the human suffering caused by the recent floods in Mozambique. We need to create a sustainable relationship between climate and society, both in the UK and world-wide. The Tyndall Centre will contribute to this objective by researching the implications of climate change for long-term planning and by identifying climate policies that both slow the rate of warming and bring long-term benefits to people and communities."

A spokesman for the research councils added, "We will work with the consortium to find a world-class scientist to lead the centre. This person must provide intellectual vision and be capable of working with business and government."

Further information

Dr Mike Hulme
Executive Director of the Centre
Tel: 01603 593162
Fax:01603 507784

NERC Press Office
Natural Environment Research Council
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon, SN2 1EU
Tel: 01793 411561
Mob: 07917 557215

Notes

1. The three research councils (NERC, EPSRC and ESRC) launched a joint announcement of opportunity at an event (attended by the press) at the DTI Conference Centre on 15 July 1999. They received seven outline bids, many from consortia of research institutions. A panel of scientists and stakeholders, chaired by Sir Crispin Tickell, was specially formed to assess the bids. In November 1999 the Panel short listed two bids: one from the winning consortium, the other from a similarly large consortium led by Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine. Full bids were submitted and assessed by the panel in March 2000. The panel made a recommendation to the three research councils which was accepted.

2. Last month the Government launched the draft climate change programme for the UK which describes the overall strategy to deliver the UK's legally binding target from Kyoto to cut greenhouse gas emission to 12·5% below 1990 levels by 2008 to 2012 and to move towards our domestic goal of a 20% cut in carbon dioxide emissions below 1990 levels by 2010. It also discusses what the UK may need to do to adapt the unavoidable impacts of climate change. The centre will able to contribute to the UK's strategies in these areas.

3. The NERC contribution to the centre of £5m over five years, comes from additional cash received as part of the 1997 Comprehensive Spending Review. EPSRC contributes £3·75m, ESRC contributes £1·25m, and DTI contributes £210k. Despite the cash differences however, the three research councils wish to be considered as equal partners in the venture.

4. NERC is the leading body in the UK for research, survey, monitoring and training in the environmental sciences. NERC funds research in universities and in its own Centres and Surveys. NERC trains scientists for the future - more than 3,000 postgraduate students have been funded by NERC over the last five years.

5. ESRC is the UK's largest independent funding agency for research and postgraduate training in economic and social sciences. It aims to provide high quality research on issues of importance to business, the public sector and government, including economic competitiveness, the effectiveness of public services and policy, and quality of life. At any one time, ESRC may be funding more than 2,000 researchers working on individual research projects or within large centres or programmes.

6. The Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the largest of the UK research councils. It funds research and postgraduate training in universities and other organisations throughout the UK.

7. The complete winning consortium consists of:

University of East Anglia
University of Southampton/Southampton Oceanography Centre
University of Manchester, Institute of Science & Technology
University of Cambridge
SPRU - Science & Technology Policy Research, University of Sussex
Energy Research Unit, CCLRC, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Edinburgh and Wallingford
Complex Systems Management Centre, Cranfield University
Institute of Transport Studies, University of Leeds

8. The Tyndall Centre partners will join with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to run jointly an annual, high-level seminar series called 'Extending the Frontiers'.

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New climate change centre - linking research to action

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