The UK’s leading climate science organisations are joining forces to develop a new national alliance focused on climate solutions for society. Seven Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) supported centres and the Met Office will work together as the new UK National Climate Science Partnership (UKNCSP) to respond to threats posed by a rapidly changing climate by putting climate science at the forefront of the solutions agenda.

Recognising the urgency of accelerating action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UKNCSP will play a leading role in the development of an end-to-end climate strategy.

The solutions-focused approach led by the UK’s major climate science organisations will support the UK Government in developing and evaluating solutions to the challenges of mitigating and adapting to climate change. The partnership will also work with the public and private sectors to ensure decision makers and businesses have access to the climate information they need, in order to build resilience and adapt to the pressing challenges of the coming decades.

Professor Paul Monks, Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), will introduce the partnership at the Met Office’s Future of climate modelling session on Wednesday 3 November at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26. Professor Monks will outline how the Met Office and the seven NERC-supported research centres will combine their science research capabilities with universities across the country to integrate the UK’s capabilities for monitoring, modelling and predicting climate change and its impacts.

Professor John Remedios, NCEO Director, said “I welcome the joined-up approach of the National Climate Science Partnership. The need for climate action requires research centres and agencies to work together in a collaborative and strategic manner over the long-term. We are excited by the new climate data sets delivered from satellites in space and look forward to these informing climate modelling activities as well as climate mitigation and adaptation responses. What is important is that we are able to orientate climate research towards nature-based solutions, risk information and technology impact assessments whilst maintaining a strong capability in climate assessment and prediction.”

With COP26 the backdrop for global collaboration in tackling climate change, the UKNCSP will coordinate its partners’ wide-ranging resources in climate observing and prediction to deliver the climate information required to set in motion actions and solutions. The partnership will be driven by policy and decision-making needs and provide the foundations to enable the UK to continue leading in and developing its capabilities to address new challenges, such as extreme events, net-zero and building a climate-resilient UK.

The co-ordinated national approach will also support BEIS in enabling businesses to respond to the challenges and opportunities of climate change. As businesses become increasingly aware of the need to take the challenges and opportunities of climate change seriously, quantitative information about the potential impacts of climate change on their assets and operations, and the associated risks, is required. The UKNCSP will deliver climate information needed to help businesses make positive steps towards addressing these issues.

Visit the MET Office for more information about the Aims of the UK National Climate Science Partnership