The UK's main funders of basic research are today answering the demands for better information on the nature and impact of climate change. They have outlined how the scientists they fund will address the challenges set out in the recently published Stern report, and how new technologies could help mitigate the effects of climate change.
Research Councils UK, the strategic partnership of the UK's eight Research Councils, sets out how researchers across the natural, physical and social sciences will play a key role in providing the improved knowledge we need to understand how and why the climate is changing. Responding to climate change issues will demand a multidisciplinary research approach, cutting across the remits of the eight Councils.
Future plans include building on the Research Councils' existing Energy Programme and introducing a major multidisciplinary initiative to help deliver economic, social and environmental sustainability. The new initiative, Living with Environmental Change, will be expected to deliver an analytical framework in which scientists across a range of disciplines can work together to examine links between environmental changes (not just climate change), ecosystem services (such as the natural process of water recycling) and human behaviour. It should also investigate how these elements affect global change processes, show how we can adapt to climate change and indicate when we should take steps to mitigate its impact.
Professor Alan Thorpe, speaking on behalf of RCUK, said: "Without solid knowledge about the changes already happening, people, businesses and governments will not be able to make evidence-based decisions or change their practices and behaviour to avoid the impacts of climate change. Research Council funded scientists are amongst the world leaders in monitoring and understanding climate change."
He explained the role of Research Council science in mitigating climate change: "UK scientists are developing the technologies that will help those most affected by climate change, the poorest people in the world, to adapt and survive. The Research Councils are planning to support projects to reveal the links between biodiversity and the ecosystems we depend on, to understand the feedback systems that could accelerate climate change and to increase our understanding of sustainable energy generation."
Scientists funded by the Research Councils are already monitoring oceanic acidity, predicting climate shifts, estimating the effects on biodiversity and land use, forecasting extreme weather, finding new approaches to managing energy supply and demand, and predicting the social and economic dislocation of climate change. The new planned initiatives will take us further forward in meeting the challenges of climate change.
The Research Councils' response to the recommendations contained in the Stern report is available at: http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/cmsweb/downloads/rcuk/publications/sternresponse.pdf 
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Contact
Marion O'Sullivan
Tel: 01793 411727
About Research Councils UK
The eight Research Councils are independent non-departmental public bodies, funded by the Science Budget through the Office of Science and Innovation. They are incorporated by Royal Charter and together manage a research budget of over £2.8 billion a year.
Research Councils UK (RCUK) is the partnership between the UK's eight Research Councils. Through RCUK, the Research Councils work together to champion the research, training and innovation they support.
The eight UK Research Councils are:
Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC)
Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC)
Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Particle Physics & Astronomy Research Council (PPARC)