Background and Objectives

The assemblage of Joint research projects has formed an integrated European strategic Programme of Climate change research in the Polar Regions and will be an important contribution to the development of policies and strategies at the European Level. The Programme was the first of its kind to open a call for polar Climate research and has aimed to fully utilise the infrastructure and logistical capabilities of the participating national agencies. Further calls under the umbrella PolarCLIMATE programme will be envisaged following this first pilot. The research as part of this European Programme takes place after the International Polar Year and therefore will be an important continuity of efforts to investigate the processes of climate change and its impacts and to maintain momentum of the integrated groups of scientists that have formed during the IPY process.  

The PolarCLIMATE programme has contributed to the development of a strategic common vision for Polar Climate research and is the first step towards joint implementation of programmes and fully utilising research stations and climate observatories in the Arctic and Antarctic. The joint research theme and sub-themes were identified through consultation of an Expert European Science Advisory Council defined to be authoritative experts in the field and nominated by the participating European funding agencies. Ongoing scientific planning processes and assessments in the Polar Regions such as ICARP II, ACIA and IPCC and IASC-SCAR science priorities were taken into account in the selection of the topics for the first Call. The Research Themes therefore represented the state of the art subjects of high-importance to scientists, the public and governments. Joint programming* has recently been identified by the European Commission as of strategic importance to the European Union as a whole. The PolarCLIMATE programme was a test of identifying common research priorities and financing areas research in the Polar Regions which are of strategic importance. The PolarCLIMATE programme has also formed the first steps towards a European contribution to the implementation an Arctic and Antarctic observing network through supporting research within research stations and observatories with broad spatial coverage and linking with ongoing coordination & planning efforts such as SAON (Sustained Arctic Observing Networks), www.arcticobserving.org and the European Polar Board's INFRAPOLAR initiative.  

By enhancing cooperation among those agencies that develop and manage research programmes in the Polar Regions, the PolarCLIMATE programme has aimed to increase the efficiency and impact of national public research funding in strategic areas of Polar climate research. The Joint Programming in a Virtual Common Pot funding model in this Call targeted areas of strategic importance such as Climate change research in the Polar Regions for the whole or a large part of Europe. This programme has aimed to address wide issues of scientific importance at the European and global scale and to fully utilise and facilitate access to the Arctic and Antarctic research facilities that are operated by national polar organisations. How Europe responds to a number of major societal challenges will shape its future in the decades to come. These challenges include dealing with the threats poised to populations in the context of climate change. PolarCLIMATE was the first dedicated polar programme of its kind to engage over 18 nations in a joint research funding programme in the Polar Regions addressing interhemispheric comparisons and the drivers and impacts of Climate variability in the Arctic and Antarctic.   

^{* Ref: Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Towards Joint Programming in Research: Working together to tackle common challenges more effectively {SEC (2008) 2281} & {SEC (2008) 2282} COM (2008) 468}