OpenCLIM Major new research project will help strengthen UK climate resilience

The project is designed to support UK assessment of climate risks and adaptation needs by developing and applying the first UK integrated assessment for climate impacts and adaptation. The project aims to develop an open, innovative and flexible platform to provide an improved capacity for the next Climate Change Risk Assessment and National Adaptation Plan.

Principal investigator Professor Robert Nicholls, Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and the University of East Anglia, said:

“The UK is an international leader in climate research and I am delighted to be working closely with stakeholders and Tyndall’s University partners to further develop new research needed to inform the next UK climate change risk assessment. Our work will draw a detailed picture for national and regional decision-makers about the impacts of climate change for further embedding resilience into UK policies and research.”

OpenCLIM will consider UK-wide climate impacts and adaptation in biodiversity, agriculture, infrastructure and urban areas, considering the impacts of flooding, heat stress and changing temperature and precipitation. It will also consider two detailed case studies in Glasgow and the Clyde and a more rural analysis of the Norfolk Broads. These will serve as a demonstration exercise to inform the national analysis.

OpenCLIM will also design an open-access platform to allow further development of the integrated model beyond the funding period, with the aspiration to develop a community model where new and improved versions could be easily incorporated and innovative science and new policy questions investigated.

OpenCLIM partners include co-investigators at the University of East Anglia, colleagues led by Prof Richard Dawson at the Tyndall Centre at the Newcastle University, University of Bristol, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, and STFC Laboratories in Oxfordshire.

Professor Suraje Dessai at the University of Leeds is one of the Leeds of the UK Research and Innovation Strategic Priorities Fund Climate Resilience Programme and said:

“The research will significantly enhance the country’s capacity to undertake climate change risk assessments. This capability is critical to inform the UK Government’s cyclical Climate Change Risk Assessment and National Adaptation Programme. By developing an open, integrated and flexible platform, OpenCLIM will incorporate several climate impact models (on water and agriculture for example) and different future scenarios (of climate and socio-economic change) to assess climate risks and adaptation responses.”

OPENClim is £1.8m of a new £3.5m programme funded by UK Research and Innovation Strategic Priorities Fund Climate Resilience Programme 

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