Major investment in UK environmental sciences announced
Funding will go toward large-scale observational projects and improved research capabilities.
Scientific research centres across the country will receive £101million in new funding, which will boost their capabilities through innovations in platforms, sensors and data science.
Key benefits will include natural resource management, biodiversity, improved human health, and greater resilience to climate threats and change.
The National Environment Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation, is behind the investment, which will help support wide economic growth in green sectors. NERC’s National Capability Single Centre Science and National Public Good initiatives, one of the UK’s largest environmental science investment programmes, has awarded the money.
‘This major investment by NERC will build on the UK’s extensive environmental science capabilities, helping us better understand how our planet is changing at local and global scales and enhance resource and environmental management,’ said Dr Iain Williams, Director of Strategic Partnerships at NERC.
‘Through this investment, NERC is supporting scientists and policymakers in responding to major global challenges in pollution, warming seas, biodiversity loss, and climate change, and our research will help us to live sustainably,’ he continued.
£41.4M has been awarded to the National Oceanography Centre (and Marine Delivery Partners) to deliver the Atlantic Climate and Environment Strategic Science (AtlantiS) programme which provides new capability to combine ocean observations from a range of platforms and sensors, next-generation models and innovation in digital tools to meet the aspiration of healthy, biologically diverse and resilient marine environments, a sustainable blue economy and communities safe from natural hazards.
£29.9M has been awarded to the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology to deliver the National Capability for UK Challenges ‘Understanding the UK Environment’ programme to increase the UK environmental scientific capability to quantify how the UK land, water and air are changing in response to the combined pressures of climate and land use change, and to provide integrated solutions to government, business, and industry.
£12.4M has been awarded to the National Centre for Atmospheric Science to deliver a programme of work that advances access to atmospheric data (including observatories) and the development of novel atmospheric models to improve our ability to predict the Earth’s climate system and provides evidence to e.g., government & industry, on topics such as air quality, climate, hazardous weather, sustainable fuel emissions & pollutant dispersion.
£8.4M has been awarded to the British Antarctic Survey and Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling to deliver the UK Polar Research Expertise for Science and Society (PRESICENT) programme which delivers underpinning capabilities (models, field research platforms, data etc.) to understand the role & response of polar marine ecosystems to changes in environmental stressors (e.g. temperature, sea ice, pollution), measure and predict polar ice sheet contributions to global sea level rise (and associated tipping points) and deliver Antarctic space weather observations to global networks in support of the UK National Risk Register.
£8.6M has been awarded to the National Centre for Earth Observation to deliver a programme of work translating multiscale Earth Observation data from novel satellites into scientific knowledge and actionable information that benefits wider science and policy communities. Drawing on decades of world-leading UK expertise and international collaboration to address the most urgent challenges (e.g., societal climate impacts) and understand changes in the carbon cycle, air pollution, energy & water cycles, and their linkages such as wildfires.
UNISON gets behind international treaty to end fossil fuel use
Image: Lucas Vasques