Download Open Letter to the Community

An open letter from the next generation of atmospheric scientists to worldwide science funding
agencies and the public: “Global environmental solutions require global funding”
We, members of the next generation of environmental scientists, are committed to conducting
solutions-oriented research on global environmental problems. In addition to the highly visible problem
of climate change, we face global environmental threats such as biodiversity loss, worsening air quality,
and limited food security and water availability. These threats don’t stop at national borders. Research
in these areas requires global coordination and collaboration, and would be best served by an equally
global funding infrastructure.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties will convene next year in
Copenhagen to negotiate post-Kyoto climate policy. One criterion for success of these negotiations is
their basis in the best available science at the local, regional and global scale. International efforts to
find solutions to climate change require sound process-level understanding of the climate system.
While the organizational infrastructure for global research coordination exists, funding is managed by
national and regional agencies individually, with increasing emphasis on local concerns. Susan Solomon,
a lead author of the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, recently concluded
that “the planning and coordination of international research are best carried out by organizations such
as the World Climate Research Programme, the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, and the
International Human Dimensions Programme.” We advocate a financial support structure organized
along similar lines. The International Group of Funding Agencies (IGFA) exists to coordinate global
research efforts, but it does not administer a common fund for international collaborations.
We suggest that the scientific funding agencies around the world create and contribute to a common
fund to support global environmental change research. This common fund would allow the most
efficient use of resources available. Currently, the total amount of funding does not limit our success as
much as the lack of a global funding structure. For example, large-scale international research programs
requiring many partners can be jeopardized if a few of the participating scientists are not supported by
their national agencies. A co-benefit of this global financial coordination could be to streamline the
transition of research results into international policy-relevant information, by including a requirement
of global focus in the selection criteria for proposals. Access to the funding would proceed via the same
peer-reviewed competitive research proposals as are currently used at the national level, with an
international review panel and clear evaluation criteria.
Such interagency collaboration to support science does have a precedent, at least on the national and
regional scales. One example comes from the U.S., where several agencies with different mandates
contribute to a common fund under the Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), which supports
national and international research. Regional examples include the Framework Programme of the
European Commission, the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research, and the Inter-American
Institute for Global Change Research. We believe that our efforts to produce science in support of
climate solutions would benefit from the application of a similar approach to worldwide research
funding.
We look forward to serving society in the search for solutions to global environmental problems,
supported by a truly global funding infrastructure.
Signed,
Twenty-six early career atmospheric scientists at an August 2008 US/Nordic workshop in Tovetorp,
Sweden
Tatu Anttila, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Finland; Janna Back, University of Helsinki, Finland; Kelley
Barsanti, University Center for Atmospheric Research, USA; Merete Bilde, University of Copenhagen,
Denmark; Michael Boy, University of Helsinki, Finland; Ann Marie Carlton, Environmental Protection
Agency, USA; Annica Ekman, Stockholm University, Sweden; Juliane Fry, Reed College, USA; Marianne
Glasius, University of Aarhus, Denmark; Gannet Hallar, Storm Peak Laboratory, USA; Colette Heald,
Colorado State University, USA; Christopher Hoyle, University of Oslo, Norway; Kara Huff Hartz,
Southern Illinois University Carbondale, USA; Hannele Korhonen, University of Kuopio, Finland; Tuukka
Petaja, National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA; Markus Petters, Colorado State University, USA;
Janne Rinne, University of Helsinki, Finland; Thomas Rosenoern, Harvard University, USA; Guy Schurgers,
Lund University, Sweden; Allison Steiner, University of Michigan, USA; Amy Sullivan, Colorado State
University, USA; Birgitta Sveningsson, Lund University, Sweden; Timothy Van Reken, Washington State
University, USA; Christine Wiedinmyer, National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA; David Worton,
University of California at Berkeley, USA; Alessandro Zardini, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
The opinions above are those of the individual authors and should not be inferred as officially endorsed
by their institutions.