* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download SID5 Form - Defra Science Search
Global warming wikipedia , lookup
General circulation model wikipedia , lookup
Climate change feedback wikipedia , lookup
Climate sensitivity wikipedia , lookup
Myron Ebell wikipedia , lookup
Economics of global warming wikipedia , lookup
Global warming controversy wikipedia , lookup
Climate engineering wikipedia , lookup
Heaven and Earth (book) wikipedia , lookup
Solar radiation management wikipedia , lookup
Michael E. Mann wikipedia , lookup
Hotspot Ecosystem Research and Man's Impact On European Seas wikipedia , lookup
Climate change and agriculture wikipedia , lookup
Climate change adaptation wikipedia , lookup
Citizens' Climate Lobby wikipedia , lookup
ExxonMobil climate change controversy wikipedia , lookup
Climate governance wikipedia , lookup
Climate change in Tuvalu wikipedia , lookup
Soon and Baliunas controversy wikipedia , lookup
Climate change in the United States wikipedia , lookup
Attribution of recent climate change wikipedia , lookup
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change wikipedia , lookup
Climate change denial wikipedia , lookup
Politics of global warming wikipedia , lookup
Climatic Research Unit email controversy wikipedia , lookup
Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme wikipedia , lookup
Fred Singer wikipedia , lookup
North Report wikipedia , lookup
Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment wikipedia , lookup
Effects of global warming on humans wikipedia , lookup
Effects of global warming on Australia wikipedia , lookup
Climate change and poverty wikipedia , lookup
Media coverage of global warming wikipedia , lookup
Climate change, industry and society wikipedia , lookup
Climatic Research Unit documents wikipedia , lookup
Scientific opinion on climate change wikipedia , lookup
Public opinion on global warming wikipedia , lookup
IPCC Fourth Assessment Report wikipedia , lookup
Surveys of scientists' views on climate change wikipedia , lookup
General enquiries on this form should be made to: Defra, Science Directorate, Management Support and Finance Team, Telephone No. 020 7238 1612 E-mail: [email protected] SID 5 Research Project Final Report Note In line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Defra aims to place the results of its completed research projects in the public domain wherever possible. The SID 5 (Research Project Final Report) is designed to capture the information on the results and outputs of Defra-funded research in a format that is easily publishable through the Defra website. A SID 5 must be completed for all projects. 1. Defra Project code 2. Project title This form is in Word format and the boxes may be expanded or reduced, as appropriate. 3. ACCESS TO INFORMATION The information collected on this form will be stored electronically and may be sent to any part of Defra, or to individual researchers or organisations outside Defra for the purposes of reviewing the project. Defra may also disclose the information to any outside organisation acting as an agent authorised by Defra to process final research reports on its behalf. Defra intends to publish this form on its website, unless there are strong reasons not to, which fully comply with exemptions under the Environmental Information Regulations or the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Defra may be required to release information, including personal data and commercial information, on request under the Environmental Information Regulations or the Freedom of Information Act 2000. However, Defra will not permit any unwarranted breach of confidentiality or act in contravention of its obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998. Defra or its appointed agents may use the name, address or other details on your form to contact you in connection with occasional customer research aimed at improving the processes through which Defra works with its contractors. SID 5 (Rev. 3/06) Project identification GA01091 Secretariat to GECC and Hadley Centre SRG Contractor organisation(s) ESYS Limited 54. Total Defra project costs (agreed fixed price) 5. Project: Page 1 of 15 £ 142,068 start date ................ 01 November 2005 end date ................. 31 January 2008 6. It is Defra’s intention to publish this form. Please confirm your agreement to do so. ................................................................................... YES NO (a) When preparing SID 5s contractors should bear in mind that Defra intends that they be made public. They should be written in a clear and concise manner and represent a full account of the research project which someone not closely associated with the project can follow. Defra recognises that in a small minority of cases there may be information, such as intellectual property or commercially confidential data, used in or generated by the research project, which should not be disclosed. In these cases, such information should be detailed in a separate annex (not to be published) so that the SID 5 can be placed in the public domain. Where it is impossible to complete the Final Report without including references to any sensitive or confidential data, the information should be included and section (b) completed. NB: only in exceptional circumstances will Defra expect contractors to give a "No" answer. In all cases, reasons for withholding information must be fully in line with exemptions under the Environmental Information Regulations or the Freedom of Information Act 2000. (b) If you have answered NO, please explain why the Final report should not be released into public domain Executive Summary 7. The executive summary must not exceed 2 sides in total of A4 and should be understandable to the intelligent non-scientist. It should cover the main objectives, methods and findings of the research, together with any other significant events and options for new work. The contract provided Secretariat support from November 2005 to January 2008 to two climate change bodies on behalf of Defra Climate, Energy and Ozone: Science and Analysis (CEOSA) Division. These bodies were: o o The Global Environmental Change Committee (GECC) The Hadley Centre Science Review Group (HC SRG) The GECC is a high level, cross government committee chaired by Defra's Chief Scientific Advisor Professor Robert Watson and formerly Professor Sir Howard Dalton. The GECC reports to the Chief Scientific Advisor through the Chief Scientific Advisor's Committee (CSAC). Established in 2000, the GECC provides a high level forum for the coordination of the UK's involvement in climate change and other global environmental change issues. The Committee agreed new terms of reference in March 2004 which delegated working level issues to five sub-groups. These are: o o o o o Research Observation Science and Policy Supercomputing Biodiversity The Secretariat support within this project covered four of the five sub-groups (all except Biodiversity) as well as the Main GECC, which meets annually in the Autumn. The Met Office Hadley Centre SRG's function is to provide the Hadley Centre with timely reviews and feedback on the operation of its scientific programme. The group meets annually and consists of a rolling membership of 12 experts, with between 2 and 3 of the members from outside the UK. The basic functions of the Secretariat for both bodies covered preparation and minuting of individual meetings, but there were also a number of ongoing baseline tasks needed to ensure effective operation. These included the provision and maintenance of a website (www.ukgecc.org), preparation of papers and reports in support of the work of the various groups and subgroups and liaison with related groups such as the Environment Research Funders’ Forum (ERFF). SID 5 (Rev. 3/06) Page 2 of 15 Project Report to Defra 8. As a guide this report should be no longer than 20 sides of A4. This report is to provide Defra with details of the outputs of the research project for internal purposes; to meet the terms of the contract; and to allow Defra to publish details of the outputs to meet Environmental Information Regulation or Freedom of Information obligations. This short report to Defra does not preclude contractors from also seeking to publish a full, formal scientific report/paper in an appropriate scientific or other journal/publication. Indeed, Defra actively encourages such publications as part of the contract terms. The report to Defra should include: the scientific objectives as set out in the contract; the extent to which the objectives set out in the contract have been met; details of methods used and the results obtained, including statistical analysis (if appropriate); a discussion of the results and their reliability; the main implications of the findings; possible future work; and any action resulting from the research (e.g. IP, Knowledge Transfer). SID 5 (Rev. 3/06) Page 3 of 15 1. Introduction ESYS, under contract GA 01091, provided Secretariat support from November 2005 to January 2008 to two climate change bodies on behalf of Defra Climate, Energy and Ozone: Science and Analysis (CEOSA) Division and formerly Global Atmosphere Division. These bodies were: The Global Environmental Change Committee (GECC); The Met Office Hadley Centre Science Review Group (MOHC SRG). The GECC is a high level, cross government committee chaired by Defra's Chief Scientific Advisor Professor Robert Watson and formerly by Professor Sir Howard Dalton. The GECC reports to the Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor (Prof. John Beddington and formerly Sir David King) through the Chief Scientific Advisor's Committee (CSAC). Established in 2000, the GECC provides a high level forum for the coordination of the UK's involvement in climate change and other global environmental change issues. The Committee agreed new terms of reference in March 2004 which delegated working-level issues to five sub-groups. These are: Research; Observation; Science and Policy; Supercomputing; Biodiversity. The Secretariat support within this project covered four of the five sub-groups as well as the Main GECC, which meets annually in the autumn. The Secretariat for the Biodiversity Subgroup was provided by the JNCC. The Met Office Hadley Centre SRG's function is to provide Defra and MoD with timely reviews and feedback on the operation of the scientific programme they fund at the MOHC. The group meets annually and consists of a rolling membership of 12 experts, with between 2 and 3 of the members from outside the UK. The basic functions of the Secretariat covered preparation and minuting of individual meetings but there were also a number of ongoing baseline tasks needed to ensure effective operation. These included the provision and maintenance of a website (www.ukgecc.org), preparation of papers and reports in support of the work of the various groups and subgroups and liaison with related groups such as the Environment Research Funders’ Forum (ERFF). The ESYS staff involved in the project were Alan Whitelaw and Sue Postle Hammond. SID 5 (Rev. 3/06) Page 4 of 15 2. Background 2.1 GECC The GECC has the following terms of reference: To provide a forum for the coordination of the UK’s involvement in climate change and other global environmental change science and technology nationally and internationally, working through sub-groups as required and taking into account the work of other relevant coordination mechanisms and fora. The sub-groups are listed below. To review the effectiveness of the national capacity, capability and performance in these areas and to make recommendations. To recommend to the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser a lead Department / Agency in areas of science and technology where responsibility is unclear. To ensure that Government policy on climate change and other global environmental change issues is both sufficiently informed by and informs the work undertaken by the science base. To support effective UK participation in international climate change and other global environmental change science and technology programmes. To encourage effective communication of climate change and other global environmental change science and technology. To report to CSAC by the end of 2005 on developments in Climate Change S&T and other global environmental change science. Between 2000 and 2003, two or three meetings were held annually with no subgroups. From 2004 until the present, following a review in 2003, the modus operandi was changed to an annual meeting with five subgroups. The structure is currently as follows: CSA / CSAC ESYS Secretariat JNCC Secretariat Main GECC Research Subgroup Observation Subgroup Science & Policy Subgroup Supercomputing Subgroup Biodiversity Subgroup The main GECC meets annually in the autumn, generally October. The detailed activities of the GECC are undertaken through Subgroups at the direction of the main GECC. There are 5 subgroups, which are shown below with average annual meeting frequency: Observations (2) Global Environmental Research (2) Biodiversity (3 to 4) Science – Policy Forum (1) Supercomputing (1 in 2 years) Subgroup meeting frequency has depended on the activities they have been tasked to undertake. The main GECC reviews reports from the subgroups and develops corresponding actions. SID 5 (Rev. 3/06) Page 5 of 15 2.2 Hadley Centre SRG The Met Office Hadley Centre is the UK's leading climate modelling capability and provides a focus for scientific research on climate change. Its main roles are to develop improved understanding of climate processes and modelling, better predictions of climate change on decadal to century timescales and to inform policy on mitigating against and adapting to future climate change. The Hadley Centre is part of the Met Office and most of its funding comes from Defra, MoD and other UK Government Departments and the European Commission. The Met Office Hadley Centre Scientific Review Group (SRG) was reconstituted and first met in its revised form in September 2003 under the Chairmanship of Prof. John Harries. The group’s function is to provide Defra and MoD with timely reviews and feedback on the operations of the scientific programme they fund at the MOHC. The group consists of 12 people with the objective that about 1/3 of members retire every year and that some of the members are from outside the UK. Defra have responsibility for the provision of the secretariat to the SRG and contracted out this activity to ESYS. SID 5 (Rev. 3/06) Page 6 of 15 3. Key objectives 3.1 GECC 3.1.1 Secretariat support to the GECC and its sub-groups The GECC met twice during the period of this contract, in October 2006 and October 2007, and the four subgroups for which Secretariat support was provided (Research, Observation, Science and Policy, and Supercomputing) met a total of nine times. The basic functions of the Secretariat in relation to the GECC were as follows: Preparation and distribution of papers in advance of meetings, in accordance with existing GECC Secretariat guidelines; Preparation, agreement and distribution of minutes from meetings, in accordance with existing GECC secretariat guidelines; Preparation of timetables and assistance in running four of the identified sub-groups (all but biodiversity), including setup for the Research and Observations sub-groups which had not yet been set up at the start of the contract; Liaise with Defra, the Chairpersons, and other members to arrange dates for meetings and venue by mutual agreement, both for GECC as a whole and for its sub-groups. GECC holds an annual high level meeting while sub-groups meet about every six months, but more frequently if business requires; Assist with general organisation of the meetings, i.e. preparation of security lists, catering etc; Generally ensuring smooth running of the group, including chasing delivery of actions / papers, with minimum demands on Defra and the Chairperson; Identify issues for consideration of the GECC and its sub-groups through: Keeping track of other work carried out by other related committees; Developing awareness of new and existing research programmes, for example: agriculture, forestry, land use change, sustainable development and health which may be of relevance to GECC. Produce draft subgroup reports to the main GECC and GECC reports to CSAC as well as any supporting papers for GECC and Subgroup meetings where necessary and agreed. 3.1.2 Additional support functions A flexible approach to the work was necessary. Additional support was provided up to about 20% of the total work to develop additional papers, undertake a review of Scope and Gaps in Global Environmental Research, and undertake other functions such as liaison with related groups. The Global Environmental Research Subgroup has also developed a research priorities report based on a survey of a wide range of interested parties. This document has since been maintained as a ‘living document’ and will be made available as a reference on the GECC website. 3.1.3 ESYS hosted website ESYS developed and hosted a GECC website. This was originally intended as an efficient means to distribute papers for meetings. In practice however, this acted more as a repository for previous papers and minutes with information about the GECC, its subgroups, event schedules and links to related activities. The website was a comparatively small part of the contract and as such was functional rather than prominent. 3.2 Hadley Centre SRG 3.2.1 Secretariat support to the Hadley Centre SRG SID 5 (Rev. 3/06) Page 7 of 15 The SRG meet once a year, and there are also strategy and progress meetings relating to the business of the SRG. The annual meeting of the SRG is generally 2.5 days long and is normally held in Exeter, though meetings have also been held in London. The requirement was to ensure that meetings were organised to ensure the smooth running of the group and minutes effectively recorded. The basic functions of the Secretariat in relation to the Hadley Centre SRG were: Liaise with Defra, the MoD, the SRG Chairman and SRG members to organise meetings (including the annual meeting of the SRG and strategy and progress meetings); Provide logistical support for meetings, including assistance with SRG members’ travel plans, members expense reimbursement, hotel arrangements and liaison with the MOHC regarding logistics; Prior to meetings, support preparation of the agenda in consultation with Defra, MoD, the MOHC and the SRG Chairman; During the meetings, provide support on a range of administrative functions to ensure the smooth running of the meeting, including the meeting dinner; Minute the various sessions and produce meeting reports, including a summary report of key issues, conclusions and recommendations from the meeting, plus detailed records of all meeting sessions. SID 5 (Rev. 3/06) Page 8 of 15 4. Approach to meeting objectives 4.1 Main GECC The process for a main GECC meeting starts about six months before the meeting itself. To establish the date for the main GECC meeting, the Secretariat prioritise the key attendees and work to ensure that these representatives can attend. If date options are still available, the membership can be polled in coordination with Defra, otherwise they will be informed. Arrangements for the room are made with Defra administrative staff and include the room itself, any side rooms needed, catering and assembling security lists for reception. Closer to the time of the meeting, the Secretariat meet with Defra to develop the agenda. Having been involved with the Subgroups throughout the year, the Secretariat contribute as needed to the drafting of the GECC agenda in liaison with the GECC Chair and Defra CEOSA staff. Following this, the Secretariat also prepare a Chair’s brief which guides the Chair though the meeting, providing timing guidance and highlighting key points that might otherwise be overlooked in the process of discussion. If possible, this is run through with the Chair shortly before the meeting. The Secretariat also assembles the papers from external sources and drafts any other specific papers required within reason. Once agreed, the full set of agenda and papers is distributed to GECC members and those attending. In addition to the agenda and the Subgroup reports, the Secretariat support the Chairs during the main GECC meeting by preparing presentation materials if needed and also contributing to points of discussion relating to the year’s activities if requested. The Secretariat also review the actions and can present any materials on behalf of absentees. The Secretariat take the minutes and write these up. Once agreed with Defra, these are circulated and made available on the website. In most cases, there are some actions which the Secretariat will follow up though the course of the year, often linked to subgroup activities. 4.2 Subgroups The Subgroups are tasked by the main GECC and their activities are also overseen by Defra through a series of progress meetings with the Secretariat throughout the year. The Secretariat plays a role in making sure that the individual meetings contribute to the ongoing objectives. The Secretariat maintains close links with the Subgroup Chairs and need to understand clearly the aims of each meeting. This allows the Secretariat to draft the agenda which will be iterated and refined with the Subgroup Chair. Arrangements for meetings involve checking first with the Chair and polling members on suitable dates. The Secretariat assembles and write supporting papers if appropriate. In early autumn, the Secretariat supports the Subgroup Chairs in the preparation of the Subgroup reports to the main GECC. These reports are important because they encapsulate the year’s work and also include action points or recommendations for the main GECC to consider. The extent of the Secretariat input to this process will depend on the Chair’s approach and time available, but the norm is for the Secretariat to provide an initial draft for iteration. In the case of the Supercomputing subgroup which currently has no Chair, the approach in recent years has been for the Secretariat to interview the key organisations, mainly the Research Councils and the Met Office to establish the latest developments and based on these inputs to draft the report to GECC. 4.3 Website The Secretariat has maintained a website to make available reports and papers from the GECC as well as meeting agendas and minutes (www.ukgecc.org). Related information such as links, schedules and other supporting information is also available. Although the website has been a useful conveyance for information, it is limited in scope at present and in the future will be updated and enhanced. The GECC has, for example, recently taken on the role of monitoring UK contributions to international science programmes and this type of information can be made available on the site. 4.4 MOHC SRG The contractor needed to be self reliant but responsive to communications with Defra thereby taking as much of the administrative burden from Defra and the SRG Chairman as possible. The secretariat work was undertaken in SID 5 (Rev. 3/06) Page 9 of 15 close liaison with Defra, MoD, the SRG Chairman, the MOHC as well as other SRG members. Regular interaction with the Chairman and Defra was particularly important to ensure they were kept up to date with progress on arrangements and activities of the SRG and to minimise the demands on their time. SID 5 (Rev. 3/06) Page 10 of 15 5. Outcomes / results The main outcome of the project was that the meetings outlined in the previous sections were organised and followed-up successfully. There were also several additional outcomes, which are detailed below. 5.1 GECC The GECC has reported on potential gaps in coverage of global environmental change issues by Whitehall departments. This reviewed the allocation of responsibilities and the coordination mechanisms in place and found that there were no significant gaps. GECC reports to CSAC have centred on Supercomputing and long term monitoring requirements. In this regard, it has made the following submissions to CSAC. Supercomputing State of the art supercomputing facilities are essential to maintain the UK’s leadership on climate change internationally, both scientifically and politically. It would also allow the UK to optimise the very large expenditures that adaptation will require. There are some indications that the UK’s international position on computing resources is declining. CSAC were asked to note the needs for enhanced supercomputing capabilities in the UK for GEC research and to encourage a more collaborative and focused approach to supercomputing procurement. Funding of long term observations Climate change studies require consistent long term observations, many of which are conducted internationally. The UK is taking a leading role in international efforts to improve observations through Global Earth Observation (GEO) and Global Climate Observation System (GCOS). To this end there is a need to: Identify and secure sustained funding to transfer research and pilot monitoring projects efficiently to an ongoing sustained operational status Develop a unified UK policy and international strategy on which areas the UK seeks to play a leading role Develop a more coordinated approach to funding of observations across Government. The first step towards this is to assess the scope and scale of the activities affected. This is being undertaken as GECC is undertaking a review of the UK’s observational programmes. CSAC were invited to endorse a more coordinated approach to the funding of observations. 5.2 Observation Subgroup The emphasis for this subgroup was on UK participation in international programmes and the need to ensure operational funding for key observations as they emerge from the research domain. There were two chairs during the course of the 2005-08 project period, with Prof Paul Mason (University of Reading / GCOS) assuming the Chairmanship of the group from Alan Douglas (Met Office) in 2007. The main international observation programmes under consideration were GCOS, GEO/SS and Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES). For GCOS the group reported on UK GCOS commitments in January 2007 and sought to identify activities whose funding may be vulnerable in the foreseeable future. The subgroup has coordinated UK participation in GEO/SS and special meetings have been held to prepare UK positions for participation in GEOSS activities. For GMES, the subgroup has contributed to the discussions surrounding UK involvement and has sought to promote the development of this programme in a way that ensures that its work will be suitable to help characterisation of climate signatures. The need for continuous operational funding for key observations has been a recurring theme, though progress is still needed on this perennial issue. The subgroup has maintained close links with the ongoing work of the Defra Earth Observation (EO) strategy and also with the developing work of the ERFF observation strategy where the subgroup is currently represented by the GECC Secretariat steering board. An important issue for the subgroup is actioning the topics it reviews. The review of GCOS contributions has been useful and a similar activity is proposed in the next year. The work in coordination and preparation for GEO SID 5 (Rev. 3/06) Page 11 of 15 meetings has also been useful. An initial attempt to review UK contributions to GEO was made and this has now been picked up by NERC in more detail. It should also be noted that the Subgroup through the Secretariat has maintained close links with the developing ERFF Environmental Observation Framework. 5.3 GER Subgroup The chairman of this Subgroup Professor Peter Liss, University of East Anglia took over from Professor Sir Brian Hoskins in 2007. Professor Liss is also chair of the Royal Society Global Environmental Research Committee. The main task of this Subgroup over most of the period was to undertake a survey to identify Scope and Gaps in GER amongst GECC members. The exercise followed on from a similar undertaking in the late 1990s and was intended to provide an update on that earlier survey. The report on the exercise has undergone a number of iterations and an updated version was submitted for discussion and comment at the 2007 GECC meeting. Since then, the report has been updated with inputs from the Biodiversity Subgroup (Andy Stott) to broaden the scope to include biodiversity aspects of climate and environmental change. The next stage is expected to be a prioritisation of the topics by the Subgroup followed by wider circulation of the report. The Subgroup has maintained liaison with the ERFF Secretariat and in particular its Research Coordination Working Group. 5.4 Science - Policy Forum Subgroup This group existed prior to the formation of the GECC Subgroups. It had been convened originally to give Defra climate change policy makers the opportunity to meet with invited climate change scientists to discuss a specific topic on the climate change agenda. The group has continued in this format and differs from the other Subgroups in that invitations are extended to policymakers from other GECC organizations if they have a particular interest in the topic under discussion. The main GECC has also considered the possibility of having open science-policy meetings on specific topics if required. The subgroup meeting that was held during the project period addressed the science and policy implications of the Montreal Climate Change meeting and the Gleneagles Action Plan (including a briefing on the emerging Stern Review). Possible future topics for consideration for meetings include Climate and energy, Biofuels and Avoiding deforestation. A current proposal is for a meeting to follow up requirements from the Bali Action Plan. 5.5 Supercomputing The Supercomputing subgroup has met in support of specific procurement issues. As a result, it has met only once since its last main period of activity in 2003. This meeting in autumn 2006 considered partnering options for the post HecTOR period, and in particular considered whether the procurement cycles for the Met Office and the Research Councils could be aligned. This meeting also considered the need for future meetings and the optimum frequency of these. Since there are already close links between the partners involved directly in the procurement process, the Supercomputing subgroup acts as a vehicle to maintain Defra’s visibility of the process. As a result, it is not expected that the supercomputing subgroup will meet regularly for the foreseeable future, though it may be convened if specific issues arise. A possible way forward is to consider supercomputing requirements as part of a broader review of major infrastructure investments. 5.6 Biodiversity Subgroup The Secretariat for the Biodiversity Subgroup has been provided by the JNCC. The ESYS Secretariat have maintained close links with the JNCC team including participation in biodiversity SG meetings and maintenance of the GBSC website. The progress of the Biodiversity SG, though not part of the project reported in this document, is reported here for completeness. The remit of the GBSC is to inform UK science strategy relating to global biodiversity and sustainable use. The focus of the sub-committee is on the science underlying the key global issues. The subgroup is chaired by Miles Parker of Defra. The focus of discussions held on agenda items has been on the implications for research strategy and views of members are sought on all substantive items. The Biodiversity group have been very active, some recent topics have been climate change and biodiversity, ocean acidification, invasive alien species, and issues of national capacity. A recent highlight was a workshop on the implication of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) held in 2006 at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London. The aim was to develop an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the MEA, including those elements that can be used to support policy development; those elements that should be approached more cautiously; and to prioritise science gaps SID 5 (Rev. 3/06) Page 12 of 15 requiring action. The event was attended by 53 participants from Government departments and agencies, research organisations, academic and research institutes. A subsequent event was held at the Royal Society covering the links between biodiversity and climate change. The aim of the meeting was to bring experts from the biodiversity, climate change, and sustainable development communities together to encourage dialogue and cooperation and to identify opportunities for maximising policy and science synergies. The meeting's objectives were: To raise the profile of biodiversity within the climate change issue and to encourage decision makers to consider biodiversity, climate change, and human livelihoods together when developing strategies for sustainable development, protection of biodiversity, and reduction of climate change and its impacts; To explore the role and function of biodiversity and ecosystems in the climate system; To consider the role that biodiversity should play in climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies; To identify key areas in which biodiversity, climate change, and sustainable development science and policy can be coordinated; To consider the interactions between human livelihoods, the biosphere and climate in terms of functions and impacts. SID 5 (Rev. 3/06) Page 13 of 15 References to published material 9. This section should be used to record links (hypertext links where possible) or references to other published material generated by, or relating to this project. SID 5 (Rev. 3/06) Page 14 of 15 SID 5 (Rev. 3/06) Page 15 of 15