Volume 1

The Natural Environment Research Council and research into climate change : third report / Science and Technology Committee.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology
Date:
1997
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: The Natural Environment Research Council and research into climate change : third report / Science and Technology Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of course, far wider than global environmental change alone. The second task could, in principle, be conducted at a relatively low level and might benefit from such co-ordination. The Expert Group of the IACGEC noted that “there is no single national group or committee with responsibility to: —Oversee GER coordination between research groups with different disciplinary backgrounds. —Stimulate the development of new contacts and interactive research initiatives. —Carry forward the policy review initiatives of the IACGEC on an inter-agency basis; for example, through multi-disciplinary workshop meetings on interactive and integrative research topics.~ However, the third task requires the involvement of senior officials, who have, when necessary, ready access to Ministers. Moreover the tasks are interdependent, and the allocation of resources may involve complex judgements which require knowledge across all these fields. 29. For example, in considering the expenditure needed for global environmental research it will be important to ensure that existing resources are used to the full; the Expert Group noted “Under existing arrangements, there is a real risk that the synergistic benefits that may be derived from special programmes, and the potential value of many data-gathering exercises, will not be fully exploited by the scientific community, and hence will not become available to research users. ”°” This is a problem in which national and international considerations need to be considered together. One of the four “thrusts” of The Climate Agenda is Dedicated Observations of the Climate and the document calls for an increase in the observations available to the world community, which would entail significant investment in satellites.°** This was supported by Sir John Houghton, but the Chief Executive of the Met Office felt that existing data were not always used to its full, and that co-ordination was needed to ensure that all possible users were aware of its potential.°*’ Insofar as this is a United Kingdom problem, Professor Hunt told us he was “confident that promotional efforts will result in many of these opportunities being taken up.”® However, Dr Fisk noted that although “Professor Hunt must be right to say that the international community has not fully grasped the need to have its present data sets widely available and widely used...there are some long-term difficult problems on quite large scales of funding which the international community has yet to complete its deliberations, which I think Sir John [Houghton] is quite right to signal are coming our way.”*' °F xpert Panel Report, p.30. 5730. 8section 5, especially para 5.5.4. 599Q237-238, see also QQ328, 335. Ry. (Vol ID, p.63. 619280.