ECLISE

Enabling CLimate Information Services for Europe - ECLISE

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Climate and climate change has high impact on society. Better understanding and improved prediction skills of future weather and climate is vital to protect lives, goods and infrastructures. Different sectors of society and infrastructure are more or less designed to accommodate the current level of climate variability. The prospect of a changing climate necessitates adapting these designs. To prevent high costs, it is of paramount importance that the most reliable and accurate climate information is used to underpin the development of new adaptation strategies.

In response to this need, climate scientists, in close cooperation with climate impact specialists, have started to generate and provide information on future climate projections, aimed at supporting adaptation policies. These efforts are often organized at a national level and, at present, differ considerably in the methods used and the level of user involvement. It has been recognized (WMO-WCC3, EU White paper on Adaptation) that coordination of climate services at an international level would greatly advance the benefits of climate science for adaptation policies. This effort must find a way to deal with the strong local nature of climate impacts and adaptation needs.

The central objective of ECLISE is to take the first step towards the realisation of a European Climate Service. ECLISE is a European effort in which researchers, in close cooperation with users, develop and demonstrate local climate services to support climate adaption policies. It does so by providing climate services for several climate-vulnerable regions in Europe, organized at a sectorial level: coastal defence, cities, water resources and energy production. Furthermore, ECLISE will define, in conceptual terms, how a pan-European Climate Service could be developed in the future, based on experiences from the aforementioned local services and the involvement of a broader set of European decision makers and stakeholders.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

New information services on climate change will help countries create better strategies to prepare for the phenomenon and adapt to it, from optimising energy use to protecting threatened coastal zones.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

As the planet's climate changes, our way of life must change with it. This includes how we build infrastructures and reinforce our assets in the face of increasingly fluctuating weather phenomena. The EU-funded project 'Enabling climate information services for Europe - ECLISE' (http://www.eclise-project.eu (ECLISE)) helped to establish a European platform where policymakers, climate scientists and other stakeholders can advance policies on the subject.

The project team built a climate service to support climate-vulnerable regions in Europe and touched on topics such as energy production, coastal defence, cities and water resources. It defined similarities in the needs of local users for climate services and identified any generic solutions that addressed these needs.

Project partners organised a workshop that brought users together to define the requirements of 26 cases or scenarios that required climate services. These use cases generated valuable data sets such as maps of sea state and sea level, precipitation and temperature. These were related to coasts and urban areas in Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The case studies provided useable data, information and advice for local users who must take decisions regarding infrastructure vulnerable to climate and weather extremes. The climate services supported decisions on flood defence, water management, urban and coastal planning, and energy usage.

ECLISE also provided an analysis of the present organisation of climate services initiatives in Europe and a set of recommendations for future projects. The conclusion was that the introduction of a Climate Service Documentation Centre would considerably help the user community and provide support to climate service providers. It would take the form of a web-based portal, enabling users to easily navigate the myriad of climate services available in Europe.

Results from the ECLISE project will therefore help policymakers reduce infrastructure vulnerabilities to climate change and enable communities to strengthen flood defence, coastal planning and energy use. It will also have a positive impact on the economy and society by avoiding damage caused to property and reducing the likelihood of loss of human life.