01. Dezember 2010 Helmholtz-Geschäftsstelle

Welcome speech "Managing climate change – From regional to global scale"

The spoken word has precedence

Dear Minister Heubisch, with many thanks to you for hosting this event,
Dear Excellency Professor Bettzuege,
Dear Members of the European Parliament,
Dear Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues,

I warmly welcome you to the round table on “Managing climate change from the regional to the global scale”. The UN climate change conference is currently taking place in Cancún, Mexico, and many of our colleagues, in politics or in science, are actually there, either actively participating in or observing the discussions. The goal is to achieve a global agreement to succeed the Kyoto protocol, after the talks at Copenhagen last year failed to produce a follow-up treaty. However, the expectations for the Cancún meeting's outcome are rather low, for reasons you all have read about.

We are here as scientists to discuss scientific issues on climate change. It is very hard for scientists to give advice on political actions. Politics asks for clear-cut answers and straight directions, but we scientists know only too well that there remain many open questions and uncertainties.

We are meeting today to discuss how climate change will affect different regions in Europe and how we should focus our research efforts in order to be prepared for future developments. I think this is a fruitful approach that might contribute to well-informed decisions about future research priorities.

I would like to point out three main issues:

First, basic research on climate change and changing conditions for life and agriculture is still needed and should be an essential theme of Framework Programme 8.

Issues relating to climate change will ultimately affect our long-term economic well-being and our quality of life – where we live and work, what we eat, whether we will have enough water, even our health. Yet, finding solutions for these problems will require long-term basic research on a large scale. For example, increasing CO₂ emissions lead to acidification of the oceans, with grave consequences for small organisms that provide the basis of the food chain. Another important question involves the effects of clouds and aerosols, which needs to be addressed through concerted efforts in a number of different disciplines. To answer these questions, we need more data, and we need grids of observation stations on regional scales to supply these data. This calls for long-term basic research to provide the necessary knowledge base to underpin the technological solutions we come up with.

Second, we strongly recommend that large-scale research infrastructures essential to the investigation of climate issues be given adequate consideration – including an appropriate level of funding and appropriate funding instruments – in Framework Programme 8.

Investigating climate issues requires large-scale research infrastructures such as research vessels, airplanes, and data banks – some examples of these can be seen in the research infrastructures prioritized by ESFRI. These often unique facilities provide essential research data and allow scientists and industry partners to work together in ways that would not otherwise be possible. In order to fully exploit these research infrastructures, we need funding measures that also take into account the operational costs as well as the need to expand access to the wider European and international community.

Progress in climate change research can be achieved only through coordinating activities and pooling existing resources on both the regional and the global scale to develop appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies

The Helmholtz Association is contributing to these efforts through two strong research collaborations on a national level: the Helmholtz Climate Initiative REKLIM and the Climate Service Center, and I warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Peter Lemke, Alfred Wegner Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, spokesman of the Helmholtz Climate Initiative REKLIM (regional climate change) and Prof. Dr. Guy Brasseur, Director of the Climate Service Center (CSC) at the Helmholtz Research Centre Geesthacht.

During our round table discussion, other experts will present European initiatives and discuss the potential of climate change research in Europe and its future applications. I am very pleased that Dr. Wolfram Schrimpf, Deputy Head of Unit Climate change and environmental risks of Directorate Environment at DG Research at the European Commission, will lead off by presenting his vision.

Last but not least, we should nurture a broad understanding and culture of innovation in Framework Programme 8.

New insights through basic research can lead to real breakthroughs in new technologies and services that will mitigate some of the effects of climate change and improve our economic and social well-being. Of course, at the same time we should also accelerate progress in sustainable technologies which are already available on the market in order to make them more efficient and affordable.

I wish you an instructive and stimulating evening, and I am looking forward to the following presentations and the panel discussion.

Dr. Christian Patermann, former Programme Director for Environment and for the knowledge- based bioeconomy at DG Research, European Commission, has kindly agreed to moderate the discussion this evening. I would know like to give Dr. Patermann the floor.