ClimateXChange
Andy Kerr
Director, Policy
Centre of Expertise on Climate Change
Three areas of work
Image: think4photop / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Call Down Service
• A call down enquiry service
providing policy makers
with access to timely, robust
and impartial evidence and
professional opinion to
support policy questions.
Image: Evgeni Dinev / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Planned work
• Near term policy research
(~3 – 12 months outlook)
organised into three
interlinked Workstreams –
Mitigation; Adaptation; and
Significance, Risk and
Uncertainty.
Image: federico stevanin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Proactive support
• Providing focused
intelligence and professional
opinion on medium-term
and over-the-horizon issues.
How do we fit into the broader picture…
Strategic
RESAS / UKRC / FP7
Strategic Research Programmes
Policy-relevant
Research
Research
synthesis
Tactical
Call
Down
Days to weeks
Fixed funding
Flexible activities
<12 months
1 yr +
Call Down Enquiry service
• Providing advice and evidence in response to specific
enquiries from policy teams, to meet their deadlines.
• We assemble the right expertise to respond.
• We are able to draw in outside expertise to complement the
in-house research resource.
• Turn-around times range from a few working days to several
months, depending on the needs of the enquirer and the
scope of the work.
• Quality is assured by the ClimateXChange Directorate.
How to Make an Enquiry
Email your enquiry to enquiries@climatexchange.org.uk.
Provide as much detail as possible about the substance of the
enquiry, and also:
 a named contact;
 an indicative deadline;
 any relevant background documentation;
 an indication of the purpose to which the response will be
put.
• Contact Ragne Low in the Secretariat for more information.
ragne@sniffer.org.uk
Examples
• Support to the development of the second Report on
Proposals and Policies (RPP2)
• Expert review of Scottish implications of UK CCRA
• A study to consider the abatement potential in the housing
sector looking beyond 2020
• An international comparative review of adaptation strategies
Planned work
• 3 Workstreams:
• Mitigation – led by Dominic Moran and Eileen Wall, SAC
• E.g. Exploring system wide implications of economic interventions
• Adaptation – led by Iain Brown, JHI and John Rowan, Dundee
• E.g. Developing effective indicator sets
• Significance, Risk and Uncertainty – led by David Elston, BioSS
• E.g. Significance of climate model outputs
• Multidisciplinary teams drawn from across ClimateXChange
• Outputs tailored to policy teams’ needs on a longer timescale
Proactive support – Emerging Issues
• In partnership with policy teams identify key mid-term policy
questions where evidence, analysis and expert opinion can
add real value
• Examples:
• Carbon accounting
• Urban heat developments
• Peatland restoration
Universities
Who are we?
Over 80
researchers
16 organisations
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Aberdeen
Dundee
St Andrews
Edinburgh
Heriot Watt
Glasgow
Strathclyde
Research Institutes
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
James Hutton
Rowett
Moredun
BioSS
Scottish Agricultural College
Forest Research
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Other
• Crichton Carbon Centre
• Sniffer
ClimateXChange’s Structure
Three Directors:
Iain Gordon - MRP Director (James Hutton
Institute)
Andy Kerr - Policy Director (Edinburgh)
Pete Smith - Science Director (Aberdeen)
Workstream leads:
Adaptation: Iain Brown (JHI) &
John Rowan (Dundee)
Mitigation: Dominic Moran (SAC) &
Eileen Wall (SAC)
SRU: David Elston (BIOSS)
Strategic Research
Programme Board
Steering Group
Adaptation
Directorate
Secretariat:
Matt Ogston (Project Manager)
Ragne Low (Knowledge Officer)
Paul Georgie (Data and Information Officer)
Anne Marte Bergseng (Communications Officer)
Lee Callaghan (Administrator)
Mitigation
Secretariat
Significance, Risk
and Uncertainty
Three areas of work
Image: think4photop / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Call Down Service
• A call down enquiry service
providing policy makers
with access to timely, robust
and impartial evidence and
professional opinion to
support policy questions.
Image: Evgeni Dinev / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Planned work
• Near term policy research
(~3 – 12 months outlook)
organised into three
interlinked Workstreams –
Mitigation; Adaptation; and
Significance, Risk and
Uncertainty.
Image: federico stevanin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Proactive support
• Providing focused
intelligence and professional
opinion on medium-term
and over-the-horizon issues.