It is important to strengthen research in Greenland because the Greenland population is being affected direct by the changes. At the same time it will ensure that climate research in Denmark and Greenland may maintain its position and come to play a more prominent role in the future.
The Centre is to focus on the impact of the climate changes and how we can adapt our society to live with them and make use of them. Precisely in the Arctic region there are visible signs of climatic changes already now, with effects such as loss of sea ice and ice cap melting, and the changes are expected to become increasingly noticeable in the years to come.
The Climate Centre is located at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources and is funded by a total grant of DKK 75 million for 2009-2012 from the globalisation pool and by Greenland's contributions by way of accommodation, logistics and secretarial assistance. The Centre began its activities on 1 May 2009 with the appointment of the Head of the Centre, Professor Søren Rysgaard, who, as his first task, developed a working plan for the Centre. The working plan has been approved by the Commission for Scientific Investigations in Greenland.
DKK 18 million for research projects
With 21 August 2009 as the deadline for applications, the Head of the Centre announced a pool of DKK 18 million for "research projects relating to Greenland, focusing on the expected impact of climate changes on Arctic marine, limnic and terrestrial environments, and on Greenland communities – including adaptation and prevention strategies. "The applications were assessed by the Commission for Scientific Investigations in Greenland, and nine grants were allocated.
From 2 to 4 November, the Head of Centre met with the project managers for the purpose of preparing a detailed research plan for the next five years. 32 researchers took part in the meeting. The projects, which are chiefly concerned with science and technology, will be supplemented in the near future with more research in social sciences, negotiations being under way to establish a social science position attached to the University of Greenland / Ilisimatusarfik.
Vision and mission
At the planning meeting, the Centre's vision and mission statements were decided:
The vision of the Centre is:
"The Climate Research Centre in Greenland is to be a leading international centre for studying climate effects on arctic systems and communities".
The mission of the Centre is:
"Via research to produce, integrate and disseminate knowledge about nature, technology and communities in relation to climate changes affecting Greenland".
In addition to the nine projects now being funded, there are a number of other projects already in progress at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources as well as a number of foreign research projects. The Climate Research Centre already has a large contact network to foreign institutions and has established close collaboration with monitoring programmes in Greenland, for example Greenland Survey / Asiaq, the Ice Charting Service of DMI (Danish Meteorological Institute), the Greenland Ecological Monitoring Network (collaboration between monitoring programmes in Nuuk and Zackenberg), DMI's Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), and the monitoring activities of the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources.