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About Us

About Us

About Us

EQUIP is a three-year consortium project involving nine research organisations and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council. We are motivated by the need to equip society for climate change by studying and integrating a range of disciplines. Through our work, and interaction with others, we seek to improve the use of climate models in order to support decision-making.

Despite the unequivocal evidence for climate change, precise predictions of future climate are – and will remain – unattainable, owing to the fundamental chaotic nature of the climate system and to imperfections in our understanding, our climate simulation models and our observations of the climate system. This situation limits our ability to take effective adaptation actions. However, effective adaptation is still possible, particularly if we assess the level of precision associated with predictions, and thus quantify the risk posed by climate change. Such a risk-based approach, when combined with issue-led, rather than discipline-led, collaborations can be a powerful tool for informing decision makers. EQUIP will:

  • Develop advances in methodology for risk-based prediction, quantification of uncertainty and identification of information content that will be used widely by the scientific community, including UKCIP.
  • Inform policy through improved predictions of near-term climate change and its impacts, including information on the relevance and applicability of the predictions.
  • Demonstrate the utility of climate prediction for some specific decisions, through engagement with users.
  • Contribute significantly to the fifth assessment report of the IPCC, through improved quantification of uncertainty across climate and its impacts and through sets of impacts projections based on AR5 model simulations conducted elsewhere.
  • Make a significant contribution to directed NERC research on quantifying uncertainty in predictions of regional and local climate change and climate impacts, by addressing the Natural Hazards and Climate System Theme Action Plans.