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The Climate Service Center (CSC)
Hamburg, Germany
Status and Objectives: Feb. 2010
Guy P. Brasseur
Vision
• To be a reliable source of climate information,
presented in a compelling and effective way to
reach large and influential audiences, and to
build capacity to anticipate, plan for, and
adapt to climate change.
Objectives (1)
• Understand the magnitude and patterns of
multi-scale climate change and its impacts;
• Provide state-of-the-art global and regional
projections of climate changes;
• Assess the impacts of climate change on the
environment and human society;
• Evaluate their economic and social
implications;
Objectives (2)
• Assess mitigation and adaptation strategies,
and develop policy and business solutions;
• Deliver and communicate to decision makers
and to the general public factual problemoriented information on climate changes and
its impacts on society;
• Evaluate and strengthen educational and
capacity-building strategies to help address
climate change.
Management (1)
• The Climate Service Center, located in Hamburg,
Germany, is a national institution financially
supported by the federal Ministry of Education
and Research (BMBF) and operated by the GKSS
Research Center in Geesthacht (Helmholtz
Association).
• It is administered by a Steering Committee that is
composed of representatives of the 3 Ministries
of Education and Research, Environment, and
Transportation, and is led by the CSC Director
Management (2)
• The Center includes about 20 staff supported
by a 5-year BMBF grant, and additional staff
supported by different externally funded
projects.
• The Center is organized around several
Departments: (1) Geo-physical System; (2)
Geo-ecological System; (3) Socio-economic
System; and (4) Information, Communication,
Education.
Partnerships (1)
• The Climate Service Center focuses on the
interactions between science and society.
• It develops strong partnerships with decisionmakers in business and industry, non-governmental
organizations, and local, national, and international
governmental bodies and agencies.
• It works closely with universities, environmental
research and assessment programs, government
laboratories, and other international and national
research institutions.
Partnerships (2)
• CSC develops active interactions with
stakeholders who can benefit from the
knowledge provided by CSC.
• CSC develops decision-making processes and
decision-support mechanisms to help ensure
effective applications of science to societal
needs.
• CSC acts as a facilitator, an integrator and a
community builder.
Structure
Data analysis and
processing of climate
projections (multi-model
ensembles)
Response to customer
inquiries
Project acquisition &
development;
translation of
knowledge for various
sectors; organisation of
expert panels
Web portal,
PR (sectors, press);
organization of
interdisciplinary courses
and events
Management (External Bodies)
• Not yet decided by BMBF…. But probably:
• Steering Committee with representatives of
Ministries and Helmholtz Association
• Partner Forum (DWD, MPI-M, Kompass, etc.)
• Advisory Panel (ad hoc for specific problems)
Recent Achievements
• Signature of a cooperation agreement with the
Shanghai Meteorological Bureau (SMB) focusing on
climate services
• Discussion about our participation in the Klimawoche
in Hamburg
• Participation in the visit of Frau Prof. Dr. Schavan,
Minister of Science, in Washington (workshop at NSF)
• Visit to several Länder (Sachsen, South German Länder,
etc.)
• Meeting with the Regional Klimabüros and
Kompass/UBA.
Recent Achievements
• Preliminary discussions for extension of CSC
network (PIK, GFZ, UFZ, AWI, etc.)
• Belmont Challenge (ICSU)
• Links with the Hamburg Planetarium
• Session at the Summer AGU Assembly (Brazil) on
climate Services
• COSMOS Project (Prof. Claussen)
• Meeting of the European Global Change Forum
(industry, NGO) at CSC in March
Possible Initiatives
• Study of the trends in the global temperature
records by an international group of experts,
and publication of a study report.
• Workshop on “What after Copenhagen?”
• Development of a research project on the
prediction of convective events and the
related damages in Europe (follow-up of
symposium with insurance companies)
Issues (personal perspective, JM)
• Relationship to German Weather Service
(DWD) not yet fully defined (complementarity
vs. competition)
• Funders (BMBF) stress the communication of
climate information; CSC role in creating
climate information not yet fully defined (e.g.,
climate projections, decadal climate
prediction)
Thank You