Cambridge Climate

The University of Cambridge is home to the full spectrum of disciplines conducting research to understand and address the risks of climate change. The Cambridge Climate community forms University-wide, multidisciplinary teams to respond to research opportunities; provides comprehensive advice to policy makers covering the gamut of science, technology, economic and behavioural issues; offers events on all aspects of climate change science, policy and behaviour; and creates both academic and professional training for individuals who want to move flexibly through the world of climate change scholarship. At the heart of the work of the community is development of an integrated framework for assessing climate change processes, ecosystem dynamics, policies, institutional capacity, human health impacts and the material and energy demands of the built environment, all with the goal of understanding how a systems approach informs national and global decisions on climate change so coordinated actions can be taken on many fronts.

The areas of activity and expertise at the University include those listed below (links to relevant websites at the University are provided). They are divided for your convenience into those groups examining primarily scientific issues (biogeochemistry, sequestration, etc) and those examining primarily social science issues (policy, law, etc). Technology issues are addressed in the Sustainable Cambridge programme since they have implications beyond those of climate change. To learn more about any of these areas of expertise at the University of Cambridge and the individuals involved, contact Professor Douglas Crawford-Brown at djc77@cam.ac.uk or (0)1223 760550

Science

These activities are coordinated by the Cambridge Centre for Climate Science

Climate science, both in advanced modelling and in analysis of data on climate trends
Paleoclimatology to explore climate change dynamics over the earth's history (visit the Climate Change and Earth-Ocean-Atmosphere Systems)
Impacts of climate variability on terrestrial ecosystems, and feedback to the atmosphere (visit the Environmental Processes Cluster)
Biogeochemistry and its role in the carbon cycle and those of other greenhouse gases (visit the Greencycles site)
Design of resilient built environments and energy systems (visit the Centre for Sustainable Development and Energy at Cambridge)
Ecosystem conservation and the sequestration of carbon (visit the Cambridge Conservation Initiative)
Dynamics and impacts in coastal communities and regions (visit the Cambridge Coastal Research Unit)
Polar science and its impact on global climate (visit the British Antarctic Survey and the Scott Polar Research Institute)
Atmospheric chemistry for climate change modelling (visit the Centre for Atmospheric Science)

Social Science

These activities are coordinated by the Cambridge Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research

Economic analysis of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies (visit the Cambridge Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research and the Electricity Policy Research Group)

Institutional capacity building in developed and developing nations

Social movements, climate change policy and individual/institutional behaviour (visit the Society, Environment and Development research cluster)

Technology and resource transfer through international mechanisms (e.g. the CDM) (visit the Cambridge Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research and the Electricity Policy Research Group)

Demographics as a driver for climate change (visit the Society, Environment and Development research cluster)

Policy and planning for low carbon, resilient communities (visit the Department of Land Economy)

Response of businesses to climate change mitigation and adaptation (visit the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership)
Assessment of the effectiveness of policy instruments (visit the Cambridge Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research and the Electricity Policy Research Group)
Environmental markets as a basis for climate mitigation and adaptation (visit the Cambridge Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research and the Department of Land Economy)

Visit related areas of expertise

Climate change is related closely to several other areas of study. The University has coordinating initiatives in three areas particularly relevant to climate change science and policy:

(i) Energy (coordinated through Energy at Cambridge)

(ii) Sustainability (for details, see Sustainable Cambridge)

(iii) Conservation (coordinated through the Cambridge Conservation Initiative)