This report to the National Climate Science Advisory Committee describes Australia’s international climate engagement in terms of knowledge and information, physical infrastructure, researcher mobility, and funding flows.
Australia plays a key role in the international effort to understand climate variability and change. The human expertise, knowledge base and research infrastructure Australia has built up over decades is the most significant climate science capability in the southern hemisphere, and Australian climate scientists have been well represented on international climate committees and organisations. Australian climate models and observation infrastructure have an international reputation for quality, and their products are utilised by climate authorities and end users in Australia and abroad.
This significant international role, enabled by our strong domestic climate science capability, allows Australia to leverage and benefit from an extensive network of international climate research infrastructure and bilateral and multilateral climate research programs. These benefits include access to satellite observation systems, highly sophisticated climate model components, collaborative research programs on issues of priority to Australia and the region, the opportunity to influence the investment of international research capabilities, and extensive international training and mobility of our climate science workforce.
This report, following on from the Australian climate science capability review, describes Australia’s international climate engagement in terms of knowledge and information, physical infrastructure, researcher mobility, and funding flows. It identifies a number of risks and opportunities for Australia’s engagement in international climate science, across the immediate (near), medium and longer terms, all of which are readily actionable by public policy makers.
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