AXIS programme finalises outcomes at ECCA2023 Conference in Dublin

The Final meeting of the ERA-NET Consortium AXIS (“Assessment of Cross(X)-sectoral climate Impacts and pathways for Sustainable transformation”) took place on 19 June 2023 at the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin as a side event at ECCA2023. The research addressed within AXIS touched on several of the themes presented at ECCA2023 advancing and integrating various strands of climate impact research with economics and wider scenario research considering the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The meeting was organised by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and chaired by the AXIS Programme Coordinator Dr Rolf von Kuhlmann.

The AXIS consortium was set up to enhance integration of an array of research disciplines connected to climate research with the common goal to enhance the assessment of potential impacts of climate change on the biophysical systems and human society. AXIS launched and implemented a transnational joint call – funded by 10 European research funders and developed three topics. Each topic enhanced collaboration across typical community borders: between different sectoral views of climate impacts as well as between biophysical climate impacts and socio-economic effects. For all topics, stakeholder engagement was given a high relevance in the call, thus representing another dimension of interaction across boundaries: interaction of the scientific community with end users (stakeholders) of the created knowledge (transdisciplinarity).

Additionally, this ERA-NET aimed at playing a key role in supporting the implementation of the European Roadmap for Climate Services.

The objective of the Final meeting was to present key findings from of ten AXIS projects. The session covered a range of topics such as droughts, linkages to biodiversity and bioeconomy, land-use change for mitigation and adaptation, and holistic scenario development.

Dr Rolf von Kuhlmann emphasized the goal of the AXIS programme – to improve stakeholder-oriented climate information and services beyond the often separate research stands of adaptation and mitigation. AXIS also aimed to promote cross-boundary and cross-community research with the overall goal of improving coherence, integration and robustness of climate impact research and linking it to societal needs.

Frank McGovern, Chair of JPI Climate highlighted during his opening speech how much AXIS projects have contributed to the integration of different aspects of climate impacts across the European Research Area and that the programme is very important to JPI Climate, thanks to the funding of the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

The Lead Project Investigators of 10 funded AXIS projects presented key results. The research addressed within AXIS touched on several of the themes such as droughts, links to biodiversity and bio-economy, land use change for mitigation and adaptation, and holistic scenario development.

The panel discussion with Roger Street (Honorary Research Associate Univ. Oxford), Maroun El Moujabber (Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari), Carl-Friedrich Schleussner (Climate Analytics and HU Berlin) and moderated by Rolf von Kuhlmann (DLR) on AXIS projects and climate action highlighted several key insights. The projects were lauded for aligning with essential elements and stressing cross-sectoral collaboration. Bridging the gap between scientific knowledge and real-world application, particularly in regions like Africa, was underscored. The intertwined nature of mitigation and adaptation in addressing climate challenges was emphasized.

The speakers discussed the need for a balance between specific topics and multidisciplinary approaches to address climate complexity. Urgency in achieving climate goals was also stressed, urging for research to drive international action and societal transformation.

The panel greatly emphasized practical approaches, societal persuasion for climate action, the role of multidisciplinary approaches, actionable and relevant knowledge, integrating mitigation and adaptation, effective communication, trust-building, understanding societal transformation, envisioning a better future, and the scientist’s role in community relevance.

Ten AXIS funded projects are:

BIO-CLIMAPATHS  – Assessing climate-led social-ecological impacts and opportunities for resilient pathways in the EU bioeconomy

CHIPS – Climate Change Impacts and Policies in Heterogeneous Societies

CROSSDRO – Cross-sectoral impact assessment of droughts in complex European basins

DIRT-X – Evaluating sediment Delivery Impacts on Reservoirs in changing climaTe and society across scales and sectors

LAMACLIMA – LAnd MAnagement for CLImate Mitigation and Adaptation

MAPPY – Multisectoral analysis of climate and land use change impacts on pollinators, plant diversity and crops yields

MECCA – Targeting Mental Models of Climate Change Risk to facilitate Climate Action

NorthWesternPaths – Scenarios and pathways toward sustainable land-use and food production for Western and the Nordic European countries as part of the global FABLE Consortium

SHAPE – Sustainable development pathways achieving Human well-being while safeguarding the climate And Planet Earth

UNCHAIN – Unpacking climate impact CHAINs. A new generation of action- and user-oriented climate change risk assessments

You can watch the AXIS side event on the ECCA2023 YouTube channel.

Read more about the AXIS research programme here