T2.14 - fact sheet http://tyndall.e-collaboration.co.uk/publications/fact_sheets/untitled/t2_...

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Ensuring climate change assessments answer the right

questions
Developing policies for managing climate change and deciding about investments in greenhouse gas mitigation strategies
requires consideration of economic, political, social and environmental issues over a range of sectors, time scales and
areas. Therefore the Tyndall Centre is developing an assessment process that will use an Integrated Assessment Model to
bring together climate science, policy and socio-economic research, models of transport and technological change, and
representations of social behaviour and decision-making. This assessment process, however, must not be carried out in
isolation from the full range of decision-makers involved in managing climate change. There is a need for this type of
research to be linked to an ongoing, dialogue with stakeholders to inform the model's development and ensure that
appropriate policy relevant questions are addressed.

Dr Alex Haxeltine, from the Tyndall Centre at the University of East Anglia's School of Environmental Studies, and
colleagues are creating an Interactive Integrated Assessment Process that brings together the developers and users of
climate change simulations in a two-way interaction. They will work with UK and European policy makers, local
governments, international negotiators, representatives from energy, transport and insurance businesses, NGOs and
individual citizens to determine the questions that most need to be addressed to assist their plans and decisions about
future climate change. The researchers will also develop a method of identifying which stakeholders are most affected by
adaptation and mitigation, and therefore whose knowledge should continue to inform the development and operation of
the Integrated Assessment Model. They will develop ways for clients to use and interact with the model that enables them
to visualise the results and obtain answers to crucial questions concerning climate change policy.

The results will ensure the Tyndall Centre's Integrated Assessment Model provides the answers needed by UK and
international decision-makers to plan for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The work will also advance the science
of integrated assessment by developing novel methods for combining participatory integrated assessment with Integrated
Assessment Modelling.

Tyndall researchers are developing new ways to interact with government, business and NGOs to co-develop a better
knowledge and understanding of sustainable responses to climate change.

More information

Contact the lead investigator of Project T2.14 (The creation of a pilot phase Interactive Integrated Assessment Process for
managing climate futures):
Dr Alex Haxeltine
Tyndall Centre, School of Environmental Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
Phone: +44 (0) 1603 59 3902; Fax: +44 (0) 1603 59 3900
Email: alex.haxeltine@uea.ac.uk

Other researchers involved in this project are:

Dr John Turnpenny, Professor Tim O'Riordan, Dr Larissa Naylor and Dr Rachel Warren, School of Environmental Studies,
University of East Anglia
Dr Simon Shackley, Manchester School of Management, UMIST
Dr Jonathan Köhler, Department of Applied Economics, University of Cambridge
Dr Mark Strathern, Complex Systems Management Centre, Cranfield University
Dr Jeffery Johnson, Department of Design and Innovation, Open University

Project duration:
October 2002 to September 2004

Useful web sites:

The Tyndall Centre: www.tyndall.ac.uk
UMIST Manchester School of Management: www2.manchester.ac.uk/management/research.htm
University of Cambridge Department of Applied Economics: www.econ.cam.ac.uk/dae
Open University Department of Design and Innovation: design.open.ac.uk/research/research.html
Cranfield University Complex Systems Management Centre: www.nexsus.org/research_current_climatechange.shtml

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