Research impact Collaborative climate science conducted through the CSSP Brazil programme is leading to the development of climate services that can inform decision making both in Brazil and internationally.
| UK Funders: | Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) via Met Office |
| Fund | Newton Fund |
| UK Investment: | ~£14 million |
| Total Investment: | ~£14 million + match funding |
| Project dates: | 2016 – 2021 |
| Lead institutions: | Met Office, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), National Institute for Amazon Research (INPA) and the National Centre for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters (CEMADEN) |
| Partner institutions: | Seven UK universities including Exeter, Bristol, Leeds, Reading, Oxford, Edinburgh and UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology |
| Country of focus: | Brazil |
Background
In recent years, Brazil has experienced a number of extreme weather and climate events, including floods and drought and landslides. As well as the impacts on lives and livelihoods, climate change also has an impact on important sectors of the Brazilian economy, such as hydro-electric power and agriculture, energy and on the health of the Amazon rainforest, affecting ecosystems and livelihoods.
The Climate Science for Services Partnership (CSSP) Brazil is one of five projects in the Weather and Climate Science for Service Partnership (WCSSP) Programme – a network of partnerships that harness scientific expertise for strengthened resilience to weather and climate variability in Brazil, India, South Africa, Southeast Asia, and China. It aims to develop capability to inform decision makers in climate mitigation and adaptation strategy. CSSP Brazil is supported by the UK government’s Newton Fund, matched with in-kind funding from Brazil. It is delivered through the Met Office in the UK in partnership with INPE, INPA and CEMADEN in Brazil. The scope of the project was jointly determined by the Met Office and the three Brazilian partner institutions, with strategic steer from the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, as part of their long-standing collaboration that predates the Newton Fund.
The Met Office works in partnership with the UK government, the global meteorological community, national governments, and development agencies to provide capacity development, climate information for longer term planning, and operational support. The Met Office are part of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and exchange information with sister organisations and other meteorological and hydrological services globally.
In CSSP Brazil, the Met Office played a dual role as both delivery partner and implementer.
Underpinning Research
CSSP Brazil is a five-year scientific research programme that aims to use UK expertise to support the developing of Brazilian climate science and services. CSSP Brazil’s portfolio focuses on three main research areas, each with a range of sub-projects and foci:
- Improved carbon cycle modelling to inform mitigation policy
- Climate modelling
- Climate impacts and disaster risk reduction
As a large, multi million-pound programme consisting of a varied research portfolio, this CSSP Brazil case study adds value in allowing us to look at collective research impact at the programmatic level.
Towards Impact
ENHANCING KNOWLEDGE & UNDERSTANDING
- A partnership between the UK, Brazil and Australia has used satellite observations of Brazilian rainfall over the last 30 years, combined with future projections from supercomputer climate simulations to show that rainfall variability is likely to increase across all regions of Brazil as the climate warms, leading to heavier rainfall and more dry spells.
- Nurturing a UK-Brazil community of researchers in weather and climate science and has facilitated over 20 exchange visits between partner organisations. These have been invaluable in forging strong, mutually beneficial relationships that exchange and accelerate scientific knowledge and expertise. This knowledge exchange has contributed to the more than 50 CSSP Brazil peer-reviewed research articles which have been published in international respected journals.
IMPLEMENTATION AND PREPAREDNESS
- A CSSP project has led to improvement of fire monitoring public databases in the Amazon, enabling real time access to fire incidence and helping civil defence agents respond quickly to minimise damage caused by natural and human-driven fires.
- Citizens of areas with a high risk of flooding, such as Guarulhos, Maua and Aruja in the metropolitan areas of Sao Paulo, can now receive SMS alerts of flooding risks on their mobile phones, alerting them of heightened risk of landslide and minimizing the risk of casualties in rainy season.
“We’ve known for many years that the land surface can affect our weather, but these results [rainfall changes in Brazil being due to CO2 affecting plant] show it is an increasingly important part of the puzzle to understand. These advances come when scientists from across the spectrum of research from atmospheric sciences to plant physiology come together to advance our ability to predict how climate change will affect our planet. CSSP Brazil continues to enable new collaborations between UK and Brazil scientists in order to tackle problems of importance for our future well-being.”
– CSSP Brazil science lead at the Met Office
POLICY AND PLANNING
- The Seasonal Fire risk forecast for South America report, launched in Oct 2020, is helping local authorities prioritise their actions and resources to respond more effectively to fire risk
- CSSP Brazil is working with INPE to produce a national and regional inventory of recent greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide and methane for South America. This activity will support Brazil’s submission to the first United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Global Stocktake and allow progress towards their Nationally Determined Contributions climate pledge to be tracked.