Australian Universities Climate Consortium (UCC)

"Our strength is the collective capacity we bring
to all aspects of the climate challenge."

A consortium of four major universities undertaking significant climate research are integrating their research and education programs to provide a world-class, strategic, team-based climate science capability for Australia. The Universities Climate Consortium will provide national leadership; sustained outstanding research; integrated undergraduate and postgraduate education programs; and advice to key policy, economic, environmental and resource sectors on the threats and opportunities of climate change. In collaboration with the Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO, and colleagues from other universities, the UCC will ensure that Australia continues to be a contributor of global significance in climate change research and education.

The Australian National University hosts the ANU Institute of Environment, which facilities integrative cross-university collaboration on climate, water and energy research. ANU's strength in climate is its breadth, spanning basic science in palaeoclimate and land processes through adaptation research on human health and biodiversity to the human dimensions of climate change - institutions, governance, economics and law. The ANU maintains a strong policy interface with the Australian Government.

Monash University hosts the Monash Sustainability Institute including programs in biodiversity, climate, transport, water and energy. A large climate program integrates climate and meteorological research focusing on regional modelling, extreme events, bushfires, and the urban environment. Monash possesses a significant history in participatory research, through programs in International and Regional Development, National Urban Water Governance and Community-based Climate Adaptation.

The University of Melbourne has an active research program in climate change, impacts, adaptation and mitigation. These are focussed through the Climate Adaptation Science and Policy Initiative (CASPI). Areas of expertise include agriculture and forestry; biodiversity; climate science; decision making and risk management, energy efficiency; geospatial information and visualisation; social and economic impacts; urban transport & the built environment; and water.

The University of New South Wales hosts the Climate Change Research Centre which focuses on physical and biophysical research in oceans, atmosphere and terrestrial systems to improve global and regional climate modelling. Initiatives in biodiversity, risk, extremes and urban design are linked with innovative programs in business and carbon management. We undertake participatory research with indigenous communities and with coastal councils, linking our research to end-users.

The UCC combines our expertise into one framework. The breadth, across the UCC, encompasses fundamental climate change science, as well as the challenges of mitigation and adaptation. Indeed, the formation of the UCC reflects our individual recognition that the challenge of climate change is beyond the capacity of any single institution.

Download the UCC brochure.

Latest news

Chinese Academy of Sciences visits CCRC
07 May 2012
A delegation from the Key Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment Research For Temperate East Asia (RCE-TEA), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Science recently visited the CCRC/CoECSS.

Willem's mystery interval study awarded CCRC prize
27 April 2012
Willem Huiskamp’s Honours research project on the “Mystery Interval” during the last deglaciation has won the 2011 Silicon Graphics Prize for Climate Research Using High Performance Computing.

Detailed study reveals workings of major oceanic pathway
16 April 2012
Researchers from the UNSW Climate Change Research Centre (CCRC) and CSIRO have used a state-of-the-art ocean model to conduct the first detailed investigation of oceanic water flow between the Pacific and Indian Oceans via the south of Australia.

More news...

The Copenhagen Diagnosis

On 25th November 2009 members of The Climate Change Research Centre, as part of a group of 26 international climate scientists, were part of a major international release of a new report synthesizing the latest climate research to emerge since the last IPCC Assessment Report of 2007.

The Big Engine 2: oceans and weather

Federation Fellow and 2008 Eureka Prize winner, Professor Matthew England of CCRC, on the latest research into the role oceans play on weather.

The Science of Climate Change: Questions and Answers

Co-authored by Professor Steven Sherwood and Professor Matt England of CCRC, this new Academy of Science report aims to summarise and clarify the current understanding of the science of climate change for non-specialist readers.

The Big Engine 1: oceans and weather

Federation Fellow and 2008 Eureka Prize winner, Professor Matthew England of CCRC, on the latest research into the role oceans play on weather.

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