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You are in:  Home » Publications » Reports » Report 13

SCAR Report No. 13, November 1996 

Appendix 3

Memorandum of Understanding between SCAR and START, for SCAR-GLOCHANT
to become the START Regional Committee for the Antarctic, within the
START Regional Research Network .

• Report of bipolar meeting of GLOCHANT/IGBP-PAGES Task Group 2 on Palaeoenvironments from Ice Cores (PICE), 1995 
• Report of GLOCHANT Task Group 3 on Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Sea-Level (ISMASS), 1995 
• Report of GLOCHANT IV meeting, 1996
• Appendix 1
• Appendix 2
• Appendix 3
• Appendix 4
• Appendix 5
• Appendix 6

Preamble

The polar regions are known to have a key role to play in the investigation of a range of global environmental problems. The existing international committees responsible for co-ordinating scientific research in the Antarctic (Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research - SCAR) and the Arctic (International Arctic Science Committee - IASC) and share common objectives in promoting scientific research on global change in the polar regions. They both recognise that to realise the full research potential of the polar regions, the existing and proposed regional research programmes will need to be linked firmly to established international programme frameworks.

Objectives

Existing global framework programmes that share the objectives addressed by the SCAR and IASC regional programmes are the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), and, for the Arctic only, the Human Dimensions of Global Change Programme (HDP). To ensure truly global research coverage it is essential to provide a formal relationship between the existing and proposed research programmes for the polar regions and the programmes of IGBP, WCRP and HDP.

Any such agreement must provide not only for planning and implementation of programmes but also for data issues (including access, quality, and management) and training. Such an agreement must also incorporate clear mechanisms for adequate cross-representation and information transfer between appropriate committees of SCAR and these global programmes.

Agreement

A formal international link between SCAR and the global programmes can be most appropriately developed through the System for Analysis, Research and Training of IGBP, WCRP, and HDP (START). In this context it is agreed that SCAR will become an affiliated regional organisation to START with the responsibility for implementing START objectives, where appropriate, in Antarctic research programmes.

The development of the relationships between existing and proposed Antarctic programmes as well as the provision of advice to START on the Antarctic aspects of global change will be the responsibility of the SCAR Group of Specialists on Global Change and the Antarctic (SCAR-GLOCHANT), who will become the de facto START Regional Committee for the Antarctic. The membership of this regional committee will be jointly endorsed by SCAR and START.

There will be representation of SCAR-GLOCHANT at appropriate START meetings, including those of Regional Directors, and liaison with the START Secretariat will be undertaken through SCAR's Global Change Programme Coordinator.

The location and implementation of any Regional Research Centres and Regional Research Sites will be the subject of joint discussions between SCAR and START.

It is recognised by SCAR that START normally expects regional committees to promote the principal programs of IGBP, WCRP and HDP in that region. It is recognised by START that SCAR has a wider portfolio of interests than those of START. However, there is a close congruence of major interests between the two parties which indicates the value of joint planning and implementation for the good of global science. SCAR have identified those Antarctic programmes that are directly relevant to existing IGBP and WCRP objectives and, through START, will seek formal acceptance of these programmes by the appropriate committees.

Major research themes that are currently identified as of joint interest include:

• the effects of enhanced UV on ecosystems
• the effects of present climate change on mass balance of ice sheets and thus on sea level
• the characterisation of past global changes
• the changing chemistry of the atmosphere
• the flux of carbon in pelagic and coastal marine ecosystems

The relationship between SCAR, IGBP, and WCRP for these general themes are outlined as Annex 1.

This Memorandum of Understanding will be subject to review every five years, although details of the agreement may be revised sooner by mutual agreement. Either party may revoke the agreement by giving six months written notice.

Annex 1

The relationships between SCAR, IGBP and WCRP Core Projects

SCAR	IGBP	WCRP
ANTOSTRAT	PAGES
ASPECT	LOICZ, SO-JGOFS	ACSYS, CLIVAR
BIOTAS	GCTE
CS-EASIZ	LOICZ, SO-JGOFS
ISMASS	LOICZ, PAGES	CLIVAR
PICE	PAGES
GLOCHANT	IGBP	WCRP