Government of Canada leads major international research initiative on climate change

New international partners joining soon-to-be-launched initiative valued at more than $90 million

The Government of Canada is leading the International Initiative for Research on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, with several international research funding organizations responding to Canada’s call for interest. Research funders from Brazil, Germany, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, among others, have joined as partners. The initiative will leverage international expertise to tackle global challenges caused by climate change.

Set to be launched in January 2023, the initiative will fund transformative research with potential to deliver game-changing impacts. Funded international projects will further the design and implementation of adaptation and mitigation strategies for vulnerable groups—those currently most affected by climate change impacts, owing to both their physical and socioeconomic vulnerability. Focusing on co-production, researchers will work with vulnerable groups to address their most pressing needs.

The Canada Research Coordinating Committee (CRCC) has committed $60 million to this call, which will be administered by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, through the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF). International partners in the consortium will contribute more than C$30 million to this call, for a current total competition budget of more than C$90 million.

This funding opportunity will require that projects address at least two of the eight representative key risks identified in the Sixth Assessment Report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The report highlights the unprecedented changes in Earth’s climate that are being observed in every region, impacting all ecosystems and societies, and will continue to intensify with further warming.

NFRF, launched in 2018, seeks to inspire innovative, high-risk, high-reward, interdisciplinary research projects that push boundaries into exciting new areas and have the potential to enhance Canada’s competitiveness and expertise in the global, knowledge-based economy. NFRF’s innovative design includes novel merit-review processes that reflect the objectives of each funding opportunity, and flexibility to support international collaboration.

Research funding organizations outside Canada are invited to join this multilateral research initiative as international partners by reaching out to NFRF-FNFR@chairs-chaires.gc.ca.