In today’s Morning Brief:

Climate Ideas Blog: Research, technology and opinions to help solve the global climate crisis

Science Business created a blog dedicated to the all the possible perspectives on the intersection of climate, research and technology. It’s pretty interesting and includes already entries dedicated to:

• Roots v. shoots: carbon capture goes underground
• Israeli start-ups jump into climate tech
• Computer projections confirm: hitting 1.5°C target is key to slowing sea-level rise
• Tilting at windmills: UK firm hopes making blades from textiles could yield cheaper wind energy

How to make good public policy in science and technology? Ask the Swedes.

In a conference about furthering the ERA (European Research Area, for the newcomers), Sweden, one of the few good students in the class, was eager to show how it can be accomplished. Its research minister, Matilda Ernkrans, won applause after telling the conference her government had increased its 2021 public research and innovation spending by nine times compared to the first year of the previous four-year budget. Speaking to Science|Business, she said the secret to the uplift was linking research funding to other political causes, like becoming “the first fossil-free welfare country” and reacting to COVID-19. That helps win over other political factions and the finance ministry. “If I want to have more money, more people need to know why”, she said.

This is why I have personally advocated for more (real) strategy, less one-man shows in national science policy. But back to last week´s conference and to the Swedes. What is ERA and how to move it forward? Well, adapting the Swedish minister’s words, it’s what everybody outside these type of policy workshops doesn’t know what it is and it will only really be, when they do. The conference had other interesting interventions, but the Swedes took the Globe d’Or.

Read the complete story here.

Moldova joins Horizon Europe

The leaders of the European Union and its Member States finalised the association of the Republic of Moldova to Horizon Europe, the EU research and innovation programme (2021-2027). Moldovan researchers and innovators can now participate in the €95.5 billion programme, under the same conditions as entities from the EU Member States.

International Methane Emissions Observatory Launched

To support further progress on fulfilling the Paris Agreement, the UNEP with support from the European Union launched today a new Observatory to drive global action on reducing methane emissions.

The International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) was launched at the G20 Summit, on the eve of COP26. IMEO will bring global reporting on methane to a new level, ensuring public transparency on emissions. It will initially focus on methane emissions from the fossil fuel sector, and then expand to other major emitting sectors like agriculture and waste.

Hosted by UNEP, IMEO’s budget amounts to €100 million over five years. To maintain its independence and credibility, it will receive no industry funding. Instead, IMEO will be entirely funded by governments and philanthropies, with core resources provided by the European Commission as a founding member.

Read more here.

EU-US Transatlantic Collaboration Platform on Agriculture

European Union Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski and United States Secretary of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today issued the following statement on a newly created transatlantic collaboration platform on agriculture designed to take on the global challenges of sustainability and climate change.

Both stated the European Union and the United States are committed globally to enhanced and sustainable production, alleviating poverty and hunger, protecting our environment, and confronting climate change. This transformational initiative provides a platform for us to work cooperatively towards these goals.

Read more here.

Commission vows ‘significant investments’ to improve satellite climate models

The EU should mobilize ‘significant investments’ in collaborative projects with the ESA, and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) to better monitor extreme weather and melting glaciers and come up with better climate models, a Commission official told delegates at a COP26 side event on Monday.

According to John Bell, director for a healthy planet at the Commission’s research directorate, the EU needs a “coordinated and transdisciplinary strategic research innovation and investment agenda” in order to improve the accuracy of climate models.

At least 35% of Horizon Europe’s funding should be spent on climate-related topics, including biodiversity, agriculture and renewable energy, while 30% of the entire EU multiannual budget will be devoted to mitigating the effects of climate change. The Commission hopes this dedicated funding will help Europe transition to a greener economy and become the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050. To do this, it must make use of ESA as better climate data could help Europe find new ways to reduce the production of greenhouse gas emissions more effectively and prevent an escalation in extreme weather events globally.

To read more click here.

Science Europe Panel on Lessons Learned from COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us many lessons, including the importance of drawing on local, regional, national, and international expertise, and on the need for the research community and policy makers to collaborate at a global level.

UK Research and Innovation and Science Europe are convening an international panel of senior government officials and eminent scientists to explore how these lessons learned can be applied to help us address the climate crisis.

The panel will discuss how best to mobilize scientific communities across the world in response to climate change.

Register here before November 10, 11:00!

Towards an INESC Research and Innovation Roadmap 2030 – WG Health Technologies Workshop

Today we’re having a workshop for INESC researchers only, discussing the research done at INESC in Health Technologies and building a vision for 2030. This is a workshop to help INESC to develop a common roadmap to accomplish a series of goals. This is a unique opportunity to think together about how we see the future of our research.