"NCCS-Impacts” – a new programme of the Swiss National Centre for Climate Services (NCCS)

Abstract

Switzerland founded its National Centre for Climate Services (NCCS) in late 2015. It is organized as a network of nine Federal Offices and Institutes as well as partners from academia. Since its launch several priority themes have been tackled and published such as new climate change scenarios in 2018 (CH2018) and new hydrological scenarios (Hydro-CH2018). These findings form an indispensable, yet incomplete basis for decision-makers in administration, economy and society. In particular, more information on future climatic impacts is needed. Here, the new programme “NCCS-Impacts” steps in by elaborating a cross-sectoral compilation of climatic impacts in Switzerland as well as a bundle of climate services for decision-support. The aim of the NCCS programme is to obtain an overview of selected impacts under future climate change in Switzerland and its ensuing central challenges for the environment, economy and society. In addition to the generation of new science-based insights, the programme also has a clear focus on the development and provision of actionable products intended for decision-makers. To this end, the work in the different projects will follow a co-production approach. In its core, the programme consists of six cross-sectoral and interlinked climate impacts projects that cover the aspects of (1) socio-economic scenarios, (2) human and animal health, (3) ecosystem services, (4) indirect effects, (5) economic costs and (6) critical infrastructures. These topics were identified as priority needs in a comprehensive stakeholder dialogue with representatives from research, administration and the private sector, and by means of a desk review across various sectors. The programme NCCS-Impacts has been launched in early 2023 and lasts until the end of 2025. In the presentation, we will give an overview of the scope of the programme and present its conceptual framework.