Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 59
59
Accepted in Part
Insufficient funding undermines UK's world-leading polar research capabilities and impact.
Conclusion
The UK must be properly equipped to address the major research priorities in the polar regions. Antarctic research plays a critical role in advancing global understanding of climate change, ocean systems, and polar ecosystems, issues that affect lives and economies far beyond the region. Despite the UK’s world-leading capabilities, the Committee heard clear and consistent evidence that insufficient and uncertain funding is the chief limiting factor to delivering impactful science. Without increased investment, the UK risks undermining its ability to contribute to global environmental monitoring and decision-making at a time when such leadership is urgently needed. (Conclusion, Paragraph 260) 104
Government Response Summary
The government partially accepts this conclusion, noting it has published guidance for awarding ten-year R&D funding to provide certainty to research organizations. It also highlights significant ongoing investments in Antarctic research and infrastructure by UKRI and NERC, including around £60 million annually for interdisciplinary research and additional competitive funding.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
The Government partially accepts this recommendation. 71. On 19th May, DSIT published guidance to support decision making in departments and arms-length bodies (ALBs) considering awarding ten-year, or other long-term duration, funding to key R&D activities and organisations. This guidance is a major step in fulfilling the manifesto commitment of offering long-term R&D funding and giving world-class research organisations the certainty they need to continue their vital work in the UK to improve lives and grow our economy. Further details on recipients of ten-year budgets will be set out over the coming months. 72. UKRI, through the Antarctic Infrastructure and Logistics Partition, invests around £60 million per year in longer-term funding to enable world-leading interdisciplinary research in the Antarctic (including support for the SDA) and Antarctic presence activities. This is complemented by NERC research institute funding, which enables strategic research across the environmental sciences, including to BAS, for example the 5-year BIOPOLE programme looking at climate change impacts on marine ecosystems. 73. These investments are balanced within the wider portfolio of funding across the rest of the research and innovation system. For example, NERC additionally invests on average £5.8 million in Antarctic research annually (this varies each year depending on applications) in response mode, competitive, funding. These different funding mechanisms are balanced to provide both the stability to enable complex programming and long-term data collection, whilst maintaining the flexibility to respond to new opportunities or priorities (nationally and internationally), new thinking in science and exploiting new technologies.