Understanding the magnitude, timescale and impact of climate change is one of the most critical issues of our time and requires worldwide collaboration.

The Global Climate Observing System has defined a set of more than 50 Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) – physical, chemical, and biological variables that characterise Earth’s climate – each with challenging measurement accuracy targets, to enable the global, multi-decadal observation of small climate trends. Measurement science can provide expertise for accurately and reliably monitoring the ECVs over the long timescales needed to be able to detect and understand climate trends.

The Global Ocean Observing System has similarly defined Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) – including both the GCOS oceanic ECVs and additional EOVs that support the economic and social applications of the ocean system.

The European Metrology Network (EMN) for Climate and Ocean Observation will support the integration of measurement science with climate and ocean observation research in three environmental themes: atmosphere, ocean, and land and earth.

By promoting collaboration and cooperation across Europe in a wide-range of scientific fields, and EMN for Climate and Ocean Observation will help to ensure that Europe meets it environmental targets, and stays at the forefront of international action on climate change.