Europe Should Get More Involved in Polar Research

Yesterday, at the launch of its strategic position paper on European polar research, the European Polar Board (EPB) said that polar research should become a full-time activity of the European Union, if Europe wants to benefit from the serious changes occurring in these regions.

The European Union has highly invested in research activities in the Polar Regions, and the amount has surpassed the 300 million euro a year.

The sum is significant, but so are these regions, because they play a crucial role in the Earth's climate and in the functioning of the oceans, AlphaGalileo reports.

The problem is that this research suffers from overlapping between several nations, part of the Union, so to solve it, the position paper militates for a centralization of the polar research.

If it is transferred to the European Research Area, it should become a priority for both the upcoming 8th R&D Framework Program from the European Commission and polar funding agencies at national level in EU member states.

The paper also strongly encourages strong links with international partners, so that the Polar Regions can be preserved and that research can focus of the global phenomena affecting the dynamic Earth system.

Professor Carlo Alberto Ricci, Chairman of the European Polar Board said that “we need an ambitious and broad strategy for investment in research activities in the Polar Regions for the long-term benefit of Europe.

“This approach will also serve to increase the weight of European science within the international polar science effort,” he added.

These measures are quite urgent as the overlap of European spending and resource allocation will become more critical, due to climate change, that will increase accessibility to the Polar Regions and open up many opportunities in oil, gas, transport, fishing and tourism.

Also, a special effort to organize the European research activities in Antarctica through common programs, shared resources and networking of scientific stations, as wells as other facilities and infrastructures, would be a wise solution according to the paper, entitled “Relevance, Strategic Context and Setting Future Directions.”