Climate University to be established in Greenland

'I'm quite pleased that we've agreed to create a climate centre in Greenland where climate change is literally going on outside the front door. The prerequisite for meeting these changes is of course that research will be improved,' said Denmark's science minister, Helge Sander.

'At the same time, the centre will be a strong platform ahead of the UN's climate summit which will be held next year in Copenhagen. That will help to give Denmark a central position compared to other countries which lead in this field,' said Sander.

The Greenlandic minister of research, Tommy Marø, added that the establishment of a Greenlandic Centre for Climate Research would help both Greenlandic as well as Danish research and that the research results would be of interest for Arctic communities as well as the world as a whole.

'The climate centre will ensure that information collected in Greenland will also help the local community. In the long run, the climate centre will affect the Greenlandic discussion about establishing science programmes in Greenland – but that will only come up about in the next phase,' said Marø.

The Centre for Climate Research will be located in Nuuk as part of Greenland's Institute of Natural Resources and the University of Greenland. A director will be hired, as well as a professor and a number of researchers connected to Greenlandic, Danish or foreign institutions. The main task will be to document climate changes and evaluate what impact they will have on Arctic society and natural life.

The ministers have made it a goal so that financing and planning are in place by the end of this year, so the centre can already be in use by 2009.