In September 2014, the then Minister for the Environment, the Hon. Greg Hunt, announced that the Australian Climate Change Science Programme and National Environmental Research Programme would be amalgamated to form the new National Environmental Science Programme (NESP).
The NESP is being delivered through six research hubs:
- Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub
- Marine Biodiversity Hub
- Northern Australia Environmental Resources Hub
- Threatened Species Recovery Hub
- Tropical Water Quality Hub
- Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub
Of these, the Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub is undertaking research to ensure that Australia’s policies and management decisions are effectively informed by Earth systems and climate change science, now and into the future. The Hub’s research focuses on three research priorities:
- Improving our understanding of past and current climate
- Improving our understanding of how the climate may change in the future
- Building the utility of climate change information.
Research in the Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub began on 1 July 2016, following the conclusion of the ACCSP.