What is IGFA?

The goal of the International Group of Funding Agencies for Global Change Research (IGFA) is to foster Global Change Research. IGFA is a forum through which national agencies that fund research on Global Change identify issues of mutual interest and ways to address these through national and when appropriate through coordinated international actions.

Global Change Research (GCR) contributes important knowledge to our understanding of the current changes affecting our social and physical environment. Over the last decde or so, public officials have recognized the importance of GCR, but this attention must be maintained. Since the early 1990's IGFA, IGFA has provided a unique discussion forum for senior officials involved in global change research funding from different countries, linking them with representatives of International Research Programs and leading scientists in the field. Topics of interest to all of the funding agencies, such as priority setting in research funding, information exchange on new initiatives or infrastructural questions, are high on IGFA's agenda.

Issues considered by IGFA include:

  1. information exchange on national global change research programs, as well as the initiatives and facilities that support them;

  2. approaches to the integration and implementation of global change research, in light of available resources;

  3. optimization of funding allocations for global change research and its international coordination;

  4. infrastructural topics of mutual interest, including data sharing and accessibility, and Earth observation systems;

  5. ways to improve the interaction between scientists and policymakers; and

  6. fields of action for the future in light of a constantly changing scientific
    landscape, e.g. changing scopes of the international research programs.

IGFA is primarily concerned with the four International Global Change Research Programs WCRP, IGBP, IHDP and DIVERSITAS , and the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) under the aegis of ICSU. Each program has a central Secretariat (their core projects have international project offices) and a Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) providing overall coordination and leadership to ensure effective implementation of the scientific plan. These infrastructural elements, which yield important added value, mostly fall through the cracks in national procedures for research funding and therefore need special treatment. Consequently, the focus in IGFA is not on the funding of single projects – this is still a matter of national procedures – but on the coordination of the support for the Programs themselves (Secretariats, International Project Offices, etc.). At the IGFA annual meeting 2000 the member agencies and the four Programs agreed to sign a Statement on the Mode of Operation describing the procedures that should be followed concerning the funding of International Project Offices and Program Secretariats.

Because the main emphasis has always been on mutual information exchange, IGFA is organized in an informal manner, with no binding obligations on its members:

The Group meets once a year for three days. During the Annual Meeting, representatives of the member agencies inform each other about funding situations and new initiatives in GCR in their countries. They also work toward a common understanding on funding the International Programs' administrative needs and future priorities. The responsibility for hosting the annual meeting rotates among the members. Each member is responsible for expenses associated with their participation in the Group's activities – in special cases, the host of a meeting or others may offer travel funds for colleagues from developing countries. IGFA interacts closely with the International Research Programs and the Regional Networks as well as with ICSU who take part in the annual meetings as observers. IGFA is also a partner and interacts with CEOS and IGOS. The Steering Committee often invites leading individuals in fields of relevance to IGFA (e.g. scientific experts) to the Annual Meetings.

The Chair of the Group is elected for a two-year term. The Chair: provides overall leadership to IGFA; brings emerging new issues to the agenda; proposes initiatives for priority setting; and makes proposals for the achievement of common goals. He/she is head of the Steering Committee, which is responsible for guiding the Group's activities between meetings. The Steering Committee evolved from the engagement of several members and is therefore open in its composition.

The IGFA Secretariat takes care of the day-to-day business of the Group. It provides information and coordinates certain activities: it also provides the Chair of the Staff Group which implements the Group's activities between meetings and researches key issues for IGFA. The Staff Group roughly resembles the representation of agencies on the Steering Committee at the staff level – depending on the work load and engagement of the members.

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