Unlocking a safe operating space for Antarctica and the Southern Ocean

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: improved multidisciplinary scientific understanding of the functioning of the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic cryosphere and associated ecosystem dynamics, in the near term (∼2030), mid-term (2050–2060) and long-term (after ∼2060), including their mutual interaction with, impact on and vulnerability to, current and future changes in the other components of the regional and global climate systems; important contributions made to key ocean, cryosphere, climate and biodiversity monitoring indicators that support international, regional and global assessments. Fostered development of a regional approach to polar ocean, climate and biodiversity observations, monitoring and reporting; informed policies for environmental conservation and climate resilience and enabled evidence-based regional, European, and global decision–making on polar ocean governance; sustained European leadership in ocean–climate–biodiversity-cryosphere science; significant contributions made to global scientific assessments (e.g. IPCC, IPBES and WOA), as well as to the UN Decades of Action of Ocean (2021-2030) and Cryospheric (2025-2034) Sciences, the Antarctica InSync programme (2027 and 2030), the International Polar Year (2032-2033), UN SDGs 13 and 14, and the European polar science coordination efforts. Scope: Proposals should: resolve uncertainties, improve projections and quantifications of the…