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Creation of the IPCC Data Distribution Centre
The DDC has been established to facilitate the timely distribution of a consistent set of up-to-date scenarios of changes in climate and related environmental and socio-economic factors for use in climate impacts assessments. The intention is that these new assessments can feed into the review process of the IPCC. The operation of the DDC is overseen by the IPCC Task Group on Data ([1]).
The establishment of the DDC was approved by the IPCC Bureau at its Thirteenth session (9-11 July 1997) and it was subsequently determined at the XIIIth IPCC Plenary (Maldives, 22-28 September 1997) that the DDC would be a shared operation between the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) in the United Kingdom and the Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum (DKRZ) in Germany. In 2003 a third centre, the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) in the USA, joined the DDC collaboration. From February 1st, 2007 the British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC) (which later became the Centre for Environmental Data Analysis - CEDA) has replaced CRU as the United Kingdom partner.
The initiative to establish a DDC grew out of a recommendation by the IPCC Task Group on Data and Scenario Support for Impact and Climate Analysis (TGICA) ([2]). This Task Group was itself formed following a recommendation made at the IPCC Workshop on Regional Climate Change Projections for Impact Assessment (London, 24-26 September 1996). At its 47th Session in March 2018, the Panel decided to rename TGICA the Task Group on Data Support for Climate Change Assessments (TG-DATA) and developed a new mandate for TG-Data and guidance for the DDC (replacing the previous governance document). This panel decision recognises the importance of continuity in the operations of the DDC across multiple assessment cycles, which distinguishes the DDC from TG-Data and other IPCC bodies which are dis-banded at the end of each assessment cycle to be recreated at the start of the next one ([3]).