Envisioning a future of New Zealand climate science – Summary of discussions

1. Introduction
   This paper summarises the discussions had during a workshop of climate scientists held in Wellington on 21-22 February 2024, convened by the Deep South Challenge. With the end of the Deep South Challenge and several other large climate science research projects, and on the back of long-term atrophying of core research funding, the purpose of the workshop was to bring climate scientists together to discuss the future of the climate science research sector. This paper covers the international and domestic perspectives discussed, and suggestions for the climate science research sector going forward.
   The group represented a small subsection of New Zealand’s wider climate research enterprise, and research areas represented were global climate models, oceans in the climate system, Antarctica and glaciers in the climate system, clouds, aerosols and climate feedbacks, regional modelling for application scales, and large ensemble modelling and attribution. Perspectives noted in this summary are not necessarily held by all members of the group.
   A one-page advocacy document was written after this meeting, circulated to participants, and can be found here.