Report of the Steering Group on Climate Change (SGCC)

SGCC met for the first time at the ICES Headquarters, Copenhagen, Denmark on 11 June 2008. The remit and responsibilities of the group was discussed and specified:•Encouraging ICES member countries to provide relevant data for the study of climate change (e.g. historical data and data from long‐term sampling sites),•Identify appropriate methods of assessing information located in the ICES Data Centre and in non‐searchable repositories,•Identify functions and services that ICES can assume and provide in relation to climate change in the North Atlantic, provide added value to existing ac‐tivities and so meet a demand of services and assessment presently not ad‐dressed,•Advise ICES on the selection and preferred sequence of services that we can offer,•Actively promote ICES services and assessment in climate change to poten‐tial users and stakeholders,•Establish liaisons with international organizations, convention and panels with interest in the effects of climate changes in the oceans.