Call for expression of interest for members of the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change

Introduction

The European Climate Law, adopted in June 2021, sets out a binding objective of climate neutrality in the European Union by 2050 in pursuit of the long-term temperature goal set out in the Paris Agreement, and provides a framework for achieving progress in pursuit of the global adaptation goal established in the Paris Agreement.

To support the achievement of these objectives, the European Climate Law also amended the founding regulation of the European Environment Agency (EEA) to establish a European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change (Advisory Board), serving as a point of reference for the European Union on scientific knowledge relating to climate change.

On 22 March 2022, the 15 members of the Advisory Board members were designated for a term of four years by the Management Board of the EEA, following an open, fair and transparent selection procedure. The first term of the Advisory Board ends in March 2026.

This call for expressions of interest concerns the designation of the members of the Advisory Board for the next term of the Advisory Board, which will start in March 2026 for another four years.

The European Scientific Advisory Board on climate change

The European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change consists of 15 independent senior scientific experts covering broad range of relevant disciplines. Its role is to provide independent scientific advice on EU measures, climate targets and their coherence with the EU's commitments under the Paris Agreement.

The Advisory Board works in an independent and transparent manner, guided by shared European values. It strives to identify policy options and pathways to achieve fast and cost-effective greenhouse gas emission reductions in Europe, and to ensure continuous progress in adapting to climate change. It assesses policy and implementation gaps, and advises on actions needed to improve existing policies.

It regularly evaluates the contribution of existing and proposed policies, in particular at the EU level, towards climate goals. In doing so, it also considers, to the extent feasible, the contribution of these policies to other EU objectives stated in the European Climate Law, such as fairness and solidarity, the well-being of citizens, energy and food security and affordability, as well as environmental integrity.

It delivers concrete advice, recommendations and guidance to EU institutions (European Commission, European Parliament and Member States), standing on facts, the best available and most recent scientific evidence, and robust analysis. To ensure its inputs are relevant and timely, the Advisory Board maintains a regular dialogue with policy makers at the EU level and seeks to engage early on in EU policy processes.

The Advisory Board establishes and maintains trusted working relationships with the EU scientific community and networks to access relevant expertise and identify suitable evidence to support its analysis. It contributes to the exchange of independent scientific knowledge within the EU and closely cooperates with national climate advisory bodies that provide expert scientific advice on climate policy in the EU.

The Advisory Board also interacts and engages with a broad range of stakeholders in order to raise awareness on climate change and its impacts, share evidence and exchange feedback on EU policies and initiatives. These include for example national governments and parliaments, climate think tanks and non-governmental organisations, social partners, industry associations, media, EU citizens, etc.

The European Environment Agency

The EEA is an agency of the European Union, whose task is to provide sound, independent data and information on Europe’s environment and climate to European citizens and policy makers. The regulation establishing the EEA was adopted by the EU in 1990 (Regulation (EEC) No. 1210/90), and the Agency started operations in Copenhagen in 1994.

The EEA is governed by a Management Board and Bureau, with a Scientific Committee in an advisory capacity. The EEA Management Board consists of one representative of each of the member countries, two representatives of the Commission and two scientific experts designated by the European Parliament. The day-to-day operation of the EEA is the responsibility of the Executive Director and the EEA management, comprising Heads of Department and Heads of Unit.

The EEA hosts the Secretariat to the Advisory Board, composed of 14 experts with interdisciplinary competencies, and supporting the Advisory Board in its work.

Aim of the call

The European Climate Law tasks the EEA Management Board to designate the 15 members of the Advisory Board. The members are chosen for a mandate of four years, with no more than two members having the nationality of the same Member State, following an open, fair and transparent selection procedure. In its selection of the members of the Advisory Board, the Management Board seeks to ensure a varied disciplinary and sectoral expertise, as well as gender and geographical balance. The members of the Advisory Board are appointed in a personal capacity and give their positions completely independently of the Member States and the Union institutions.

The EEA is issuing this call with the aim of designating the members of the Advisory Board for its second term (2026-2030). Persons who are interested in becoming a member of the Advisory Board are invited to express their interest in accordance with the guidelines set out below.

Time commitment and coverage of expenses and remuneration of Advisory Board members

Members of the Advisory Board are expected to deliver a substantial time contribution to the work of the Advisory Board during their term (indicatively, 20% of a full time equivalent). In addition to their contribution to the preparation of scientific advice, Members of the Advisory Board are expected to attend its meetings on a regular basis, on a frequency to be agreed upon between them. Interested persons should only apply if they are prepared to set aside this amount of time and effort for becoming a member for four years.

Meetings are either be held either physically or remotely. In line with the advisory Board's Rules of Procedure, members receive travel and subsistence allowance in accordance with the EEA’s policy for the reimbursement of travel and accommodation expenses.

Members of the Advisory Board are also remunerated with the sum of €400 for each full day of participation in Advisory Board meetings, adjusted in proportion to the duration of the meeting, plus a sum equivalent to half of this remuneration for preparing to these meetings. The same rules apply to virtual meetings.

In case the participation of an Advisory Board member to a meeting is specifically requested by the Chair of the Advisory Board, and where such participation requires that Advisory Board member to travel, they receive travel and subsistence allowance, as laid down in the EEA meeting reimbursement policy, and are remunerated with the sum of €400 for each full day of participation.

Designation Procedure

The members of the Advisory Board shall be designated on the basis of their professional and technical ability to carry out the tasks set out for the Advisory Board by the European Climate Law.

Evaluation committee

To facilitate the designation of the Advisory Board by the EEA Management Board, following an open, fair and transparent selection procedure, the EEA Management Board will establish an independent evaluation committee to identify the most suitable candidates for the Advisory Board. The evaluation committee shall provide recommendations to the EEA Management Board on conclusion of the evaluation process.

The evaluation committee is composed of six members, including the Chair of the EEA Management Board and an additional Management Board member, a senior representative of the EEA, the Chair of the EEA Scientific Committee, and two additional members from the EEA Scientific Committee. The evaluation committee will be chaired by the Chair of the EEA Management Board.

In coordination with the Chair of the EEA Scientific Committee, the EEA Executive Director will identify the two other members of the EEA Scientific Committee that are most qualified to be appointed as members of the evaluation committee.

The members of the EEA Scientific Committee that are most qualified to be appointed as members of the evaluation committee, in addition to the Chair of the Scientific Committee, shall be identified based on the following criteria of scientific excellence: relevant scientific or technical expertise in the domain of climate change, including relevant work experience on climate science, preferably in the context of the IPCC, or competencies in the analysis of socio-technical systems from a climate science and climate policy perspective.

The Chair of the EEA Management Board shall appoint the members of the evaluation committee, in coordination with the EEA Executive Director.

The list of the evaluation committee members shall be made publicly available after the deadline for applications to the call for expressions of interest for members of the Advisory Board, and prior to the beginning of the work of the evaluation committee.

The Chair of the EEA Management Board shall be responsible for ensuring the absence of any conflict of interest between the appointed members of the evaluation committee, and for the confidential treatment of all expressions of interest.

Evaluation procedure

The evaluation committee will screen and evaluate all eligible applications based on the selection criteria identified below. Following the evaluation process, the evaluation committee will identify a short list of 20 to 30 potential suitable candidates for becoming members of the Advisory Board. The shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview with the evaluation committee in October 2025.

Following interviews of the shortlisted candidates, the evaluation committee will identify the 15 most suitable candidates for becoming members of the Advisory Board, and will establish a reserve list of additional suitable candidates. The evaluation committee will then provide recommendations to the EEA Management Board with the list of the 15 most suitable candidates for becoming members of the Advisory Board.

Renewal of current Advisory Board members’ term

As stipulated by the European Climate Law, current members of the Advisory Board are eligible for a one-time term renewal. To ensure an open, fair and transparent selection procedure, current Advisory Board members who wish to run for a second term should apply again alongside all other eligible applications. Their application will be evaluated in accordance with the same selection criteria as defined in this open call.

Eligibility criteria

For their application to be considered, candidates must fulfil the following eligibility criteria:

• Have a doctoral degree (PhD) or equivalent degree in an area of scientific or technical expertise relevant to climate science,
• Have at least 10 years’ professional experience in the field of climate and environment sciences or other scientific fields relevant for the achievement of the European Union´s climate objectives;
• Be a national of one of the Member States of the European Union.

Any application that does not match all the above eligibility criteria will be systematically rejected.

Selection criteria

Eligible expressions of interest will be subject to a comparative evaluation against the following criteria set out in Art. 10a (3) of the EEA Regulation, as amended by Art. 12 of the European Climate Law:

• scientific excellence;
• experience in carrying out scientific assessments and providing scientific advice in the fields of expertise;
• broad expertise in the field of climate and environment sciences or other scientific fields relevant for the achievement of the European Union´s climate objectives;
• professional experience in an inter-disciplinary environment in an international context.

To ensure that the Advisory Board covers a broad range of relevant disciplines, experience in the following areas, in line with the tasks foreseen for the Advisory Board by the European Climate Law, will be considered:

• consideration of scientific findings of the IPCC reports and scientific climate data, in particular with regard to information relevant to the European Union;
• provision of scientific advice and issuance of reports on existing and proposed European Union measures, climate targets and indicative greenhouse gas budgets, and their coherence with the objectives of this Regulation and the European Union’s international commitments under the Paris Agreement;
• contribution to the exchange of independent scientific knowledge in the field of modelling, monitoring, promising research and innovation which contribute to reducing emissions or increasing removals;
• identification of actions and opportunities needed to successfully achieve the European Union climate targets;
• awareness raising on climate change and its impacts,
• work in a scientific body within the European Union.

As set out in the European Climate Law, the evaluation process will take into consideration the need to ensure, in the identification of the most suitable candidates:

• a varied disciplinary and sectoral expertise;
• gender balance;
• geographical balance, in particular that no more than two of the most suitable candidates hold the nationality of the same Member State.

Furthermore, excellent knowledge of English is important since this will be the working language of the Advisory Board.

In order to foster gender balance in the Advisory Board, applications from women are strongly encouraged. Applications from scientists and researchers at earlier stages of their seniority, who meet the eligibility criteria, are also encouraged, as their perspectives and emerging expertise can make a valuable contribution to the work of the Advisory Board.

Closing date

Expressions of interest shall be submitted by email no later than 15 September 2025 at 23:59 Central European Time.

Independence and declarations of interest

Selected experts will be appointed on a personal basis. They will be required to sign a declaration of commitment and make a declaration of interests on an annual basis, which may be deemed prejudicial to their independence. Declarations of commitment and of interest will be published on the EEA website.

Equal opportunity

The EEA is an equal opportunities institution committed to avoid any form of discrimination, both when it comes to recruitment and when dealing with involvement in networks and governance bodies such as the Advisory Board.

Application procedure

You are requested to express your interest by sending a curriculum vitae and a motivation letter to the e-mail address: applications.advisoryboard@eea.europa.eu.

The CV shall be provided in a Europass format. You can either use a Europass CV template and fill it in offline, or create your Europass CV directly online. The CV shall contain a list of your scientific publications, preferably in English, and other professional experience.

Please ensure that you observe the following:

1. Remember to take time zones into consideration when submitting your application.
2. Once your application has been received, an automatic reply will be sent to you.
3. It is your responsibility to keep the automatic reply message as proof of submission of your application.
4. Should you not receive an automatic reply message, please check whether the e-mail has been filtered by the spam filter set up on your e-mail account. Please re-submit your application if this is not the case, or contact the European Environment Agency at the e-mail address: enquiries.advisoryboard@eea.europa.eu.
5. Please do not leave it until the last minute to submit your application. Experience has shown that the system can become overloaded as the deadline for applications approaches and you may find it difficult to submit your application in time.
6. You may apply in any of the official languages of the European Union but the use of English is encouraged to facilitate the process.

You are kindly requested to direct any questions on this call to the following e-mail address: enquiries.advisoryboard@eea.europa.eu.

Supporting documents may be requested at a later stage.

All expressions of interest will be treated as confidential.

Personal data protection

Any personal data provided by the applicant shall be processed pursuant to European Regulation related to personal data protection, in particular Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movements of such data. This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.

The purpose of processing the personal data which candidates submit is to manage expressions of interest with a view to possible pre-selection, selection and the designation of members of the Advisory Board.

Applicants shall have the right of access to their personal data and the right to rectify or update any such data that is inaccurate or incomplete at any time during the application procedure. The right to rectify can only be exercised up to the closing date for submission of applications. However, inaccurate identification data may be rectified at any time during and after the application procedure. Any request for access or rectification of personal data shall be addressed in writing at the address: European Environment Agency, Kongens Nytorv 6, 1050 Copenhagen K, Denmark, or at the e-mail address: enquiries.advisoryboard@eea.europa.eu.

Applicants can, upon request, be provided with their evaluation results at all stages of the selection procedure. The request must be submitted at the address: European Environment Agency, Kongens Nytorv 6, 1050 Copenhagen K, Denmark, or at the e-mail address: enquiries.advisoryboard@eea.europa.eu.

Should an applicant have any query concerning the processing of her/his personal data, s/he shall address them to the European Environment Agency at the following e-mail address: dataprotectionofficer@eea.europa.eu.

Applicants are entitled to have recourse at any time to the European Data Protection Supervisor (http://www.edps.europa.eu; EDPS@edps.europa.eu) if they consider that their rights under Regulation (EC) No 1725/2018 have been infringed as a result of the processing of their personal data by the EEA.