Immersion in DG CLIMA at the European Commission as a climate scientist: what I learnt

“Science does not end when your paper is published, it’s just the beginning”. I heard this statement from an EC policymaker at a previous EGU conference and it really stuck with me.

After a few years of pondering what science for policy is and how to do it, I decided it was time to learn by doing and applied to the “Bluebook” traineeship programme at the European Commission. With quite a competitive entry selection, I was lucky to be accepted in my unit of choice at DG CLIMA, “Foresight, Economic Analysis & Modelling”, where my climate science expertise was very relevant.

During the 5 months i spent within the European Commission in 2024, I split my focus on both greenhouse gas reporting to the UNFCCC - in particular researching how ready Earth Observation-based measurements of greenhouse gases are for policy use - and followed climate science for my DG, contributing to Horizon Europe calls, writing briefings and summaries of latest scientific reports.

I would like to share the lessons I learnt from working at the science-policy interface in DG CLIMA and in contributing to European policymaking in general: what was easier than expected, what was challenging, what I learnt about the relevant ways in which we can support European policymakers, and perhaps provide some inspiration for other scientists to do a traineeship too.