NIERSC was established in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1992 as a non-profit joint venture encompassing Russia, Norway and Germany, and reorganized as a Scientific Foundation in 2001. NIERSC vision is to understand, monitor and predict climate and environmental changes in the high northern latitudes for serving the society with a special focus on the Russian High North. Together with its founders, Nansen Centre, Bergen, Norway, and Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany, NIERSC was elected the 2005 EU Descartes Prize Laureate in the Earth Sciences for the attainments achieved during more than 10 years of joint climate research activities under the project “Climate and Environmental Change in the Arctic – CECA”. NIERSC is a member of the Global Climate Forum (GCF) and the Arctic Regional Ocean Observing System (Arctic ROOS). NIERSC expertise covers climate and environmental change in the Arctic, polar marine ecosystems, satellite remote sensing of the atmosphere, marine environment, sea and land ice, and socioeconomic impact of climate change. Apart from research, NIERSC is also involved in educational activities at postgraduate level performed under the NANSEN Fellowship Program.
NIERSC ended its participation in the project in 2022 as a result of the changed workplan of WP4.