Climate change and globalization are the dominant drivers of societal impacts in the Arctic with economic development rapidly transforming the geo-politics and the physical and biogeochemical environment of the region. For example, new prospectors are increasing their activities using modern techniques for oil and gas, fisheries and mineral resources assessments, and commercial ship traffic is growing dramatically. Several areas of extreme concern were recently raised by the International Panel for Climate Change: “There is high confidence that the probability of a sea-ice-free Arctic Ocean during summer is substantially lower at global warming of 1.5°C when compared to 2°C. With 1.5°C of global warming, one sea ice-free Arctic summer is projected per century. This likelihood is increased to at least one per decade with 2°C global warming. Effects of a temperature overshoot are reversible for Arctic sea ice cover on decadal time scales.”

"The decline of Arctic sea-ice is monitored since the late 1970s using the continuous record of microwave radiometer satellite data. CIMR will continue this record with improved capability (EUMETSAT OSI SAF data with R&D input from ESA CCI, Lavergne et al. 2019)".

Permafrost thaw, extreme weather events, flooding, diminishing sea and land ice, and coastal erosion lead to unreliable ice roads, damage to houses, pipelines, railways, airports, ports and harbors, and with likely significant adverse effects on ecosystem goods and services including energy and water supplies.  As a consequence, the relocation of entire communities may be required. The societal impacts of a rapidly changing Arctic are complex, uncertain and ambiguous. As an increasing number of national and international stakeholders place more demands on the Arctic region, tensions and insecurity across the region as a whole are evident. In this evolving complex setting Arctic indigenous peoples remain extremely vulnerable. 

In response, the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy issued to the European Parliament and the Council, on 27 April 2016, a joint communication that proposed "An integrated European Union policy for the Arctic". Continuously monitoring the vast and harsh Arctic environment in a changing world is considered essential to the successful implementation and effective management of the Arctic Policy.

The Arctic’s fragile environment is a direct and key indicator of climate change.  It requires specific mitigation and adaptation actions in three priority areas that are the core elements of the Arctic Policy:

1. Climate Change and Safeguarding the Arctic Environment (livelihoods of indigenous peoples, Arctic environment).
2. Sustainable Development in and around the Arctic (exploitation of natural resources e.g. fish, minerals, oil and gas), “Blue economy”, safe and reliable navigation (e.g. the Arctic Northern Sea Route).
3. International Cooperation on Arctic Issues (scientific research, EU and bilateral cooperation projects, fisheries management/ ecosystems protection, commercial fishing).

The CIMR Mission Requirements Document (MRD) provides a full description of the CIMR mission background and Mission Requirements that have been developed in response to the User needs expressed by the European Commission.  The CIMR MRD v4.0 is available at  https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/EarthObservation/CIMR-MRD-v4.0-20201006_Issued.pdf

CIMR will uniquely observe a wide range of geophysical parameters in the Cryophere, Ocean, Land and Atmosphere to address the needs of Copernicus Services and provide evidence to underpin the management and monitor the impact of the Integrated European Policy for the Arctic.