Climate Resource develops model evaluation frameworks and software to provide diagnostics that characterise climate model performance and highlight model spread, diversity and differences. These results may help researchers identify models suitable for specific applications. This work is contributing to the World Climate Research Program's Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP), which will support the IPCC's upcoming seventh assessment report (AR7).
ESM Evaluation
Systematic and comprehensive evaluation of climate models through comparison with observational data
Leading the software behind the CMIP Rapid Evaluation Framework
Climate Resource leads development of the open-source software behind the CMIP Rapid Evaluation Framework, or REF. We bring climate science and software engineering together to help researchers assess the models that inform international climate assessments
Faster evaluation. More time for science.
Understanding how climate models perform is essential to interpreting their projections. Researchers need to know how well models reproduce observations, where they differ and which processes need closer investigation.
That work can take months of data preparation and analysis. The REF makes shared evaluation results freely available, reducing the need for researchers to download and process large datasets themselves. It supports the CMIP7 Assessment Fast Track, which is designed to inform the IPCC’s Seventh Assessment Report.
Researchers can investigate model strengths and limitations, while modelling centres can use the framework to assess changes during development. Reproducible evaluations provide a common basis for comparison and further research (Hoffman et al, 2026).
Our technical leadership
Climate Resource leads the framework software development that brings established scientific tools into a shared evaluation system. Our Chief Technical Officer, Jared Lewis, managed the REF delivery team. The wider team is now actively maintaining the REF and excited to see what other WCRP projects can make use of this.
The framework connects community tools including ESMValTool, ILAMB/IOMB and the PCMDI Metrics Package. It coordinates evaluation runs, records results and makes them accessible through a dashboard and API. The modular design supports use at individual modelling centres and on larger computing systems, with room for additional diagnostics as scientific needs evolve.
Our partners need software that respects the science and works in practice. We bring experience translating scientific requirements into systems that other teams can use, inspect and build on.
Built with the international climate community
The REF is a community effort supported by the European Space Agency, the US Department of Energy and the CMIP IPO. Climate Resource works alongside research institutions and the teams behind established evaluation tools, and the CMIP Model Benchmarking Task Team. The initial set of diagnostics were identified by community consultation.
The first public release launched in October 2025, followed by the CMIP7-ready release in March 2026 at the CMIP Community Workshop in Kyoto. The software and evaluation results are openly available.
Climate REF
CMIP7 evaluations are now available
The Rapid Evaluation Framework (REF) runs a common set of diagnostics for CMIP7 output as they become available, so models can be compared against observations and each other. This is updated daily.
Climate Resource helps maintain the REF, working with the diagnostic providers PCMDI, ESMValTool and ILAMB.
News about ESM Evaluation
All newsOctober 2025
ESM Evaluation
Rapid Evaluation Framework for CMIP7
The Rapid Evaluation Framework for CMIP7 has officially launched! Climate Resource was proud to contribute. Jared Lewis, our CTO, leads the REF implementation team for the Assessment Fast Track REF. This milestone marks a major step toward the systematic evaluation of climate models in the CMIP7 Assessment Fast Track, which will inform the seventh IPCC Assessment Report (AR7).
The REF is a project of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP), made possible by resources from European Space Agency and US Department of Energy and the expertise of the following software packages and organisations: Climate Resource, eScience Center, ESMValTool, ILAMB, IOMB, PMP and CMEC.
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November 2022
ESM Evaluation
Redefining what activities are eligible to create offsets as the world transitions to net-zero
In Australia and globally most carbon credits are for emission reductions relative to an alternative higher emitting baseline or for land-based carbon dioxide removals. This is not adequate in a net-zero world or in the transition towards it. We argue that rules for carbon credits need to be reshaped to deliver a rapid transition away from emissions reductions credits and to avoid over-reliance on land-based sequestration.
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Publications using ESM Evaluation
All publications
April 2026
The Scenario Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP7 (ScenarioMIP-CMIP7)
Detlef P. Van Vuuren, Brian C. O'Neill, Claudia Tebaldi, Benjamin M. Sanderson, Louise P. Chini and 39 others
Geoscientific Model Development
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January 2026
Understanding the Drivers of Carbon–Nitrogen Cycle Variability in CMIP6 ESMs With MAGICC CNit v2.0: Model and Calibration Updates
Gang Tang, Sönke Zaehle, Zebedee Nicholls, Alexander Norton, Tilo Ziehn and 1 other
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems
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