Global climate models and Earth system models are numerical models of the Earth's climate system and are used to understand how the Earth's various components, including the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, biosphere, and cryosphere, interact with each other and how they respond to natural and human-induced changes. These models simulate the physical, chemical, and biological processes that govern the Earth system, at different levels of complexity. As such, they are essential tools for understanding and predicting climate variability and climate change.

EC-Earth is an Earth system model developed by a European consortium of national meteorological services and research institutes. The EC-Earth consortium was started in 2006 and has welcomed many new partners ever since. By now, EC-Earth has become a prominent state-of-the-art model within the international landscape of global climate and Earth system models. The EC-Earth consortium has contributed to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP), and will continue to do so in the future. EC-Earth is also used as a research tool in various national, European and international projects.