Abstract. We document the first version of the Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques Earth system model (CNRM-ESM1). This model is based on the physical core of the CNRM climate model version 5 (CNRM-CM5) model and employs the Interactions between Soil, Biosphere and Atmosphere (ISBA) and the Pelagic Interaction Scheme for Carbon and Ecosystem Studies (PISCES) as terrestrial and oceanic components of the global carbon cycle. We describe a preindustrial and 20th century climate simulation following the CMIP5 protocol. We detail how the various carbon reservoirs were initialized and analyze the behavior of the carbon cycle and its prominent physical drivers. Over the 1986–2005 period, CNRM-ESM1 reproduces satisfactorily several aspects of the modern carbon cycle. On land, the model captures the carbon cycling through vegetation and soil, resulting in a net terrestrial carbon sink of 2.2 Pg C year−1. In the ocean, the large-scale distribution of hydrodynamical and biogeochemical tracers agrees with a modern climatology from the World Ocean Atlas. The combination of biological and physical processes induces a net CO2 uptake of 1.7 Pg C year−1 that falls within the range of recent estimates. Our analysis shows that the atmospheric climate of CNRM-ESM1 compares well with that of CNRM-CM5. Biases in precipitation and shortwave radiation over the tropics generate errors in gross primary productivity and ecosystem respiration. Compared to CNRM-CM5, the revised ocean–sea ice coupling has modified the sea-ice cover and ocean ventilation, unrealistically strengthening the flow of North Atlantic deep water (26.1 ± 2 Sv). It results in an accumulation of anthropogenic carbon in the deep ocean.