Evaluating Knowledge to Support Climate Action: Framework for Sustained Assessment. Report of an Independent Advisory Committee on Applied Climate Assessment

As states, cities, tribes, and private interests cope with climate damages and seek to increase preparedness and resilience, they will need to navigate myriad choices and options available to them. Making these choices in ways that identify pathways for climate action that support their development...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Weather, climate, and society climate, and society, 2019-07, Vol.11 (3), p.465-487
Main Authors: Moss, R. H., Avery, S., Baja, K., Burkett, M., Chischilly, A. M., Dell, J., Fleming, P. A., Geil, K., Jacobs, K., Jones, A., Knowlton, K., Koh, J., Lemos, M. C., Melillo, J., Pandya, R., Richmond, T. C., Scarlett, L., Snyder, J., Stults, M., Waple, A. M., Whitehead, J., Zarrilli, D., Ayyub, B. M., Fox, J., Ganguly, A., Joppa, L., Julius, S., Kirshen, P., Kreutter, R., Mcgovern, A., Meyer, R., Neumann, J., Solecki, W., Smith, J., Tissot, P., Yohe, G., Zimmerman, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Agricultural production
Artificial intelligence
Assessments
Carbon
Case studies
Climate
Climate action
Climate change
Climate models
Climate prediction
Colleges & universities
Community involvement
Community participation
Consortia
Consultation
Decision making
Economic growth
Energy industry
Environmental assessment
Environmental protection
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Geographic information systems
Government
Identification methods
Industrial plant emissions
Natural resources
North America
Organizations
Partnerships
Planning
Policy
Professional associations
Public participation
Risk assessment
Societal impacts
Spatial analysis
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Summary:As states, cities, tribes, and private interests cope with climate damages and seek to increase preparedness and resilience, they will need to navigate myriad choices and options available to them. Making these choices in ways that identify pathways for climate action that support their development objectives will require constructive public dialogue, community participation, and flexible and ongoing access to science- and experience-based knowledge. In 2016, a Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) was convened to recommend how to conduct a sustained National Climate Assessment (NCA) to increase the relevance and usability of assessments for informing action. The FAC was disbanded in 2017, but members and additional experts reconvened to complete the report that is presented here. A key recommendation is establishing a new nonfederal “climate assessment consortium” to increase the role of state/local/tribal government and civil society in assessments. The expanded process would 1) focus on applied problems faced by practitioners, 2) organize sustained partnerships for collaborative learning across similar projects and case studies to identify effective tested practices, and 3) assess and improve knowledge-based methods for project implementation. Specific recommendations include evaluating climate models and data using user-defined metrics; improving benefit–cost assessment and supporting decision-making under uncertainty; and accelerating application of tools and methods such as citizen science, artificial intelligence, indicators, and geospatial analysis. The recommendations are the result of broad consultation and present an ambitious agenda for federal agencies, state/local/tribal jurisdictions, universities and the research sector, professional associations, nongovernmental and community-based organizations, and private-sector firms.
ISSN:1948-8327
1948-8335
DOI:10.1175/WCAS-D-18-0134.1