A new way to put climate data to work

This post is written by Joel Gurin, President of the Center for Open Data Enterprise.

• The problem: To adapt to climate change, we need to use both global and local data - but the local data we have is not standardised or easy to use.
• Why it matters: Governments around the world need to use data on local conditions, infrastructure, and capacity to develop climate solutions tailored to their constituents.
• The solution: A new knowledge network could help any country apply local data for climate action, by sharing strategies, resources, and tools.

The recent COP27 climate conference ended with one major achievement: the agreement to establish a “loss and damage” fund to help countries in the global south deal with the consequences of climate change. Leaders of impacted nations and influential NGOs made a compelling case that the rich nations responsible for the climate crisis need to aid the poorer countries that suffer the most. If and when this funding comes through, countries in the global South will have greater means to rapidly manage the impacts of climate change.

With new funding, national and subnational governments will need to use many kinds of data to develop programs for climate adaptation and resilience. But the data sources they need – especially localised data – are imperfect and challenging to use. A new knowledge-sharing network could help any country apply the data it has today, despite the data’s shortcomings, as a basis for climate action.

Addressing a global data dilemma

National and local governments need to analyse two kinds of data to address the climate crisis: global comparative data that shows which areas will suffer which effects of climate change, and local data that shows how well different countries, regions, and cities are prepared for long-term changes and sudden climate disasters. Global climate data has become more accurate, complete, and usable in recent years. International scientific organisations share massive amounts of satellite data on extreme weather, sea level, global temperature, analysis of future scenarios, and more. Projects like NOAA’s Big Data Program have made it easier to access and analyze this data from the cloud, while initiatives like Digital Earth Africa are helping to apply Earth observation data in the global south.

Global climate data has become more accurate, complete, and usable in recent years.

In contrast, local data is inconsistent and often difficult to use. We don’t have globally standardised, reliable data on healthcare, transportation, local infrastructure, energy, agriculture, and all the other systems that are necessary for climate adaptation and resilience. These kinds of data, which could be called climate-relevant data, are stored and managed using different kinds of data architecture and vary widely in coverage and quality. Global efforts to gather more and better data, develop data standards, and improve data analytics should eventually improve the situation, but that will take years.

Because local data varies so much from country to country and even city to city, there are no universal algorithms to help analyse and advise on the best ways to prepare for rising sea levels, extreme heat, or other climate hazards. Each local government now needs to figure out solutions for itself using whatever data it has on hand. However, if every country works out its own climate strategies in isolation, we could have a recipe for duplicated effort and slow progress, blunting the impact of funding for loss and damage as well as adaptation.

The best approach is to work simultaneously to improve data and analytics and to build human communication, connection, and collaboration focused on this challenge. We need a new knowledge network to apply data for climate solutions - a network that can share knowledge to jumpstart new data-driven approaches and rapidly communicate improvements in data and analytics as they are developed. We don’t need to wait for better data to begin: given the urgency of the climate crisis, we can and should start building this network today.

Sharing knowledge for rapid progress

Knowledge networks are already enabling local governments on the front lines of the climate emergency to collaborate on solutions and learn from each other. Examples include Climate Mayors and the U.S. Climate Alliance, an organisation of governors, in the U.S., and C40 Cities and the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy internationally. At the same time, networks like the Global Resilience Partnership and the Climate and Development Knowledge Network bring intergovernmental organisations, NGOs, academics, and financial organisations together with governments working on adaptation and resilience.

A logical next step is to apply the same knowledge-sharing model to focus on strategies for data collection, analysis, and application that can help government leaders use both global and local data more effectively. Some existing networks in the US promote the use of global and local climate-relevant data in this way. For example, Earth Science Information Partners, created by NASA more than two decades ago, has over 120 organisations working together to apply Earth observation data. The newer Open Environmental Data Project and Open Climate community are helping local leaders apply data for action as well. These and other knowledge networks for data use can be models for a new international network to develop data-driven climate solutions on a global scale.

Because local data varies so much from country to country and even city to city, there are no universal algorithms to help analyse and advise on the best ways to prepare for rising sea levels, extreme heat, or other climate hazards.

A global knowledge network around climate data could help inform and support existing networks and initiatives by providing a wide range of services, resources, and collaborative opportunities. For example, it could publish core knowledge resources like a directory of organisations working on climate data applications, or a searchable, sortable map of use cases showcasing models for data-driven climate action throughout the world. It could establish learning communities and hold virtual and in-person convenings on data challenges and opportunities. And it could provide toolkits and training modules for developing strategies and tactics to apply local data for climate action.

Such a network would be very different from the data-sharing networks that already make global scientific data available and usable worldwide. While these data-sharing networks can help every country use Earth observation data, a data-sharing approach doesn’t make sense when it comes to local data for climate adaptation and resilience. The local data that the government of Pakistan needs to improve flood resilience, including data on housing, infrastructure, farmland, and other factors, can’t help the government of Nigeria deal with the same challenge. However, a knowledge-sharing network can enable countries to share strategies, resources, and tools for harnessing and applying different kinds of climate-relevant data despite local and national differences in the data itself.

An invitation to build a new network

My organisation, the Center for Open Data Enterprise (CODE), is exploring the potential for such a knowledge network as part of our work to improve the use of data to address the climate crisis. Among other projects, we are now collaborating with the nonprofit Open Data Watch and PARIS21, hosted within the OECD, to develop tools that any country can use to improve its climate change data ecosystem.

This includes developing in-country assessments to identify data resources and data gaps, and a General Climate Data Typology to help prioritise the most important types of global and local data for adaptation and resilience. We believe a new knowledge network can build on such in-country approaches and accelerate data-driven solutions to climate challenges at a time when the world desperately needs them.

CODE is now reaching out to existing networks and organisations for feedback on this concept and to explore potential partnerships. We welcome ideas, input, and opportunities for collaboration at contact@odenterprise.org. By sharing experiences, insights, and strategies, and by building on the global work already under way, we can accelerate scalable solutions to our biggest global threat.

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(Image Credit: USGS.gov, Unsplash)