Managing Climate Change Information in the Next Administration

December 17, 2020

Countries around the world, state and local governments, industry, investors, insurers, and civil society require increased access to climate data and analysis to inform critical decisions. The good news is that the information we are already collecting is sufficient to have confidence in taking action to deal with climate change. While more advanced measurements will bring even greater fidelity, it is most important that existing data be made available to the users that need it, in a form they can understand, with the proper incentives to use it. This data is necessary to implement policies, create new markets, or make investments that have verifiable emissions reductions. This information is needed to inform businesses and communities on how they should plan to withstand the uncertain impacts of a changing climate.

The goal of this report is to identify and recommend improved federal action in the collection, management, and analysis of climate data to guide the next administration. In our research, we repeatedly heard common themes—the need for better Federal organization, and a process to identify data needs, and stronger processes for collaboration among the many public and private actors with climate data needs. Our goal is to recommend a governance structure to best turn Earth systems data into relevant and actionable knowledge to better manage and combat climate change.

This report is made possible by support from Earthrise Alliance.