Climate research is extremely valuable to understanding the issues facing the world, but it does not always carry over meaningfully to the policy world, according to an editorial published Monday in Nature.
The editorial considers the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which seek, in part, to inform policymakers on the whole of scientific knowledge of climate change. “In the IPCC’s sixth cycle of assessment, the climate-science community needs to supply the right sorts of information to help decision-makers to construct policies from myriad mitigation and adaptation options,” wrote Stéphane Hallegatte, senior economist with the World Bank’s Climate Change Group, and Katharine Mach, senior research associate at Carnegie Science’s Department of Global Ecology.
To better inform policymakers, Hallegatte and Mach suggested four steps for researchers.
- Integrate disciplines from the start: “Research and assessments must be designed to solicit and answer questions crucial to decision-making. For example, how do risks and requirements compare for a climate goal at 1.5 °C, 2 °C or more?”
- Explore multiple dimensions: “More research is needed on regional challenges and opportunities that go beyond the use of a single metric — global mean warming — as a proxy for climate change and its impacts.”
- Consider uncertainty: “Researchers need to assess how different sources of uncertainty affect decision-making, especially in worst-case scenarios. What should we do if temperatures start to rise more rapidly or the impacts are more dangerous than we expect?”
- Inform holistic solutions: “The impacts of climate changes and climate policies will interact if, for instance, a slower reduction in poverty owing to higher energy costs increases vulnerability. Synergies and trade-offs must be evaluated, including risks arising from mitigation actions — not just inactions.”
