Strengthening the Interdisciplinary Climate Change Knowledge Base
UNESCO promotes the continuous strengthening of the interdisciplinary climate change knowledge base, primarily involving the sound and unbiased generation and use of data, information and research concerning climate change (climate science) assessment, monitoring and early warning of relevance to climate change mitigation and adaptation. This is being integrated with UNESCO capacities in natural and social sciences, culture, education and communication to improve the resilience of Member States to climate change through national and local climate mitigation, adaptation and risk management policies based on science, local and indigenous knowledge, and ecological and sociocultural systems.
Policies that do not take account of the social drivers and impacts of climate change are unlikely to succeed in protecting the interests of the most vulnerable. Based on the Management of Social Transformations (MOST) and Environmental Ethics programmes, in cooperation with partners including the International Social Science Council (ISSC) and the International Council for Science (ICSU), this flagship activity will improve understanding of the social dimensions, including gender equality issues related to climate change, and develop and implement a
policy-relevant, action-oriented research programme focusing in particular on the design and implementation of appropriate climate change adaptation actions.
Collaboration among the International Hydrological Programme (IHP), Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), the Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme and MOST will be promoted on cross-cutting issues of water, energy and biosphere management contributing to Member State’s efforts globally to address climate change. This work will feed into the work and delivery of the UN inter-agency Task Team on the Social Dimensions of Climate Change, in which UNESCO is an active member, as well as into the deliberations of UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to enhance and lead UN-wide collaboration on the climate knowledge base and the Global Framework for Climate Services.
Related activities
- Man and the Biosphere Programme
- World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)
- Management of Social Transformations (MOST)
- World Climate Research Programme
- Earth System Physics section of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)
- Groundwater Resources Assessment under the Pressures of Humanity and Climate Change (GRAPHIC)
- World-wide Hydrogeological Mapping and Assessment Programme (WHYMAP)
- Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy (HELP)
- Flow Regimes from International Experimental and Network Data (FRIEND)
- Ecohydrology for sustainability
- Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics Programme (GLOBEC)
- The Ocean in a High CO2 World
- Global Climate Observing System (GCOS)
- Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS)
- Ocean Observations Panel for Climate (OOPC)
- The Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS)
- International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project (IOCCP)
- Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN)