Integrating federal research on global change and climate change

A National Climate Adaptation Summit will take place in Washington, DC on May 25-27.  The goal of the Summit is to bring together about 150 invited users and providers of climate adaptation information from diverse climatological regions and economic sectors to provide insight into what is needed for effective climate adaptation and vulnerability assessment and how we should be organized to do that (public and private sectors -- federal to local levels). These insights will be incorporated into a broad range of federal climate adaptation planning efforts, including the planning of Climate Adaptation Task Force and the U.S. Global Change Research Program, as well as build on related reports.

The Summit will be a three day event held in the WDC region on 25-27 May. The Summit will have keynotes and panels open to broader participation and webcasting, but the primary focus1 of the Summit will be on breakout sessions involving the invited participants. The Summit is not intended to debate what climate change will and won’t look like. But, using the best available information about projected climate change and impacts, the breakout participants will be asked to examine what needs, knowledge, and roles must be addressed in the near-term and long-term so they can ensure their community has reliable access to water, food, energy, transportation, and health services, and would any of this change between the lower and higher greenhouse gas emissions scenarios? For more clarity, these needs, knowledge, and roles are defined as:

1. Needs. What incentives and barriers should be addressed to encourage and facilitate effective climate adaptation and vulnerability assessment (e.g., funding, policy, legal, regulatory, legislative, actuarial, infrastructure, building and other standards and codes, training, cultural, etc)? Of these, which are significant, which are urgent, and which, if altered, could provide the most substantial leverage?
2. Knowledge. What knowledge (e.g., scientific, technical, information, tools, procedures, best practices, advice, etc) is needed by public and private decision makers (federal, state, local, etc) to adapt to climate change and assess vulnerability? How do we assure this knowledge is responsive to their needs, actionable, and effectively used?
3. Roles. Who should provide this knowledge and leadership, how should it be delivered, and how should these providers be related to one another? What organizations, structures, and mechanisms might be needed for effectively communicating knowledge to action and vice versa?