Enabling Climate Science Use to Better Support Resilience and Adaptation Practice

The report identifies a significant 'Valley of Death' between the production of climate science and its practical application in resilience and adaptation. While short-term forecasting is generally accurate and used, decadal information is urgently needed but largely unavailable, leading some practitioners to misuse long-term projections. The study argues that a 'science-first' approach is ineffective and recommends that the CLARE programme adopt a user-driven, transdisciplinary structure that prioritizes co-production, capacity building for 'discerning users', and the development of knowledge brokers to bridge the gap between scientists and decision-makers.

• There is a critical disconnect, termed the 'Valley of Death', between the providers of climate science and the end-users in adaptation and resilience practice, where information is often produced without sufficient consultation of user needs.
• Climate science for 1-10 day forecasting is generally accurate and useful for absorptive resilience, but access is often limited by a lack of trusted channels or formats that are relevant to specific livelihoods.
• Decadal climate information is the most urgently demanded by practitioners for adaptive contexts, yet it is the area where science is least able to meet demand.
• Long-term climate projections are frequently misused by development agencies to fill the gap in decadal information, which may lead to maladaptation.
• A 'science-first' approach, which assumes that filling an information deficit automatically leads to behavioral change, is dominant and often results in user exclusion from decision-making.
• Effective uptake of climate science is achieved through co-design and transdisciplinary approaches, such as Participatory Scenario Planning (PSP) and the use of 'embedded researchers'.
• There is a significant lack of 'data translators' or knowledge brokers who can bridge the gap between technical climate science and the needs of decision-makers.
• Capacity building for climate services is often overly focused at the national level, neglecting the sub-national level where the majority of users are located.
• Significant scientific uncertainties remain regarding the direction and magnitude of precipitation change in East and West Africa, as well as the cumulative effects of multiple stresses.
• The sustainability of climate services is threatened by a reliance on short-term, project-based funding and a lack of viable business models to ensure continuity after external support ends.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2020). Enabling Climate Science Use to Better Support Resilience and Adaptation Practice. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/lts-clare-scoping-study--final-eacds.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Enabling Climate Science Use to Better Support Resilience and Adaptation Practice. 2020. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/lts-clare-scoping-study--final-eacds.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Enabling Climate Science Use to Better Support Resilience and Adaptation Practice |date=6 March 2020 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/lts-clare-scoping-study--final-eacds.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2020enabling, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Enabling Climate Science Use to Better Support Resilience and Adaptation Practice}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2020}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/lts-clare-scoping-study--final-eacds.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }