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The report investigates the gap between the supply of online climate knowledge brokering (CKB) platforms and the actual needs of users. Through a survey of 163 users and case studies of four platforms—AfricaAdapt, Climate Finance Options, Climate Change Policy & Practice, and the Eldis Climate Change Resource Guide—the authors find that platforms are often supply-driven and fail to reach key stakeholders like policy-makers and frontline actors. Users primarily rely on search engines rather than portals and continue to prefer traditional written documents over interactive Web 2.0 tools. The report argues for a shift toward needs-led design and the integration of offline engagement to foster genuine knowledge co-production.

The research, based on surveys of over 200 users and four case studies, finds that online CKB platforms are primarily used by research-oriented actors to prepare reports and proposals, rather than by the policy-makers or frontline actors they often target. Users continue to rely on general search engines like Google to initiate searches and prefer traditional written documents over multimedia content. The brief argues that platforms risk being supply-driven and recommends focusing on search engine optimization and facilitated human interaction rather than attempting to be 'one-stop-shops'.