Improving access to climate change research and information:
Planned Centre for Climate and Development
6 January 2009
Developing countries have limited access to up-to-date, high quality and relevant information on climate change, and may have limited capacity to interpret this to enable them to take informed decisions and scale up their activities on adaptation and low carbon development. There is a pressing need for better access for developing country governments, civil society and others to high quality and reliable research, information and knowledge on climate change and development.
DFID is currently working to design a multi-million pound arrangement for delivering an integrated set of knowledge management, research and tailored advisory services on climate change and development. The aim is to enable developing countries to access and use high quality, timely, and relevant research and information on climate change to support policy-making and practice on adaptation and low carbon development, and to build the capacity of developing countries in climate research.
The key services to be provided include:
- Knowledge management - synthesis, dissemination, tailoring and packaging of high quality research and information for policy-makers and practitioners
- Advisory services for developing country governments and others – in the form of a help desk and mobilising short term support
- Identification of gaps in research and undertaking/commissioning priority short-term research and analysis, and longer term research, to fill these gaps
- Strategic review of global knowledge, research and analysis on climate change and development
- Capacity building through the above functions and directly
Following further design and consultation, DFID plans to run a competitive tender process to identify a consortium of organisations from the South and North which brings together a range of management and technical expertise. This consortium would both undertake work itself and commission existing institutions to deliver these services, forging partnerships and networks with and between existing centres of excellence, particularly in the South. DFID plans to structure the funding arrangements to enable participation of other interested donors in this initiative.
We will ensure that the approach is flexible enough to adapt to and support any global framework emerging as a result of the Copenhagen negotiations, and the approach will be subject to regular review.
DFID plans to place a call for Expressions of Interest to set up and run this Centre in early 2009.
