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- A.3State of the art – The adaptation platform landscape
- A.3.1Scope and History
- A.3.2Funding models
- A.3.3Links between adaptation platforms and climate services
A.2DefinitionsThere are not universally accepted definitions of climate services or of adaptation services with different communities adopting a more comprehensive or restrictive definition according to what best suits their vision, remit, functions, stakeholders and their needs, and/or circumstances. Some examples of such definitions of climate services are: Global Framework of Climate Services - providing climate information in a way that assists decision-making by individuals and organizations. A service requires appropriate engagement along with an effective access mechanism and must respond to user needs. JPI-Climate - User-driven development and provision of knowledge for understanding the climate, climate change and its impacts, as well as guidance in its use to researchers and decision makers in policy and business. Climate Services Partnership - Production, translation, transfer, and use of climate knowledge and information in climate-informed decision-making and climate-smart policy and planning. Advisory Group for H2020 Societal Challenge 5 - transformation of climate-related data into customised products, their subsequent application and outreach and strong links with social sciences and humanities. For adaptation services, there is an evolving understanding of what these comprise as reflected in the following statements: Climate-KIC - increasing the capacity of society, cities and infrastructure to be able to adapt to climate change (EIT Climate Knowledge and Innovation Community, Climate-KIC) – taking knowledge from climate services and translating it into concrete services and solutions further downstream to make a real impact. CAS Foundation - information services supporting the assessment of vulnerability in a wider perspective and includes design and appraisal of adaptation strategies – going the last mile by translating climate impact information to policy relevant and usable science3. These definitions suggest that in both cases the services required / made available are those required by the intended user communities to inform their decision making processes. They also suggest that climate services primarily focus on the provision of climate information, data and knowledge (including climate impacts), whereas climate adaptation services go beyond the provision of these climate services to provide a broader set of services to support adaptation. As such, these definitions suggest that climate services are a sub-set of adaptation services (see figures in Annex 1 and 2, respectively).
In all cases these web-based platforms are seen as a means of enabling and empowering adaptation actions through providing and sharing information and knowledge and thereby increasing the ‘visibility’ and understanding of adaptation. The information and knowledge shared includes guidance; supportive data, information and tools/resources; policy actions at the transnational, national and sub-national levels; experiences form practice and implemented adaptation actions; and the results of adaptation research. In addition, some platforms are also used as forums to engage experts (e.g. Spain uses there platform to enable the experts/decision makes to work on documents and to actively exchange experiences). The different tenures of these platforms and the fact that others are or are considering introducing adaptation platforms, plus the linked and overlapping scope of services (among other adaptation platforms, but also those being provided by climate service providers and DRR platforms) in terms of both content and geographic coverage present both challenges and opportunities. Addressing these challenges and opportunities requires as a first step an understanding of the adaptation platform landscape in terms of the scope of the services provided, operational and business models, and future plans. The following analysis is intended to present that landscape as a basis for better understanding and addressing the above-mentioned challenges and opportunities. The information used to undertake this analysis (see Annex 3) was assembled based the information provided for the expert meeting held at EEA in June 2013 and the CIRCLE 2 / EEA workshop on Adaptation Platforms in Europe in November 20134. It is understood that this information was originally made available for other purposes and not collected with the preparation of this Technical Paper in mind. It is also recognised that this information will need to be confirmed / updated based on discussions with those responsible for the identified platforms and to ensure that other platforms, including those that have been introduced subsequent to these meetings, are reflected (refer to Annex 3). The focus of the analysis has been placed on exploring the scope and history; business models, targeted users and funding models; links to Climate Services/DRR; and future plans as these are areas where sharing knowledge and experiences would be most useful in terms of learning from others and reaching an understanding of the challenges and opportunities that face existing and developing adaptation platforms. At this time, the analysis is intended to inform the deliberations at the EEA expert meeting (23rd June 2014). Further analysis will be undertaken, based on the discussions at that expert meeting, but also to further explore implications for the challenges and opportunities evident in the information assembled. A.3.1Scope and HistoryA preliminary analysis of the scope and history of the different adaptation platform begins to shed some light that can be used to further explore the lessons learnt and challenges. The first is the driving force(s) behind their establishment and the temporal nature (e.g. when launched). The analysis shows that in all cases the platforms were launched as a means of supporting adaptive action on climate change and in most cases supporting or an initiative of national adaptation strategies or plans (see Table 1.1). In the case of Climate-ADAPT it origins within the ‘White Paper Adapting to climate change: Towards a European framework for action’ and is an integral component of the EU Adaptation Strategy (Priority 2: Better informed decision-making, Action 5) (see Table 1.1). As such, the timing of the development and launch of these platforms is often synchronised (leading or immediately following) the launch of such plans (see Table 1.2). Table 1.1 Driving force behind establishing climate adaptation platforms
Table 1.2 Availability of Adaptation platforms
Note: red denotes developed; pink denotes underdevelopment. The experience in delivering these platforms is limited with only three platforms – Germany (KomPass), Austria and Denmark – having more than three years of experience A.3.2Funding modelsThere are a variety of funding models supporting the development and delivery of the different adaptation platforms. A number of the national and transnational platforms were developed using project funding (Austria, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Pyrenees and C3-Alps). As such, the funding was/is time limited with implications for the scope of the services developed. Climate-ADAPT development was and is still being supported through project funding by DG CLIMA, while the maintenance is based on EEA budget. Many of the platforms are funded by the respective ministry of the environment (see Table 1.3) solely or in conjunction with the respective meteorological services. Table 1.3 Funding sources for adaptation platforms
A.3.3Links between adaptation platforms and climate servicesThe analysis demonstrates that many adaptation platforms are linked or that there the potential of links with climate service providers. Some of these are a result of direct links/joint responsibility with either the national meteorological services or a national climate service provider (see Table 1.4). Exploring the nature of these links (formal and informal) and the implications for service delivery and the respective business models would be useful, including in the context of sharing lessons learnt and the further development of the respective services. There are also differences in what climate information is available on the adaptation platform. Some provide aggregated information (e.g. Denmark) with a link to more information available through a climate service provider. Table 1.4
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