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KEY MESSAGES
Communities around the world already generate a lot of data and information on climate risks and vulnerability that should be recognized, and used to inform local, national, and global investments.
Technological advances have made it possible to generate downscaled data without technical skills, so lack of data is no longer the problem. However, even the best data generated in this way needs ground- truthing by communities; and open access decision support tools are needed to make the data useable by communities in different contexts and sectors.
Communities are not only effective generators of data, but also have the potential to turn big data into useable information and knowledge, and to ensure that it is disseminated.
In addition to climate data, data to track changes in risk, including through increased or reduced exposure, is necessary. Researchers and data providers need to be driven by the needs of communities and users while generating this data and information – they need to switch to listening mode more often.
Requirements for climate justifications and rationales to access climate finance are onerous and set a high bar for entry for local communities most in need, who lack the resources for frontloading.