17 September 2015: The Climate Knowledge Brokers Manifesto, issued by the Climate Knowledge Brokers Group (CKB), calls for collective action to meet climate change knowledge-related challenges post-2015. The Manifesto outlines seven principles for how “climate knowledge brokers” can maximize their impact through collaboration and use of open data.

The 73-page publication, titled ‘The Climate Knowledge Brokers Manifesto: Informed Decision Making for a Climate Resilient Future,’ was launched on 17 September, in London, UK.

The Manifesto outlines the following key principles for effectively exchanging and communicating climate change-related information: using high quality of information; recognizing the importance of climate knowledge brokers; understanding user needs; learning collectively; using appropriate tools and methods; collaborating; and sharing knowledge.

Calling for “improved knowledge coordination to support action on climate change,” the group also calls for more organizations to join the effort. Geoff Barnard, Senior Advisor on Knowledge Management, Climate & Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) and founder of CKB, stressed the need for climate knowledge brokers to collaborate to avoid overlaps and effectively identify information needs, describing this as a precondition for “climate knowledge brokers [to] meet their full potential for turning knowledge into action.”

CKB defines climate knowledge brokers as those who bridge the gap between knowledge producers and users by “interpreting, sorting, translating, and integrating this wealth of information,” and making it relevant and useable for different audiences ranging from “government decision-makers and business leaders, urban planners and farmers, to everyday consumers and voters.”

Members of CKB, an initiative founded in 2011, comprise more than 100 international agencies and programmes. Since 2015, CKB has been coordinated by the CKB Coordination Hub, operated by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), with support from CDKN. [REEEP Press Release] [The Climate Knowledge Brokers Manifesto Website] [CKB Manifesto Launch Event Webpage] [Publication: The Climate Knowledge Brokers Manifesto] [CKB Manifesto Pamphlet Version]