4 December 2014: The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) organized a UN system-wide event on ‘Data, Knowledge and Innovation for Climate Action’ on the margins of the Lima Climate Change Conference. Panelists focused on ways knowledge partnerships can integrate climate information into broader sustainability discussions, including through combining climate models with socio-economic data to strengthen local resilience to climate change.

On interpreting big data for decision making and action, Ilaria Firmian, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), highlighted a climate vulnerability study in Mali that examined 10 dimensions of people’s livelihoods, noting it informed decision making at the project level. An example from the UN Office for REDD+ Coordination in Indonesia (UNORCID) illustrated that a study showing forest ecosystems account for 76% of livelihoods helped convince policy makers of the importance of biodiversity conservation.

Koko Warner, UN University (UNU), highlighted the need for research to: understand who is affected by climate and how; understand what drives people’s behavior and decisions in relation to climate events; and make sure that data “makes sense” in real-life situations. She cited an example of crisis-focused mobile apps providing early-warning information to vulnerable communities.

Phillip Williamson, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO-IOC), used the example of ocean acidification to stress that national sovereignty over research can constrain data compilation and application. He called for UN-led promotion of open-data policies on basic environmental data.

During the discussion, participants raised a range of issues related to improving the quality of data and knowledge sharing. One speaker emphasized that the global data revolution could contribute to greater inequality if knowledge partnerships do not focus on finding who is “lost” in the data to understand their vulnerability and include them in solutions.

Other speakers highlighted that: focusing on concrete problems will motivate collaboration among business, research, civil society and governments; data collection should result in projects that are “bankable and implementable”; social tagging and knowledge brokering can enhance the searchability of data; and provisions for consumer protection should be incorporated when using crowd-sourced data. [IISD RS ENBOTS Coverage] [IISD RS ENBOTS Video Coverage of Side Event] [IISD RS Coverage of Lima Climate Change Conference] [UNIDO Press Release] [UNFPA Website]