Pairing Research and Action to Accelerate Climate Adaptation | Article

From farms in Iowa to ranchlands in Argentina, farmers and ranchers are grappling with how to feed people as seasons shift and precipitation patterns change. What crops will be best suited to near-term shifts in climate conditions? How would planting trees impact crop yields? How do steps that one farm takes to adapt to climate change impact neighboring farms?

Countless similar questions could be laid out for almost any sector or geographic location. Adapting to climate change needs to be integrated into how we live, work, and govern, and, if done effectively, it can lead to thriving communities. But, how do we know what is effective?

In early 2021, 30 organizations came together with support from the United Kingdom COP26 Presidency to co-develop the Adaptation Research Alliance to address just this question. The Alliance, which is set to be formally launched at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) in November 2021, is designed around the idea that “we need a new paradigm of action-oriented research to inform effective adaptation to reduce the risks from climate change, particularly for countries and communities that are most vulnerable—at the scale and urgency demanded by science,” according to its website.

Action-oriented research is designed to directly address the concerns of people experiencing climate impacts. The research is solutions-oriented and conducted in a way that people can implement research findings in their lives and work.

Both the World Adaptation Science Programme and the Global Commission on Adaptation’s flagship report identified a serious need for scaled-up investment in research for climate adaptation and resilience. These initiatives, along with extensive consultations with research-focused institutions and action- and implementation-oriented organizations, have informed the development of the Adaptation Research Alliance and its principles.

Now, with over 50 organizational members, the Adaptation Research Alliance has developed pilot activities during its pre-launch phase around advocacy, research planning and coordination, and resource mobilization.

The Alliance will focus its advocacy on making the case for action-oriented research. The multi-stakeholder coalition is putting together written policy briefs to highlight the value of this form of research and provide examples of how it can make a difference in implementing more effective adaptation actions. The policy briefs will be coming out during COP26.

On the planning and coordinating role, Dame Judith Macgregor, chair of the Strategic Advisory Group for the Global Challenges Research Fund, explains, “The Adaptation Research Alliance provides an urgently needed point of collaboration and support for researchers, funders, policy makers and communities worldwide: to share lessons, add value and learn from locally-determined but globally-applicable research.”

Resource mobilization is a critical function of the Adaptation Research Alliance. It presents a unique challenge, however, because funders tend to be either research-oriented or action-oriented; few funders are expressly interested in supporting action-oriented research.

As Anand Patwardhan, professor at the University of Maryland and Adaptation Research Alliance co-chair, explains, “Take the National Science Foundation, they are focused on funding research. We are trying to figure out how to bring together research funders like NSF with an action funder like the U.S. Agency for International Development for a new kind of partnership. And we are trying to do this not only with governments, but also with philanthropic organizations and the private sector.”

This approach would allow funders to put already existing money to work in new ways to support adaptation research. “The message that we want to work with and convey,” Patwardhan said, “is that investment in adaptation action requires investment in the knowledge base that is critical to the success of that action.”

The Adaptation Research Alliance is working to scale up research around the world with the idea that it will create the capacity needed to effectively manage climate impacts within communities. Because climate impacts are here now, it is also necessary to be responding now. Patwardhan emphasized, “What we are doing now is not best practices, but emerging practices. We need to learn as we go. We do not have the luxury of being able to run pilot research projects, test theories of change, and then scale them up. The risks are not in the future, they are happening now. All this means that we need to integrate research and action.”

Author: Anna McGinn

To learn more about the Adaptation Research Alliance, look out for their official launch on November 9, Science and Innovation Day at COP26.