Theme 4.2: Data and Tools

Assemble Data and Tools for Analysis and Planning

No comprehensive framework currently exists to analyze the implications, both positive and negative, of human responses to the climate challenge in terms of regional food security and the preservation of important ecosystem services, upon which the long-term sustainability of global agriculture must be based. There are key gaps and uncertainties in knowledge concerning some processes, in model capacity, and in appropriate high-resolution databases. Just two examples of many are the large uncertainties that surround CO2 effects on crop growth in developing countries, and the impacts of a changing climate on rangelands and livestock productivity. The work under this Objective will address some of these gaps and will be focused particularly on data and tools for genuinely integrative ex ante assessment, thereby combining adaptation and mitigation agendas, and exploring synergies and trade-offs among outcome targets. 

This work will result in a framework and set of modeling tools and databases to analyze the implications, both positive and negative, of human responses to the climate challenge in terms of regional food security and the preservation of important ecosystem services, upon which the long-term sustainability of global agriculture must be based.

Research questions include:

• What are the critical gaps in knowledge and data and how can these be filled effectively?
• Should existing models such as IMPACT be further expanded and, if so, how?
• Does a complementary approach to developing different tools make most-effective use of scarce resources?

Publications and outputs

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