GAO Report - A National System Could Help Federal, State, Local, and Private Sector Decision Makers Use Climate Information

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) promotes a national system to provide climate information to U.S. decision makers in this report to Congress. The report examines the extent to which federal efforts meet the climate information needs of decision makers; how federal efforts could be improved; and the strengths and limitations of different systems to provide climate information. GAO reviewed government funded climate data sharing programs in three other countries - Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom - and describes their key characteristics.   

According to the GAO - the climate information needs of federal, state, local, and private sector decision makers in the U.S. are not being fully met. Meanwhile, these decision makers can drive federal climate related fiscal exposures, as they are responsible for certain types of vulnerable infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, paid for partly with federal funds, insured by federal programs, or eligible for federal disaster assistance.

The well-established climate information systems of Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom were examined during site visitations with government officials, and through government documents describing these programs. The countries' systems are designed to coordinate the development, archiving, and use of climate information by decision makers. In each, the government provides direction and funding, and entities within and outside the government help translate climate information to meet decision makers’ needs - although each system is organized differently.

GAO demonstrates that a way to reduce the impacts of climate change is to build the best available climate information into existing federal, state, local, and private sector planning processes. They ultimately recommend that the President direct a federal entity to develop a set of authoritative climate change projections and observations - and create a national climate information system with defined roles for federal agencies and nonfederal entities. Key organizational elements of this would be a focused and accountable organization that engages in key practices of collaboration; authoritative climate data; and clearly organized technical assistance.   

The report also cites some of the federal climate information sharing efforts already under way, such as:

 

Publication Date: November 2015

Related Organizations:

  • U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)

Resource Category:

Resource Types:

  • Policy analysis/recommendations

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