Report to NSF on AGU community recommendations and ideas regarding
implementing Climate Change Solutions
Abstract
Several bills moving through Congress are likely to provide significant
funding for expanding research and results in climate change solutions
(CCS). This is also a priority of the Biden-Harris Administration. The
National Science Foundation (NSF) will be expected to distribute and
manage much of this funding through its grant processes. Effective
solutions require both a continuation and expansion of research on
climate change–to understand and thus plan for potential impacts
locally to globally and to continually assess solutions against a
changing climate–and rapid adoption and implementation of this science
with society at all levels. NSF asked AGU to convene its community to
help provide guidance and recommendations for enabling significant and
impactful CCS outcomes by 1 June. AGU was asked in particular to address
the following: 1. Identify the biggest, more important
interdisciplinary/convergent challenges in climate change that can be
addressed in the next 2 to 3 years 2. Create 2-year and 3-year roadmaps
to address the identified challenges. Indicate partnerships required to
deliver on the promise. 3. Provide ideas on the creation of an
aggressive outreach/communications plan to inform the public and
decision makers on the critical importance of geoscience. 4. Identify
information, training, and other resources needed to embed a culture of
innovation, entrepreneurialism, and translational research in the
geosciences. Given the short time frame for this report, AGU reached out
to key leaders, including Council members, members of several
committees, journal editors, early career scientists, and also included
additional stakeholders from sectors relevant to CCS, including
community leaders, planners and architects, business leaders, NGO
representatives, and others. Participants were provided a form to submit
ideas, and also invited to two workshops. The first was aimed at
ideation around broad efforts and activities needed for impactful CCS;
the second was aimed at in depth development of several broad efforts at
scale. Overall, about 125 people participated; 78 responded to the
survey, 82 attended the first workshop, and 28 attended the more-focused
second workshop (see contributor list). This report provides a
high-level summary of these inputs and recommendations, focusing on
guiding principles and several ideas that received broader support at
the workshops and post-workshop review. These guiding principles and
ideas cover a range of activities and were viewed as having high
importance for realizing impactful CCS at the scale of funding
anticipated. These cover the major areas of the charge, including
research and solutions, education, communication, and training. The
participants and full list of ideas and suggestions are provided as an
appendix. Many contributed directly to this report; the listed authors
are the steering committee.