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Potential future plans that would support the objectives of the Nairobi work programme are highlighted below.
These ideas still require approval from the IPCC and adequate support:
Expanding support for the five-year plan of action on adaptation
Up to the present, the DDC has primarily been oriented towards supporting users in the research community who
are conducting studies of impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability that will subsequently be assessed by IPCC
Working Group II. As indicated above, the data and other information are potentially useful to those working
under the NWP, as well as to others preparing national reports and other communications on these topics. The
TGICA is currently interacting with potential users from these groups to better understand their data needs
and support requirements to determine what would be required to make these resources more useful.
Development and provision of appropriate data products
Currently, climate and related socio-economic data and scenarios are frequently not available at the time and
spatial scales needed for research on impacts and adaptation in developing and transition-economy countries.
For example, for climate scenarios, GCM data tends to be made available in the form of monthly means of
selected variables. This poses a notable limitation on the many aspects of impacts research and evaluation of
adaptation options. TGICA is currently working to identify and develop simple data sets and products that
would be more accessible and appropriate for use in computationally-limited developing and
transition-economic settings.
Capacity building
TGICA and the DDC do not conduct training programs. With IPCC approval, the TGICA has, however, developed a
framework for capacity building in developing and transition-economy countries. The TGICA framework relies on
establishment of a network of post-doctoral or early career scientists located in (1) capacity-rich developed
countries, (2) capacity “middle class” developing countries, (3) and capacity/resource-limited
developing countries. The framework stresses mentorship and guidance to provide practical experience in
developing and disseminating appropriate data products based on emerging resources. With support from
researchers and institutions in capacity rich countries, climate change data resources would be accessible to
regional scientists in the “capacity middle class”, who would be responsible for working with
scientists and users from “capacity limited” countries to create data resources relevant to their
needs. Currently, several institutions such as the System for Analysis, Research, and Training (START) are
exploring creation training and fellowship programs that are based on the TGICA model.
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