Review of the U.S. Global Change Research Program's Draft Decadal Strategic Plan, 2022-2031 (2022) / Chapter Skim
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2 Cross-Cutting Themes and Issues to Strengthen the Draft Decadal Strategic Plan for 2022-2031
2 Cross-Cutting Themes and Issues to Strengthen the Draft Decadal Strategic Plan for 2022-2031
Pages 9-20
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From page 9... ...
The draft Decadal Strategic Plan (DSP) for 2022-2031 reflects an important transition for the global change research enterprise, recognizing that priority knowledge gaps shifted over the past decade as decision makers moved from questioning the extent to which recent climate change was caused by human activities to seeking evidence-based approaches to manage the increasingly severe impacts of climate change on multiple sectors and communities.
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From page 10... ...
, we have adopted the GCRA's broad definition of "global change"; that is, "changes in the global environment that may alter the capacity of the Earth to sustain life." The GCRA provided examples of global change that included "alterations in climate, land productivity, oceans or other water resources, atmospheric chemistry, and ecological systems." Over the three decades since the GCRA became law, the list of global changes has grown to include changes in key ecological system attributes such as biodiversity. Biodiversity loss can affect the Earth's capacity to sustain life.
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From page 11... ...
The draft DSP is uneven in identifying key global change challenges. While a sense of urgency is conveyed for climate change, the sense of urgency should also be well articulated for other global changes affecting the resilience of human and natural systems.
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From page 12... ...
Framing global change research around risks to people and nature, including through advancing research on implementation of adaptation and mitigation policies and programs, stocktaking of current efforts, increasing understanding of the process of adaptation, resilience stress testing, and integrated scenarios of global change and development pathways.7 2. Discussing how climate change interacts with other aspects of global change in complex ways, creating multi-hazard compounding and cascading risks that change over spatial and temporal scales, as discussed in the "Advancing Science" pillar of the draft DSP.
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From page 13... ...
To further strengthen the emphasis on systems-based research, the Committee suggests that the final DSP integrate insights from the social, behavioral, and economic sciences, as well as from disciplines that include the study of human culture, values, and ethics throughout, drawing on existing language from the "Social Sciences" section of the draft DSP.8 Recommendation: Stress interconnections and integration among pillars, including key themes and issues common to multiple pillars, and among global change issues, with enhanced integration of social sciences and systems-based research. STRENGTHEN COORDINATION ACROSS AGENCIES The Committee notes the draft DSP uses the concept of engagement in two senses.
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From page 14... ...
The Committee commends the USGCRP for incorporating engagement with these departments and agencies in the DSP. These reports also identified opportunities for USGCRP to enhance coordination between research and operating or regulatory sub-agencies within individual departments who can use USGCRP research products to help fulfill their missions (e.g., engaging the National Ocean Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service within NOAA with USGCRP research)
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From page 15... ...
be actively integrated into the final DSP to improve the likelihood of realizing its objectives. The Committee suggests that the discussions of engagement with external organizations and frontline communities as part of the "Engaging the Nation" pillar15 and of co-production and user participation in the research design process in "Advancing Science" and "Informing Decisions"16 also include research coordination efforts.
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From page 16... ...
SPECIFY KEY RESEARCH OUTPUTS WHERE ADDITIONAL UNDERSTANDING OVER 2022-2031 COULD ADVANCE RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY The draft DSP includes statements about goals and research objectives that indicate a direction of change (e.g., "USGCRP agencies will continue to advance understanding of potential tipping points in the Earth system, emphasizing the complex interactions between physical and social systems that could cross thresholds and lead to tipping points."18)
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From page 17... ...
Example Outputs The Committee provides the following illustrative examples of what research outputs the DSP could include, but not necessarily for specific inclusion in the plan: Example 1 -- Global changes drive harmful cyanobacteria blooms that pose risks to human and ecosystem health. Urgent science challenge -- Quantify climate changes and nutrient pollution of fresh and brackish waters that stimulate cyanobacteria blooms that cause negative effects on human and ecosystem health.
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From page 18... ...
NEED FOR STRATEGIC FLEXIBILITY OVER THE PLANNING PERIOD Ongoing global changes, along with changing vulnerabilities, capacities, and technologies, will continue to alter the context for global change research over the coming decade. The final DSP should explicitly aim to increase flexibility over the planning period to capitalize on new opportunities to increase resilience and sustainability at all levels while maintaining focus on the most urgent needs of the Nation.
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From page 19... ...
The existing triennial reviews and updates of the DSP provide opportunities for incorporating evaluation findings to direct future work. More detail would be helpful on what aspects of the Program would be evaluated, recognizing the limited available space, and perhaps include peer review by a sample of users.
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