ECO Climate Data Roundtable

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Climate data – projections about what the future climate will look like in terms of temperature, precipitation, etc. – helps a variety of end users, including governments and companies, make more climate resilient long-term investment decisions.

However, in Ontario, access to such data data is a key policy challenge. Many end users in Ontario don’t know where to find the data, or how to use it in a scientifically sound way, meaning that many capital spending decisions are being made without regard to the changing climate.

In January, 2015, the ECO brought together a range of stakeholders and experts for a one-day roundtable, with the goal of exploring the needs of climate data end users and providers, the opportunities and barriers to greater uptake of climate information, and potential governance models to help move towards appropriate solutions in Ontario.

The roundtable consisted of a series of presentations followed by small-group discussions. The invited participants came from federal, provincial, municipal and regional governments, academia, conservation authorities, companies, environmental organizations, and industry associations, and every effort was made to ensure a diversity of views at each table.

The day was organized into three main themes:

• Climate Data User Needs, focused on understanding the current state of climate data and information in Ontario, and the challenges end users face in using and accessing this data.
• Future Directions for Climate Data, focused on exploring current climate data initiatives by various levels of government and academia, and how they could better meet the needs of end users.
• Governance Models, focused on the role of the private and public sector in delivering climate data to end users in a more accessible format. It also explored the governance models of climate services organizations in other jurisdictions and how applicable they may be to Ontario.

• Commissioner’s blog on the Roundtable
• Agenda
• The Data Divide: Climate Data and Decision Making in Ontario (Briefing note)
• Summary report

Please note: the views expressed by the speakers may not necessarily always reflect the views of the organizations they represent.