Climate policy knowledge for well-informed decision-making

Certain knowledge gaps remain with reference to the implications of various options regarding EU and international climate policies. Achieving effective policy outcomes will depend on identifying and filling these gaps.

Such is the goal of the EU-funded POLIMP (Mobilizing and transferring knowledge on post-2012 climate policy implications) project. The seven-member consortium plans to collect and synthesize knowledge and then present the derived knowledge packages in an attractive form for key stakeholders The policy issues target the implications of various climate policy scenarios, effective debate, plus learning from the experiences of other countries. The three-year project concludes in April 2016.

Work during the project's first 18 months focused on the identification of knowledge needs of different stakeholder groups within Europe regarding key topics of climate policy, followed by the consequent compilation of knowledge packages from a multitude of information sources in order to address these needs. The team developed an online tracking document to monitor progress of data processing.

In addressing its goal, the project developed a participatory process, including preparatory dialogue, thematic workshops and other events, questionnaire elaboration and targeted interviews with stakeholders. POLIMP also mapped and categorised stakeholders according to their knowledge and expertise. To date, the project has organised three workshops, summarised in the form of an equal number of policy briefs. Furthermore, the project produced a matrix of past, present and future climate policy scenarios.

Research resulted in the development of a knowledge platform, the Climate Policy Info Hub, where the knowledge packages are now hosted online. This useful web-based tool serves as a knowledge base on climate change mitigation, adaptation, technology transfer, finance and market mechanisms, offering many functionalities to make knowledge transfer as easy and accessible as possible for decision-makers in policy, business and civil society.

Within the project’s framework, a dedicated website was developed, which includes social networks and platforms. It also contains the project's results, publications, videos as well as further material. Project articles were published in the partners' newsletters and at external conferences.

POLIMP identified and filled gaps in knowledge about climate, in order to support policy making. The work fosters communication and discussion about respective options, leading to informed and effective policy decisions.