UNCHAIN: Unpacking climate impact chains

Planning for climate change adaptation requires a shared scientific knowledge base that can be translated into local, practical and actionable knowledge. Through constructive dialogues between a broad array of stakeholders UNCHAIN aims to improve climate change risk assessment frameworks, thereby enhancing informed decision-making and climate change adaptation action.

UNCHAIN will further develop the impact chain concept, first published by Schneiderbauer et al. (2013), to support climate change adaptation capacity building by introducing five methodological innovations:

1. To develop and test an approach to assess climate change risks that covers both the short-term need for ‘adjusting’ within the current societal framework and the possible need for long-term and large-scale efforts of societal transformation
2. To refine a structured method of co-production of knowledge and integrate this into impact modelling to better account for different views on desirable and equitable climate resilient futures
3. To develop and test an applicable framework for analyzing how societal change can affect local climate change vulnerabilities
4. To develop and test a standardized analytical framework for addressing uncertainties involved in local decision-making on climate change adaptation
5. To include the trans-national impacts of climate change
6. To link mitigation and adaptation in climate risk and vulnerability assessments

SEI is leading the work on co-production of knowledge (CPK), where the team will systematically integrate CPK into impact chain modelling to better account for different views on desirable and equitable climate resilient futures. SEI will also support case studies with expertise related to transnational impacts of climate change.