Target Audiences

This Guide is intended to be used by national government agencies with a mandate or interest in opening data related to climate change risks, impacts, mitigation or adaptation measures. We recognize that countries are starting from different points, both in terms of data collection and dissemination. Some may have advanced open data policies but not yet fully applied them to data relevant to climate action. Others may have mature data collection and release protocols for certain types of data in response to international obligations—for example, greenhouse gas emission inventories—but are considering how to expand their approach. The interest in doing so may be to better connect climate actions and sustainable development goals, to generate greater participation from non-governmental stakeholders, to demonstrate a political commitment to transparency and/or climate ambition, or to create stronger cross-governmental relationships for data collection, sharing, and use.

Civil society organizations may also use this Guide as a way of starting a dialogue with their governments or initiating a purpose-driven approach to access useful and high-quality data. They may, for example, conduct their own research to determine which datasets are being opened or to identify which types they would consider the highest priority for climate resilience and mitigation in their country context, but most importantly monitor the trends of available data and ensure their governments are accountable to their climate pledges.