A Cooperative Agreement for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation FY21 Funding Opportunity

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Program Priorities

As part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) climate portfolio within the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), the Climate Program Office (CPO) addresses climate challenges by supporting climate research, observations, monitoring, modeling, assessments, interdisciplinary decision-support research, outreach, education, and partnership development.  The Climate Program Office cannot fulfill this vision alone and the recipient is expected to possess unique capabilities to address the following four priority areas. 

1. Improved scientific understanding of the changing climate system and its impacts. The need to advance understanding of the climate system and climate impacts, improve climate predictions and projections, and better inform adaptation and mitigation strategies is urgent. Key scientific uncertainties limit scientists' ability to understand and predict changes in the climate system. This is particularly true for monthly-to-decadal timescales and at the regional and local levels for which scales are highly relevant to planning and decision making. Research on the connections between weather and climate, for instance, is necessary to understand how a changing climate may affect precipitation patterns and severe weather events, including hurricanes. On decadal-to-centennial timescales, research is needed to understand feedback between atmospheric greenhouse gases and the rate of global-to-regional climate impacts, such as changes in sea level, heat waves, droughts, and air and water quality. Adaptation and mitigation strategies must be informed by a solid scientific understanding of the climate system. Research is required to understand how changes in the global ocean circulation affect the climate system and their subsequent impacts on coastal regions, including sea level rise, ocean acidification, and living marine resources.
2. Scientific assessments of current and future states of the climate system that identify potential impacts and inform science, service, and stewardship decisions. Stakeholders and the general public need a clear understanding of the best available science that describes the state of the climate and the likely impacts of climate change.  Scientific assessments at the global, national, regional, and local levels integrate knowledge from many disciplines to provide decision makers with authoritative information on climate impacts, identify gaps in understanding, and help prioritize future research and development efforts to fill those gaps. When pursued on a sustained basis, assessments build relationships between researchers and users that are critical for communities and governments to take action.
3. Mitigation and adaptation efforts supported by sustained, reliable, and timely climate services. Human-induced changes in Earth's climate, as well as natural climate variability, complicate the ability to effectively plan for the future, manage resources, support national and food security, meet international and other intergovernmental agreements, and sustainably develop the economy. Resource managers, Governments, public and private businesses and organizations recognize that a changing climate complicates their ability to achieve their goals. Existing information is not readily available to those who need it or formatted in a way that makes it easy to use. The Nation needs a comprehensive, authoritative, and coordinated source of climate information to support adaptation and mitigation strategies and to incorporate into related decision-making processes. 
4. A climate-literate public that understands its vulnerabilities to a changing climate and makes informed decisions. The success or failure of climate adaptation and mitigation in the United States and around the world will depend on the ability of leaders, organizations, institutions, and the public to understand the challenges and opportunities climate change presents. The routine incorporation of climate information into decisions requires an awareness of how a changing climate may affect individuals, families, businesses, and communities. A society educated about climate change and actively engaged in dialogue about its causes and effects will better address today's problems and plan for tomorrow. 

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