New Report Highlights Need for Equity, Access and Collaboration in Federally Funded Climate Solutions Research

Second Nature - an NGO focused on accelerating climate action in, and through, higher education - Tuesday released a new report entitled “The Future of Academic Research on Climate Solutions”.

The report, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and produced in collaboration with researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Energy Transition Institute, evaluates the current climate research landscape supported by the U.S. federal government and highlights key levers to improve the effectiveness of academic research for climate solutions.

Researchers compiled and analyzed a dataset of over 1800 recently awarded federal climate solution grants to universities and colleges, totaling $1.42 billion dollars, and performed stakeholder interviews with key federal and higher education leaders to produce five recommendations:

1. A centralized data repository is needed to capture the many disparate climate solutions research efforts across federal agencies.
2. Funders and higher education institutions should prioritize social science and encourage collaborations between social science, natural science, and engineering fields.
3. Funding should be inclusive across multiple types of institutions beyond top research (R1) universities, including minority-serving institutions (MSIs).
4. Research should be planned and implemented in partnership with members of impacted communities.
5. Research should be informed by, and responsive to, the capabilities of industry partners.

Additionally, the report produced case studies, building blocks, and future possibilities for research funding models. These results can inform the current Congressional debate on new models for scientific research, and can help shape the design of research programs created by federal agencies.

“This timeliness of this study, combined with the insights from some of the key leaders in the field, helps provide important guidance on the future direction of the climate solutions research enterprise - one that is more equitably addressing the needs of communities across the country,'' stated Tim Carter, president of Second Nature. 

“It’s important to be more deliberate about how federal funding is distributed because global climate change is affecting every community, every person. If research funding is focused only on a handful of institutions and disciplines, then we’re missing out on a wider potential for great solutions.” April Burrage, report co-author and Ph.D. candidate in economics, UMass Amherst.

“The energy system has to be fundamentally transformed to meet the climate crisis, and we only get one shot. We need research on how to do this in an equitable way, but it has to be done in partnership with people on the ground, which means changing the funding strategy.” Anna Goldstein, report co-author and former executive director of the UMass Amherst Energy Transition Institute.