Implementing FAIR data principles in the IPCC seventh assessment cycle: Lessons learned and future prospects

Abstract

Every five to seven years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) con-venes the climate science community to assess the latest knowledge on climate change rel-evant to policy-makers. This generally takes the form of Assessment Reports (AR) coveringthe scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptationand mitigation. With each cycle, these reports have grown in scope, length, number of refer-enced papers, and underpinning datasets. During the sixth assessment cycle, a large-scalecollective effort went into archiving digital products assessed and generated through theIPCC process. The main objectives driving this initiative are making IPCC’s work moretransparent, improving the reproducibility and reusability of the assessment outcomes, bet-ter utilization of the services of the IPCC Data Distribution Centre (DDC), and, more gener-ally, compliance with best practices in open science. This paper expands on the motivationsfor the curation and preservation of digital objects in the IPCC. It gives an overview of howFAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and open data principles have beenimplemented in practice and explores some of the successes and setbacks of the AR6experience. It concludes with recommendations for consolidation and expansion of theapproach for AR7. These include a tighter integration of digital curation activities in the IPCCtimeline and workflows, better support of IPCC authors and contributors through early train-ing and use of suitable software, improved standardization and harmonization of data and software handling across Working Groups (WGs), and close collaboration with key externaldata providers and research organizations.