Developing the Fourth National Climate Assessment: Process and Best Practices

The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) is charged by the Global Change Research Act of 1990 with developing a quadrennial National Climate Assessment (NCA) with certain mandated elements. The NCA, as the Nation's authoritative source of information on the science of climate change, climate change impacts, risks, and adaptation, is created through a multi-year process involving extensive stakeholder engagement and multiple rounds of technical and policy reviews, both public and federal. The development of the Fourth NCA (NCA4) necessarily required a thorough plan for management and governance to ensure a high-quality product. This presentation will describe some of the novel elements used during the development of NCA4, highlighting public engagement activities, opportunities for input, and the robust report review process, while also showcasing some choices made along the way to incorporate best practices and lessons learned from previous assessments. It will conclude with a description of how the NCA4 experience informs USGCRP's and the broader community's future sustained assessment processes and products.