Since the beginning, STRATA has been guided by three core values—accuracy, transparency, and versatility—reflecting the combined commitment of UNEP and FAO to deliver precise, open, and adaptable insights into climate security.
Accuracy
For effective solutions, Strata uses meticulously sourced data and rigorously validated methodologies, delivering trusted insights for informed decision-making.
Transparency
Strata ensures equitable access to crucial information by utilising open-source data and offering a user-friendly interface. Our commitment to accessibility empowers users to identify high-risk areas without barriers.
Versatility
Tailoring to diverse user needs, Strata provides insights at various scales—from national to local levels —alongside customisable layer views and flexible export options, ensuring adaptability to unique contexts and requirements.
Transforming Data into Insights
STRATA exemplifies transparency and accessibility in its mission to address climate security challenges. By integrating an open-source approach, the platform ensures that every indicator used in its analyses—ranging from environmental stressors to socio-economic vulnerabilities and peace dynamics—is openly documented and traceable. Through tools such as the Google Earth Engine, users can access annotated scripts detailing the algorithms and thresholds applied for each indicator. This commitment to openness not only allows users to verify data methodologies but also fosters trust and collaboration, empowering stakeholders to utilize STRATA for informed decision-making in climate-sensitive peacebuilding and development initiatives.
STRATA stands out for its user-friendly design, offering intuitive visualisations that cater to users with no prior coding experience. The platform integrates seamlessly with an interactive map interface, allowing users to easily explore climate security hotspots through simple clicks. Layers can be added, reordered, or analyzed directly on the map, with detailed statistics and analytical insights. Features like the Pixel Inspector enable users to extract precise local data points effortlessly, while zonal and point statistics provide contextualised insights into socioeconomic vulnerabilities, conflict dynamics, and environmental stressors.
The challenge
Across the globe, the impacts of climate change, environmental degradation and the mismanagement of natural resources are undermining livelihoods and damaging essential infrastructure.
In already fragile or crisis-affected contexts, these impacts can exacerbate existing socio-economic risks, leading to increased competition over scarce resources, displacement, and conflict.
At the same time, violent conflict and political instability can undermine climate change adaptation efforts, leaving vulnerable communities poorer, less resilient, and ill-equipped to cope with the effects of climate change.
The UN Security Council, the African Union, the G7, and other organisations have called for improved analyses of interlinked climate change and security risks to inform policy and programmes in crisis-affected contexts.
Up to now, however, the capacity for data-driven assessments of converging environmental and security risks has remained in the hands of a limited set of experts.
The solution
Strata is a web-based, easy-to-use, geospatial data platform that supports practitioners and policymakers to identify and track environmental and climate stresses potentially driving threats to peace and security by aggregating multiple environmental, climate, and socioeconomic indicators to map “climate security hotspots”.
Strata’s geographical coverage has been expanded to near global and it includes 26 indicators related to climate, environment, peace and security and socio-economic vulnerability.
By leveraging Strata for conflict-sensitive climate and environmental programming, users can focus on targeted interventions that not only enhance environmental sustainability but also contribute to peacebuilding efforts in the region.
Through data-driven approaches, they are better equipped to address complex challenges and promote resilience among vulnerable communities.
