What is Strata?

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UNEP Sudan

A web-based, easy-to-use data platform to identify and track environmental and climate stresses

Strata is a web-based, easy-to-use data platform to support practitioners and policymakers to identify and track environmental and climate stresses potentially driving threats to peace and security. Strata allows analysts, policy makers and practitioners to access and use climate security data in their daily work, including to raise awareness of converging risks, to design and prioritise policy and programming responses, and to monitor and evaluate interventions.

Development plan

Prototype for Somalia
UNSOM 2020

Prototype for Somalia

The Strata prototype was developed for Somalia due to its particular vulnerability to the cascading impacts of climate change on human security. The insights and metrics provided for hotspots in Somalia, where environmental and climate stresses converge with socio-economic risks, are expected to support the engagement of local and international partners on the ground, including the UN Mission in Somalia.

Expansion to the Horn of Africa
UN 2018

Expansion to the Horn of Africa

Starting in 2022, the Strata platform will be expanded to the Horn of Africa region, in support of regional states, the good offices of the UN Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, regional entities, and the different initiatives and partners active in the region.

Strata will develop additional regional platforms starting 2022, with the aim of consolidating these into a global platform in 2023.

Partners

A partnership for practice, research and innovation

The Strata project is led by the United Nations Environment Programme, in partnership with the European Union and the Government of Norway. Strata has been developed through a collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, EarthBlox, Google Earth Engine and the Group on Earth Observations.

Earth Blox is a no-code planetary-data solutions-builder. Earth Blox allow users to create actionable insights from Google’s Earth Engine and other sources of planetary data in a code-free yet customisable way, without expert knowledge or local storage requirements. Strata is built using Earth Blox. Other applications are possible for agriculture, nature-based solutions, ESG, insurance, capacity development, teaching, and more. Explore Earth Blox here.

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 in ways that can lead 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.

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UNSOM 2018
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UN 2018

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. There is an urgent need to democratise environmental and climate security analysis by making such capacity available to practitioners and policy makers without prior technical know-how.

The solution

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and its partners have developed Strata to enhance monitoring, analysis, and early warning of environmental and climate-related security risks. This web-based, easy-to-use data platform supports practitioners and policymakers to identify and track environmental and climate stresses potentially driving threats to peace and security.

Strata allows analysts, policy makers and practitioners to access and use climate security data in their daily work, including to raise awareness of converging risks, to design and prioritise policy and programming responses, and to monitor and evaluate interventions.

Goals

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Rapid identification

Rapid identification of climate and environmental stress hotspots (where and when)

02

Socio-economic risks overlay

Overlay with structural socio-economic risks that potentially drive displacement, social unrest, conflict, or maladaptation

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Science-based insights

Science-based insights for end-users on area-specific risk reduction, climate change adaptation and resilience-building solutions