What is Strata?
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.
Partners
A partnership for practice, research and innovation
Strata is developed through a partnerships between the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the European Union (EU), and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO). More specifically, FAO's Earth Map ensures the open-source, technical implementation of the Strata platform, while UNEP ensures the relevant engagement with global and regional practitioners and stakeholders. New scientific approaches and features are advanced jointly. The Strata methodology and prototype were developed in 2021-2022 in partnership with the University of Edinburgh and EarthBlox.
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.
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
01
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
03
Science-based insights
Science-based insights for end-users on area-specific risk reduction, climate change adaptation and resilience-building solutions