Earlier this month, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced a new project with the World Resources Institute and the State Department. The Partnership for Resilience and Preparedness, or PREP, is a collaborative public-private undertaking that will accumulation and organize climate data to help planners, investors, resource managers, and others, understand the specific climate risks facing their regions and operations.

Public and private action to achieve climate change adaptation is growing rapidly as it becomes increasingly clear that the effects of manmade climate change are unavoidable and are already beginning to be felt around the world. While reducing greenhouse gas emissions has been the priority in climate change action for decades, adaptation methods and capabilities have lagged behind. The impacts of climate change in a specific region are difficult to predict and up to now there has been a lack of data that can help cities, companies, and other organizations, create strategies to become more resilient to these changes. PREP aims to fill this gap with an open source data tool that will make it easy for users to see patterns and identify risks.

PREP will not only accumulate collections of data in one place, it will also give users the ability to create customized dashboards, graphics, and maps. Furthermore, it will also focus on engaging with communities to provide guidance and encourage resilience building.

PREP is undoubtedly an exciting advancement for climate change adaption. Whether or not it fulfills its considerable potentially is yet to be seen. Regardless, it is another sign that action towards adaptation and resilience is taking an increasingly equal role alongside mitigation efforts.