Interagency Working Groups (IWGs) are the primary USGCRP vehicles for implementing and coordinating
IWGs are designed to bring agencies together to plan, develop, and implement coordinated activities, and to identify and fill gaps in the Program’s plans. They allow public officials to communicate with each other on emerging directions within their agencies, their
The IWGs are overseen by the Subcommittee on Global Change Research and are composed of representatives from Federal departments and agencies responsible for activities in each research area.
- Integrated Observations Interagency Working Group
- Process Research Coordinating Committee
- Interagency Group on Integrative Modeling
- Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group
- Adaptation Science Interagency Working Group
- Interagency Crosscutting Group on Climate Change and Human Health
- Social Sciences Coordinating Committee
- Interagency National Climate Assessment Working Group
- Coordinating Group on Scenarios and Interpretive Science
- International Research and Cooperation Interagency Working Group
- Education, Extension, and Training Interagency Working Group
Integrated Observations Interagency Working Group
The Integrated Observations Interagency Working Group (ObsIWG) plans, evaluates, and reports on interagency coordination and implementation of observations and monitoring among participating U.S. agencies. As a standing committee that supports USGCRP and the SGCR, the ObsIWG provides a forum for discussion, coordination, and implementation of integrated observational and monitoring capabilities for climate and related global change.
The scope of the ObsIWG includes the comprehensive observational system needed to meet climate science research and monitoring requirements, and includes satellite-based observations and in-situ observations (airborne, ground-based, and ocean-based, and including systematic human observations) in the terrestrial, oceanic, and atmospheric domains.
Coordination strategies developed will be relative to the comprehensive climate observational system, not only to those portions covered by the USGCRP budget, and will reflect external coordination with international organizations and partners.
Process Research Coordinating Committee
The Process Research Coordinating Committee helps identify and prioritize fundamental global change science questions that require a coordinated interagency response. This coordination is organized through several "clusters" of interagency efforts that report back to the Process Research Coordinating Committee, in areas such as ecosystems and
Interagency Group on Integrative Modeling
USGCRP’s Interagency Group on Integrative Modeling (IGIM) is charged with coordinating global change-related modeling activities across the Federal Government and providing guidance to USGCRP on modeling priorities. The 10 Federal agencies that participate in the IGIM engage on a range of relevant topics, including physical models of the Earth system, socioeconomic models of human systems and their interactions with the Earth system, and impacts models.
IGIM Charter
IGIM Meetings in 2016
IGIM Participants
IGIM Resources
Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group
USGCRP’s
- Explain past and current variations in observed atmospheric concentrations of the major carbon-containing
greenhouse gases (CO2 and methane); - Understand and quantify socioeconomic drivers of carbon emissions;
- Develop transparent methods to monitor and verify both natural and anthropogenic carbon emissions;
- Assess and evaluate the
vulnerability of carbon fluxes and stocks under future conditions of global change and human activities; - Predict the effects of different CO2 and
climate change scenarios on biodiversity, ecosystems, and natural resources, including potential positive feedbacks to the climate system; - Assess the effectiveness and potential for unintended consequences of carbon management options that may be undertaken to
mitigate GHG emissions and climate change; and - Address needs of decision makers of all levels for useable data, information, models, projections, and decision support tools.
In consultation with the CCIWG, the U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program provides a coordinated and focused scientific strategy for conducting Federal carbon cycle research.
Adaptation Science Interagency Working Group
The mission of USGCRP's
- Conducting, translating, and facilitating the development of research for and on climate change adaptation; and
- Providing interagency coordination, management, and oversight of the USGCRP adaptation science portfolio.
Through these roles, the ASIWG provides scientific support to agencies in the adaptation planning process outlined in Executive Order (EO) 13653: Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change and EO 13693: Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade. Specifically, the ASIWG is leading the following efforts:
- Identification of existing capabilities and critical gaps in science for informing adaptation decisions and policies;
- Improvement of the application and translation of science to meet the needs of decision makers;
- Advancement of social, behavioral, and economic science needed to visualize, analyze, and understand adaptation options;
- Development of data and frameworks to evaluate the effectiveness of adaptive actions;
- Advancement of the co-benefits and conflicts between adaptation and mitigation actions; and
- Coordination of science, tools, and services for regional adaptation.
Interagency Crosscutting Group on Climate Change & Human Health
The mission of the Interagency Crosscutting Group on Climate Change and Human Health (CCHHG) is to promote and protect the Nation’s public health by leading and coordinating Federal scientific activities related to climate change and human health in an end-to-end manner, from basic research through public health practice. The CCHHG supports all four of USGCRP’s new strategic goals and works to address key gaps in understanding of the human health–related impacts of global change. Specific areas of focus include, but are not limited to: predictive modeling of health outcomes; producing data integration tools and products; supporting assessment activities (NCA and IPCC); and engaging with Federal and non-Federal stakeholders, both domestically and internationally.
Social Sciences Coordinating Committee
Interagency National Climate Assessment Working Group
USGCRP’s Interagency National Climate Assessment (INCA) Working Group plays a vital role in coordinating, supporting, and implementing the Federal components of the National Climate Assessment (NCA), including deploying essential research and infrastructure for a sustained assessment process and products. The INCA Working Group is responsible for coordinating, developing, and implementing an interagency operational plan for the NCA, providing critical input to identify and support future NCA products, and developing interagency assessment capacity at the national and regional scales.
The INCA Working Group plans, coordinates, and implements the development of numerous technical products necessary for the assessment process, many of which have generated cutting-edge, interagency research on climate change science, impacts, and vulnerabilities. Under SGCR guidance, the INCA has hosted a wide range of expert and stakeholder workshops over the years in numerous regions and sectors to support the development of these technical products, advance assessment methodologies, and identify research needs.
Coordinating Group on Scenarios & Interpretive Science
The Coordinating Group on Scenarios and Interpretative Science fosters interagency coordination with the goal of building a U.S.
- Advancing collaborative science around critical knowledge gaps;
- Enhancing methodologies for use-inspired scenario development, decision framing, and contextual interpretation;
- Developing the next generation of scenario work products for model intercomparison efforts, national and international assessment, and related analyses; and
- Improving interagency communications, coordination, and accessibility to knowledge, work products, and technical resources.
International Research & Cooperation Interagency Working Group
The International Research and Cooperation Interagency Working Group advises and assists the SGCR on advancing USGCRP’s strategic goals through international coordination and partnerships. The group coordinates a portfolio of activities, priorities, and goals for USGCRP’s international efforts.
Education, Extension, and Training Interagency Working Group
USGCRP agencies work on a wide range of climate change education, literacy, and training programs. The Education, Extension, and Training Interagency Working Group (a successor to the former Communication and Education Interagency Working Group) helps to coordinate these efforts across the Federal Government.