Climate Science 2050

The evidence is clear: Canada's climate is warming and will continue to warm in the future, primarily due to human activities. Ambitious and urgent action is needed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, undertake adaptation to adjust to actual or expected future climate change, and increase resilience to the current and likely impacts of global warming. Science and knowledge will continue to be crucial to guiding and informing climate change mitigation and adaptation policy and program decision-making. As we increase the speed and ambition of our climate change action, building science and knowledge capacity while aligning science activities with climate objectives will be critical to building a resilient, net-zero Canada.

The Climate Science 2050 process began with the objective of improving our understanding of the full breadth of climate change science and knowledge needs in Canada. Climate Science 2050: Advancing Science and Knowledge on Climate Change, published in 2020, is a national synthesis of the broad array of climate change science and knowledge required to build a resilient, carbon-neutral Canada. Building on this work and based on the engagement of experts across Canada, the Climate Science 2050: National Priorities for Climate Change Science and Knowledge Report identifies and prioritizes the most pressing climate change science activities needed to inform forward-looking, effective, and targeted actions. This second report was driven by the ambitious and urgent action called for in Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan and the National Adaptation Strategy. The report is meant to guide climate change science and enable greater coordination, for delivery of science results over the next five to ten years. 

Climate Science 2050 reports

• National Priorities for Climate Change Science and Knowledge Report (2024)
  
  • Summary highlights
  • Full report
• Advancing Science and Knowledge on Climate Change (2020)
  
  • Summary
  • Full report