Introducing Climate Policy Radar's first Nature Programme Manager, Anya Schlich-Davies, who is leading on our Rio Policy Radar tool, bringing together national and sub-national submissions from the three Rio Conventions (climate, biodiversity, desertification). She discusses de-siloing nature and climate policy data, and developing terminology for nature-based solutions.
Who is Anya? Tell us a bit about yourself…
Before joining CPR, I spent 5 years in the inter-governmental space for the UK government, deeply embedded in nature work at DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). There, often straddling the synergies between climate and nature, I worked on the negotiations for building the global biodiversity framework and its targets over the next decade.
I got into that work from a 6 month placement, landed whilst completing my PhD looking at climate impacts in Nepal. It felt reassuring and exciting to know that I could work at the science-policy interface outside of academia. After a while working in the multilateral space, I did become frustrated with the arduous and slow nature of negotiations and felt removed from the action. I wanted to find somewhere where stuff happens faster, somewhere my personal impact feels more immediate and that moves beyond the world of commitments into action.
Can you tell us more about what led you to Climate Policy Radar?
I like variety, and I love working out what people’s needs are, which I found are often located where the information gaps are. The mission to democratise information through the CPR app and our other tools, to enable anyone to access great data resonated really strongly.
It’s a privilege to come on as CPR’s first nature specialist. Nature hasn’t had the attention that climate has had and we are three years into this decade’s very ambitious global biodiversity framework, so it really is all hands on deck.
What does a day in the life of a Nature Programme Manager look like?
Right now, I’m spearheading our Rio Policy Radar project, working with the secretariats of the 3 Rio Conventions and Ambition Loop to bring in national and sub-national docs to our databases. Specifically, this means adding more substantive information on land use, land degradation, bio loss, desertification, with a view to de-siloing this information. Even in the UK with its comparative wealth of resources, each of the 3 Rio Conventions sit under different departments, meaning they can often be, at best, double handing the same content, and at worst, getting in the way of each other’s goals.
I also work to identify partners organisations with mission-useful datasets, as well as explore different ways of using data. For example, whether we can add spatial datasets into our capabilities in addition to long form text documents.
Finally, I lead on concept development for our topics feature, ensuring that we are using the most appropriate, globally-helpful terminology in our taxonomies for things like nature-based solutions.
Where can you be found on a Friday?
Simple. Cycling in Peak District weather permitting or hanging out Pig the dog.
