A Data Justice Framework for Evaluating Accessibility, Accuracy and Applicability of High-Resolution Climate Model Data for Climate Impact Analysis in Europe

High-resolution climate model products are increasingly embedded in climate impact analyses (CIA) and adaptation planning across diverse societal sectors. While advances in regional climate modelling and statistical downscaling methods have improved the spatial granularity of climate information, recent studies demonstrate that model reliability and bias characteristics vary substantially by region, variable, and modelling framework. These variations raise critical questions not only about scientific robustness and the reliability of impact analyses, but also about the equity and fairness in how climate information is produced, made available, and applied in decision-making.

Responding to growing calls within the climate science community to integrate social science perspectives and justice considerations into climate modelling, this study develops and applies a climate data justice framework to assess the equity and efficacy of downscaled climate data for CIA across Europe. Rather than proposing a normative definition of “just climate data,” we identify sector-specific contexts through which climate data must be generated, evaluated, and stewarded to ensure fair premises for adaptation to changing climate and extreme weather.

We first map sectoral climate data needs by identifying key climate risks, required variables, and temporal resolutions relevant to societally critical sectors. We then compile a comprehensive inventory of publicly available high-resolution climate datasets (including EURO-CORDEX, NEX-GDDP, and Climate Impact Lab products), documenting metadata on spatial and temporal resolution, ensemble composition, scenario coverage, accessibility, and licensing. A crosswalk analysis is used to match sectoral requirements with available datasets.

Building on data justice theory and recent work on defining successful climate services for adaptation, we operationalize the concept of climate data justice across three dimensions: procedural (transparency and accuracy), rights-based (availability and accessibility), and instrumental (applicability and usability for decision-making). A battery of questions with scoring enables quantification and systematic comparison of climate datasets and their availability, accessibility accuracy, and applicability with respect to specific geographic region and industry. The framework is demonstrated through representative sector–region case studies, including agriculture in Ukraine, healthcare in the Nordics, tourism in the Alps, and manufacturing in Portugal.

The results provide a justice-oriented assessment identifying where current climate data infrastructures underserve specific sectors or regions. The study delivers a reproducible framework for evaluating climate data utility, contributes to the integration of justice perspectives in climate modelling, and offers actionable guidance for climate impact analysts, data providers, and funders seeking to strengthen equitable and effective climate adaptation across Europe.