Abstract
Carbon (C) and greenhouse gas (GHG) research has traditionally required data collection and analysis using advanced and often expensive instruments, complex and proprietary software, and skilled technicians. Partly as a result, relatively little C and GHG research has been conducted in resource-constrained developing countries. At the same time, these are the same countries and regions in which climate-change impacts will likely be strongest, and in which major science uncertainties are centred, given the importance of dryland and tropical systems to the global C cycle. Increasingly, scientific communities have adopted appropriate technology and approach (AT&A) for C and GHG research, which focuses on low-cost and low-technology instruments, open source software and data, and participatory and networking-based research approaches. Adopting AT&A can mean acquiring data with fewer technical constraints and lower economic burden and is thus a strategy for enhancing C and GHG research in developing countries. However, AT&A can be characterized by higher uncertainties; these can often be mitigated by carefully designing experiments, providing clear protocols for data collection, and monitoring and validating the quality of obtained data. For implementing this approach in developing countries, it is first necessary to recognize the scientific and moral importance of AT&A. At the same time, new AT&A techniques should be identified and further developed. All these processes should be promoted in collaboration with local researchers and through training local staff and encouraged for wide use and further innovation in developing countries.
Highlights
Increasing atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations caused by human activities result in global warming and climate change (IPCC, 2014)
The limited scientific role of local researchers is exemplified by the minor number of papers led by local researchers; for instance, Minasny et al (2020) found that out of 80 published GHG emissions studies in Southeast Asian peatlands, only 35% of the studies were first authored by local researchers
380 7 Conclusions While C and GHG research has adopted highly advanced technology and sophisticated data collection procedure some have adopted AT&A such as low-cost technology instrument, free and shared data and software, and participatory research and their results were in general well accepted by scientific communities
Summary
Increasing atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations caused by human activities result in global warming and climate change (IPCC, 2014). Various global meta-analyses reporting the effect of land-use changes on soil organic carbon (Li et al, 2020; Xu et al, 2019; Shi et al, 2016; Kim and Kirschbaum, 2015) have 80 found low amounts of data available from developing countries such as Africa and Asia compared to Europe and North America. 135 3 Major barriers for enhancing C and GHG research in developing countries 3.1 Knowledge and information access Access to scientific knowledge and information has become much easier than in the past due to the rapidly increasing availability and use of open source software and data, electronic journal repositories, and on-line education and training courses (Lowndes et al, 2017; Hampton et al, 2015; Lausch et al, 2015). There is a problem of utilizing shared knowledge and information since the availability of free resources is often unknown or the potential and target audience is not well clarified (Luo et al, 2020; 145 King et al, 2018; Mtebe and Raisamo, 2014)
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