Climate Change Research in Low‐ and Middle‐Gross Domestic Product Countries: Producing Policy‐Relevant Knowledge Amid Scarce Funding

Abstract Climate change is now a reality, one that requires and will continue to require robust scientific information to guide mitigation and adaptation policies. Although this is true for all countries worldwide, low‐ and middle‐gross domestic product countries (LMGDP) face major technical, institutional, and financial barriers to producing such knowledge. These constraints limit their ability to generate greenhouse gas (GHG) budgets, define clear mitigation pathways, and design robust adaptation strategies. In contrast, freely available global scientific data are increasingly abundant. Open‐access resources from a wide range of institutions provide high‐quality climate and socioeconomic information at no cost. Leveraging these resources, combined with targeted capacity building and equitable international partnerships, offers a pathway to reduce research costs, avoid duplication, and strengthen policy‐relevant science in these countries. Addressing the paradox of global data abundance versus local data scarcity requires not only open data but open collaboration that integrates global expertise with local knowledge. In this commentary, two critical topics are employed to illustrate this challenge: (a) the calculation of reliable national GHG budgets essential for effective mitigation and (b) the development of adaptation pathways within nationally determined contributions. Strengthening national capacities while harnessing global data sets represents a crucial step toward enabling LMGDP countries to respond effectively to climate change.