P02 — FAIR Data Standards

SCD-P02  ·  Principle 2 of 10
  FAIR Data Standards
  “Findable. Accessible. Interoperable. Reusable.”
  Technical Layer
Definition
Climate data must conform to FAIR principles: Findable (machine-readable metadata, persistent identifiers such as DOIs or stable URLs), Accessible (open API or public download, no authentication required), Interoperable (standard open formats: JSON-LD, GeoJSON, CSV, NetCDF), and Reusable (explicit open licence, fully documented provenance).
Rationale
FAIR compliance is a prerequisite for integration into global platforms (Climate TRACE, GFW, EDGAR) and for citation in ISSB S2 and EU CSRD disclosures. Data that is not FAIR cannot contribute to the AI-driven due-diligence economy. The 'From FAIR to FAIR²' framework (Frontiers, 2025) extends FAIR to also require machine-actionability — data that an AI agent can not only read but act upon.
Implementation Steps
Assign a persistent identifier (DOI or stable public URL) to every dataset.
Publish data in at least one open format: JSON, CSV, GeoJSON, or NetCDF.
Add schema.org or DataCatalog markup to all public data pages.
Declare a Creative Commons or equivalent open licence on every dataset.
Register datasets with a public catalogue (CKAN, DataCite, or national open data portal).
Compliance Checklist
  
Criterion
What it means
  
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Persistent identifiers assigned
Every dataset has a DOI or stable URL that will not change.
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Open format export available
Data downloadable as JSON, CSV, or GeoJSON without login.
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schema.org markup present
Dataset metadata is readable by Google Dataset Search and AI agents.
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Licence declared
Explicit open licence (CC-BY 4.0 recommended) on every dataset.
Regulatory References
FAIR Data Principles — Wilkinson et al., Scientific Data (2016)
EU CSRD — Art. 8 Digital Tagging & Machine-Readable Reporting
ISSB IFRS S2 — Appendix A (Definitions, data quality)
Recommended Tools and Platforms
schema.org DataCite CKAN Zenodo OpenAire
Keywords
FAIR principles open data interoperability schema.org machine-readable data catalogue
  Related Principles: SCD-P01 · SCD-P06
  Document ID: SCD-P02  | 
  Version: 1.0.0  | 
  Last Updated: 2026-05-26  | 
  Category: Technical Quality  | 
  Source: CleantechHUB Sovereign Climate Data Framework  | 
  Licence: CC-BY 4.0
  
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