The White House continued to make the case for addressing climate change this week, with a report warning of the potential cost of inaction to the economy, and the release of climate data focusing on food security and agricultural resilience.

These releases are part of the Climate Action Plan and follow-up on the Climate Data Initiative issued in March and the third National Climate Assessment issued in May. The climate assessment stressed the impact that climate change and extreme weather patterns are already having on farming, with implications for food security and crop yields.

The report estimates that delaying action on climate change by 10 years would increase mitigation costs by 40 percent while the data-focused “Food Resilience” effort will rely on partnerships with businesses, advocacy groups and academia to prepare for the effect climate change is expected to have on food production.

Among the companies collaborating with the White House on these efforts are agribusiness and food companies such as Monsanto, Kellogg’s, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Walmart. These companies, along with academia and groups like, the World Wildlife Fund and the American Red Cross, will use government data on climate and agriculture to set and measure goals for climate-change reducing practices and greenhouse gas targets.

On Tuesday, senior administration officials met at the White House with top agriculture and business leaders to discuss the effort. The White House will also hold a series of meetings and workshops in coming weeks, focusing on the role technology and data can play in agricultural efficiency.

A White House issued Fact Sheet on the effort can be viewed here.