The World Meteorological Organization climate services information system: Opportunities and challenges for co-developing climate services and tailored products addressing national and regional user needs

Abstract

<p>Credible climate information, products and services are important elements in the decision-making matrix for effective climate risk management and support to adaptation options, particularly in the context of climate change, which threatens many facets of planetary inhabitability and human well-being. Operationalizing the provision of climate information services requires standards and a well-coordinated end-to-end institutional system that begins with monitoring and generating climate information of high quality and ends with a community level response. Furthermore, agile approaches are required to translate research into operational services and inform decisions that can account for climate risks and opportunities.  </p><p>This presentation outlines the World Meteorological Organization strategy for implementing the climate services information system (CSIS) at regional and national scales, highlighting linkages with research and operationalization efforts such as objective climate prediction approach that enable enhanced generation of regionally relevant climate information and tailored products, and emphasizes the importance of sustaining these efforts. The EU-funded Intra-ACP Climate Services Programme (ClimSA) is used to showcase how 79 members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) work with WMO and partners to implement the climate services value chain in priority climate sensitive sectors. CSIS is WMO primary mechanism to routinely collate, store, process information about past, present, and future climates and make it available from global to regional and national levels to support climate services around the world. It is supported the by development of global and regional systems infrastructure, mainly through WMO Global Producing Centres for Long Range Forecasts (GPCs-LRF), GPCs of Annual to Decadal Climate Prediction (GPCs-ADCP), Regional Climate Centres (RCCs), and Regional Climate Outlook Forums (RCOFs).</p>