Fit for purpose? Transforming National Meteorological and Hydrological Services into National Climate Service Centers

Mahon, Roché; Greene, Christina; Cox, S.; Guido, Zack; Gerlak, Andrea K.; Petrie, Jodi Ann; Trotman, Adrian; Liverman, Diana; Meerbeeck, Cédric J. Van; Scott, Wazita; Farrell, D. A.

doi:10.1016/j.cliser.2019.01.002

Cited by 38 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Early climate service design principles at these different scales were developed by the GFCS through a series of exemplars and consultative strategic documents (Hewitt et al 2012) informed by earlier work (e.g., NRC 2001, among others). More recent research has reinforced many of the earlier conclusions on building capacity, particularly within NMHSs to transform them into national climate service centers (such as Mahon et al 2019), the benefits of coproducing user-oriented climate information (Vincent et al 2018), opportunities and challenges associated with commercializing climate services (Webber and Donner 2017), and the role of different actors and different approaches in the design of climate services (Christel et al 2018).…”

Section: Examples Of Gfcs Success At the Regional Scalementioning

confidence: 89%

Making Society Climate Resilient: International Progress under the Global Framework for Climate Services

Hewitt

Allis

Mason³

et al. 2020

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

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There is growing awareness among governments, businesses, and the general public of risks arising from changes to our climate on time scales from months through to decades. Some climatic changes could be unprecedented in their harmful socioeconomic impacts, while others with adequate forewarning and planning could offer benefits. There is therefore a pressing need for decision-makers, including policy-makers, to have access to and to use high-quality, accessible, relevant, and credible climate information about the past, present, and future to help make better-informed decisions and policies. We refer to the provision and use of such information as climate services. Established programs of research and operational activities are improving observations and climate monitoring, our understanding of climate processes, climate variability and change, and predictions and projections of the future climate. Delivering climate information (including data and knowledge) in a way that is usable and useful for decision-makers has had less attention, and society has yet to optimally benefit from the available information. While weather services routinely help weather-sensitive decision-making, similar services for decisions on longer time scales are less well established. Many organizations are now actively developing climate services, and a growing number of decision-makers are keen to benefit from such services. This article describes progress made over the past decade developing, delivering, and using climate services, in particular from the worldwide effort galvanizing around the Global Framework for Climate Services under the coordination of UN agencies. The article highlights challenges in making further progress and proposes potential new directions to address such challenges.

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Section: Examples Of Gfcs Success At the Regional Scalementioning

confidence: 89%

Making Society Climate Resilient: International Progress under the Global Framework for Climate Services

Hewitt

Allis

Mason³

et al. 2020

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

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“…We found that the national climate sectors (NMHSs) also faced severe capacity limitations. Prior studies have noted the embryonic status of the application of climate science in the Caribbean health sector [24], with only one NMHS offering specialized climate information services for the health sector [71]. The capacity of NMHSs is especially limited in SIDS like Barbados and Dominica [71].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-developing climate services for public health: Stakeholder needs and perceptions for the prevention and control of Aedes-transmitted diseases in the Caribbean

Stewart-Ibarra

Romero

Hinds³

et al. 2019

PLoS Negl Trop Dis

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BackgroundSmall island developing states (SIDS) in the Caribbean region are challenged with managing the health outcomes of a changing climate. Health and climate sectors have partnered to co-develop climate services to improve the management of emerging arboviral diseases such as dengue fever, for example, through the development of climate-driven early warning systems. The objective of this study was to identify health and climate stakeholder perceptions and needs in the Caribbean, with respect to the development of climate services for arboviruses.MethodsStakeholders included public decision makers and practitioners from the climate and health sectors at the regional (Caribbean) level and from the countries of Dominica and Barbados. From April to June 2017, we conducted interviews (n = 41), surveys (n = 32), and national workshops with stakeholders. Survey responses were tabulated, and audio recordings were transcribed and analyzed using qualitative coding to identify responses by research topic, country/region, and sector.ResultsHealth practitioners indicated that their jurisdiction is currently experiencing an increased risk of arboviral diseases associated with climate variability, and most anticipated that this risk will increase in the future. National health sectors reported financial limitations and a lack of technical expertise in geographic information systems (GIS), statistics, and modeling, which constrained their ability to implement climate services for arboviruses. National climate sectors were constrained by a lack of personnel. Stakeholders highlighted the need to strengthen partnerships with the private sector, academia, and civil society. They identified a gap in local research on climate-arbovirus linkages, which constrained the ability of the health sector to make informed decisions. Strategies to strengthen the climate-health partnership included a top-down approach by engaging senior leadership, multi-lateral collaboration agreements, national committees on climate and health, and shared spaces of dialogue. Mechanisms for mainstreaming climate services for health operations to control arboviruses included climatic-health bulletins and an online GIS platform that would allow for regional data sharing and the generation of spatiotemporal epidemic forecasts. Stakeholders identified a 3-month forecast of arboviral illness as the optimal time frame for an epidemic forecast.ConclusionsThese findings support the creation of interdisciplinary and intersectoral ‘communities of practice’ and the co-design of climate services for the Caribbean public health sector. By fostering the effective use of climate information within health policy, research and practice, nations will have greater capacity to adapt to a changing climate.

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“…In most regions, RCOFs have provided a platform for building and enhancing the scientific capacities of national and regional forecasters. There is growing recognition, however, that NMHSs in many regions around the world face key capacity gaps in the technical production, translation, transfer, and facilitation of the use of climate information (Mahon et al 2019), and that the RCOF process may help mitigate these capacity gaps. Capacity building and networking through dedicated trainings to develop specific skills, as well as through processes of knowledge sharing, debate, and dialogue can help stimulate social learning around key topics and help mitigate these gaps.…”

Section: E778mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Gnat and the Bull Do Climate Outlook Forums Make a Difference?

Gerlak

Mason²,

Daly

et al. 2020

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

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Little has been documented about the benefits and impacts of the recent growth in climate services, despite a growing call to justify their value and stimulate investment. Regional Climate Outlook Forums (RCOFs), an integral part of the public and private enterprise of climate services, have been implemented over the last 20 years with the objectives of producing and disseminating seasonal climate forecasts to inform improved climate risk management and adaptation. In proposing guidance on how to measure the success of RCOFs, we offer three broad evaluative categories that are based on the primary stated goals of the RCOFs: 1) quality of the climate information used and developed at RCOFs; 2) legitimacy of RCOF processes focused on consensus forecasts, broad user engagement, and capacity building; and 3) usability of the climate information produced at RCOFs. Evaluating the quality of information relies largely on quantitative measures and statistical techniques that are standardized and transferrable, but assessing the RCOF processes and perceived usability of RCOF products will necessitate a combination of quantitative and qualitative social science methods that are sensitive to highly variable regional contexts. As RCOFs have taken up different formats and procedures to adapt to diverse institutional and political settings and varied technical and scientific capacities, objective evaluation methods adopted should align with the goals and intent of the evaluation and be performed in a participatory, coproduction manner where producers and users of climate services together design the evaluation metrics and processes. To fully capture the potential benefits of the RCOFs, it may be necessary to adjust or recalibrate the goals of these forums to better fit the evolving landscape of climate services development, needs, and provision.

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Fit for purpose? Transforming National Meteorological and Hydrological Services into National Climate Service Centers

Cited by 38 publications

References 16 publications

Making Society Climate Resilient: International Progress under the Global Framework for Climate Services

Making Society Climate Resilient: International Progress under the Global Framework for Climate Services

Co-developing climate services for public health: Stakeholder needs and perceptions for the prevention and control of Aedes-transmitted diseases in the Caribbean

The Gnat and the Bull Do Climate Outlook Forums Make a Difference?

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