Climate Services

About the National Framework for Climate Services:

The World Climate Conference-3 (WCC-3), held from the 31st of August to the 4th of September 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland, brought together more than 2000 climate scientists, sectorial experts and decision-makers. It established a Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) to strengthen production, availability, delivery and application of science-based climate prediction and services. A declaration establishing the Global Framework was adopted on the 3rd of September 2009 at WCC-3 by high-level policy-makers from more than 150 countries, including Heads of State/Government, Ministers and senior government officials of some countries.

Following the WCC-3 and the signing of the declaration, the South African Weather Service in partnership with the Department of Environmental Affairs and the World Meteorological Organisation hosted a workshop on the 19th to the 22nd of August 2013 with the aim of consolidating the country’s climate change and variability services by bringing together key stakeholders to assess the current provision of these services. The workshop was a success and the inputs from the various stakeholders in attendance resulted in a report titled ‘The roadmap for implementation of the GFCS’. The report informed the development of the South African National Framework for Climate Services

Vision

The National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS) strives to enable society to better manage the risks and opportunities arising from climate variability and change, especially for those who are most vulnerable to climate related hazards.

Mission

The NFCS will mainstream and enhance climate observations and monitoring information, forecasting and prediction and transform these into sector -specific products and applications that can be disseminated widely, and further develop users’ capacity to manage risks of climate variability and change at all levels. This will be done through developing and incorporating science based climate information into planning, policy and practice. To be effective, the NFCS-SA will be user driven, and will address the entire value chain for the production, processing and application of climate services through local, regional and global collaborative efforts. The NFCS-SA will serve as one of enabling tools for South Africa, in the transition towards building a climate resilient country.

Goals

The NFCS has five overarching goals, namely:

Reducing the vulnerability of society to climate related hazards through better provision of climate information;
Advancing the key national development goals through better provision of climate information;
Mainstreaming the use of climate information in decision-making;
Strengthening the engagement of providers and users of climate services; and
Maximising the utility of existing climate service infrastructure.

The NFCS was developed by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment in partnership with the South African Weather Service (SAWS). The SAWS is responsible for the technical leadership in the implementation of the NFCS.

The NFCS is anchored on the following Global Framework for Climate Service pillars:

Observations and Monitoring

The Observations and Monitoring pillar helps ensure that the climate observations necessary to meet the needs of end users are made, managed and disseminated, supported by relevant metadata.

User Interface Platform

User Interface Platform is the pillar of the Framework that provides a structured means for users, climate researchers and climate data and information providers to interact at all levels.

Climate Service Information System

It is the main mechanism for collecting, storing, and processing climate information (past, present, and future) to produce products and services that aid decision-making in climate-sensitive activities.

Research, Modelling and Prediction

The Research, Modelling, and Prediction pillar supports development of tools and methods to transition research into operational climate services and promote practical applications of climate information.