THE third International Conference on Climate Services (ICCS3) now underway in Montego Bay, is seeking to address current progress, challenges and opportunities in the implementation of climate services, and foster discussions regarding the transition from pilot activities to sustained services.
Climate services, which refer to the provision of climate information that supports policy and decision making, play a crucial role in national development planning, particularly with respect to mitigation and adaptation strategies with a view to avoiding the economic setbacks and humanitarian disasters that can result from climate extremes and long-term climate change.
The conference started on Wednesday and will wrap up today.
Dr Ulric Trotz, deputy director and science advisor at the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (5Cs), says this first-of-its-kind event in the Caribbean and any developing country is an opportunity to find linkages between international climate services and those in the region.
Efficient application of climate services requires that climate information be integrated into policies across various sectors, he said. The 5Cs Science Officer Ottis Joslyn noted that the need for such cross-sectoral approaches was one aspect of the centre’s seminal risk management tool, the Caribbean Climate Online Risk and Adaptation Tool (CCORAL), which is being prominently featured at ICCS3.
The 5Cs is currently supporting a series of national consultations across the Caribbean under the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS), which was established in 2009 at the World Climate Conference-3.
WCC3 was organised by the World Meteorological Organisation in collaboration with other United Nations agencies, governments and partners to steer the development of climate services worldwide.
The vision of the GFCS is to enable society to better manage the risks and opportunities arising from climate variability and change, especially for those who are most vulnerable to such risks.
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