IBCS MC-5/INF.4.1, p. 30

World Meteorological Organization
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL BOARD ON CLIMATE SERVICES
FIFTH SESSION
Reading, United Kingdom, 19 to 20 October 2017 / IBCS MC-5/INF.4.1
Submitted by:
Chair of the IBCS
18.X.2017

STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRIORITY NEEDS FOR THE OPERATIONALIZATION OF THE GFCS FOR THE PERIOD 2016-2018

4.1.1 The Management Committee (hereafter Committee) at its second session held in November 2014, formed a Task Team to support theCommittee in implementing Resolution 7/1 (IBCS2) to develop an Operational and Resource Plan (ORP) for the GFCS. The Task Team is hereafter referred to as the ORP-TT.

4.1.2 At the ORP-TT meeting in April 2015, representatives of the following member states were present: China, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, UK, and the USA, along with the following PAC members: FAO, UNEP, UNDP, UNISDR, WFP, WHO, WMO; as well as regional climate centers ACMAD, CIIFEN, IGAD, and the WMO technical bodies: CBS, CCl, CHy, and JCOMM. The outcome was a draft document which was revised and presented atthe3rd IBCS Management Committee meeting (MC-3) in October2015. The IBCS MC-3 decision was for the ORP-TT to further refine, prioritize, and finalize the ORP.

4.1.3 The ORP-TT met again in April 2016. Representatives of the following member states were present: China, Indonesia, Kenya, Niger, Norway, Russia, Samoa, Sudan, Switzerland, Tajikistan, UK, and the USA, along with the following PAC members: FAO, GWP, IFRC, UNEP, UNDP, UNISDR, WFP, WHO, WMO; as well as the WMO technical bodies: CAEM, CAgM, CBS, CCl, CHy, GCOS, JCOMM, WCRP, and others. The outcome was a revised draft document which was presented at the October 2016 IBCS Management Committee meeting. The IBCS MC-4 endorsed the document and changed the name to Priority Needs for the Operationalization of the GFCS (2016-2018) (hereafter referred to as the GFCS Priority Needs).

4.1.4 The GFCS Priority Needs is intended to: (a) focus on key strategic priorities in order to ensure that activities build on earlier successes and make meaningful and sustained progress towards achieving the GFCS vision; (b) communicate the strategic priorities for the development of climate services with governments, donors, academia, general public, and other interested stakeholders; (c) guide necessary investment strategies and decisions to fund the prioritized activities needed for the GFCS to meet its intended goals; and (d) provide a basis for monitoring and evaluating progress on the key elements of the GFCS.

4.1.5 The GFCS Priority Needs is comprised of three Parts: Part I - Implementation of the Global Framework for Climate Services, which provides information on the relevance and background of the GFCS, details on the phases of GFCS implementation, and an introduction to the three strategic objectives; Part II - Priority Needs for the Operationalization of the Global Framework for Climate Services (2016-2018); and Part III - Resource Requirements for 2016-2018.

4.1.6 There are three strategic objectives within the GFCS Priority Needs. The first is ‘Priority Applications’ to improve decision-making in climate-sensitive areas through the development and application of climate services in the five climate-sensitive GFCS priority areas. These priority areas are agriculture and food security, water, health, disaster risk reduction, and energy. Activities under this objective focus on the GFCS User-Interface Platform pillar and build on the priority needs identified in the GFCS Exemplar documentation (see http://gfcs-climate.org/implementation-plan). These activities will contribute to the desired outcome where decision-making and investments in climate-sensitive sectors are improved through the co-development and use of climate services.

4.1.7 The second strategic objective is ‘The Bridge’, which connects user needs with climate services through sustained engagement mechanisms to ensure user-driven service delivery. Particular attention is placed on strengthening and sustaining national, regional, and global coordination to improve the current delivery of services in order to foster effective user engagement and further response. Key implementing entities are the GFCS Office, regional- and national-level organizations, and partners that identify user needs and appropriate stakeholders at the national and sub-national levels. Activities under this objective build upon the priority needs identified in the GFCS User Interface Platform (UIP) documentation, and will contribute to the desired outcome where sustained mechanisms are established or enhanced to support effective user–driven, end-to-end climate services at regional and national levels.

4.1.8 The third strategic objective is the ‘Foundational Pillars’ to enhance core technical and scientific capabilities to support user-driven climate services. This objective aligns with the core foundational Pillars of the GFCS, and emphasizes the scientific and capacity needs required to ensure that the development and delivery of climate services is based on sustained observing systems, cutting edge research and prediction systems, effective platforms for knowledge transfer, and capacity development for climate information providers. This implies a special emphasis on the coordination between different international research programmes and the regional and national scientific efforts, seeking for complementarities to connect the available research with the operational gaps (mostly related with sub-seasonal to interannual prediction) at regional and national scales. Key implementing entities are the WMO and its GFCS partners, WMO constituent bodies, WMO-accredited Regional Climate Centers and NMHSs. Activities under this objective build upon the priority needs identified in the GFCS Annex documentation (see http://gfcs-climate.org/implementation-plan), and will contribute to the desired outcome where national needs are met through enhanced skills, processes, tools and technologies that enable and support climate services delivery.

4.1.9 The GFCS Priority Needs outlines implementation strategies for the three strategic objectives, provides examples of implementation partners, proposed activities and budget estimates for the implementation.

4.1.10 The GFCS Office reconvened the sub objective leads for the GFCS Priority Needs as well as interested PAC members (the list of sub objective leads involved in the discussions is provided in Annex I). The motivation of the meetings was: 1) to review the roles and responsibilities of the GFCS Priority Needs focal points and confirm their interest to remain focal points; 2) to discuss and review progress and remaining/emerging needs; 3) to discuss challenges or blockages around ‘operationalizing’ the GFCS Priority Needs; and 4) to discuss organizations, programs, and governments to approach in order to mobilize the necessary resources to better meet the needs.

Status of the implementation of the GFCS Priority Needs

4.1.11 The following provides a summary of the discussions with the sub objective leads, a review of progress, challenges encountered, and the remaining/emerging needs to operationalize the GFCS. It should be noted that the following tables provide an illustrative overview of progress towards the GFCS Priority Needs. As the methodology for collecting information on progress and challenges was limited to interviews with a subset of the GFCS Priority Needs focal points and interested PAC members, along with a review of the available information within the GFCS Office, the status update is not comprehensive. The Committee and PAC members are invited to submit further progress updates. It should be noted that in discussions with the sub objective leads, the achieved successes and progress were largely due to in-kind contributions of partner organizations and not because resources were provided or mobilized by the GFCS Office. Several of the sub objective leads noted that expectations were built while drafting the GFCS Priority Needs and these expectations have not been matched with resources. Dialogue around expectations and coordination in next steps is encouraged. While accomplishments are encouraging, members of the IBCS MC and PAC are urged to reflect on the challenges noted in the text and to offer guidance on strategic, goal-oriented, and coordinated action to realize the aspirations of the GFCS.

Within Objective 1: Priority applications – improving decision-making in climate-sensitive areas - Agriculture and food security

4.1.12 During the discussions with the sub objective leads, it was noted that mechanisms to enhance coordination between some partners have advanced and projects have been awarded that would serve as a basis to strengthen and scale up climate services for food security. During discussions challenges were raised regarding the operationalization of the GFCS Priority Needs. The interagency coordination gap in agriculture and food security sector persists. It was noted that sufficient funding had not been secured to support this activity and that without the funding it would be difficult to convene and sustain the required dialogue. All sub objective leads agreed on the need to discuss these challenge at the upcoming PAC meeting, explore why the coordination gap persists, and provide recommendations to the IBCS on coordination mechanisms.

Agriculture and food security
Activity 1: Form a climate services, agriculture and food security inter-agency coordination team to enhance coordination among sector partners and develop joint pilot proposals / Progress achieved in 2016-2017
Gap: There is a lack of coordination between sector partners.
Goals: Enhance coordination among sector partners and develop joint pilot proposals.
Solutions: Establish a user-led coordination team
to (a) support greater communication between climate scientists, researchers and key stakeholders in the food security and agriculture sectors at national, regional and global levels; (b) implement and coordinate activities under the agriculture and food security priority area of GFCS. / Notable activities include WFP’s organization (with GFCS Office financial support) of a 2-day Dialogue Workshop on Climate Services and Food Security in 2016 to better understand/define the climate service needs of the agriculture and food security sector. The meeting convened a number of sector members and advanced progress on defining the climate service needs. This issue would require further consultations and finalization.
4  Outputs:
4  (a) understanding of needs of users to inform the development of new climate products and services;
4  (b) understanding of what is available and gaps in terms of products needed at different levels and by different actors;
4  (c) identification of strategic priorities for strengthening climate services within the food security and agriculture sectors;
4  (d) provision of technical advisory, planning and coordination services for the piloting and scaling up of different initiatives aimed at strengthening resilience and food security. / 4  Summary of discussion of the Dialogue Workshop supported and informed the development of the ORP section on agriculture and food security priority area
4  An MOU between WMO and FAO was signed in 2017 to enhance coordination on climate services for agriculture.
Estimated Necessary Budget for 2016-2018: CHF 1 880 000. / CHF 20 000 (GFCS paid for WFP workshop)
Agriculture and food security
Activity 2: Strengthen and scale up climate services for food security in selected countries / Progress achieved in 2016-2017
Gap: There is a lack of efficiency among similar activities and projects in this sector.
Goals: Scale up and possibly combine existing activities in selected countries.
4  Solutions: Strengthen and scale up innovations. This will include both initiatives that have already been piloted and have demonstrated their effectiveness, and innovative practices to be piloted in the field. Specific activities include the WFP R4 Rural Resilience Initiative and climate analysis, FAO farmer field schools, WMO Roving Seminars, and the WFP Food Security Climate Resilience Facility (FoodSECuRe) initiative, among others. / Partners invested time in developing several project proposals. WMO Sub-regional office in Eastern and Southern Africa and FAO developed a project proposal entitled “Agricultural Climate Resilience Enhancement Initiative (ACREI)” that was approved by the Adaptation Fund. WMO-FAO included a component in the Norway Phase II GFCS Programme in Africa for activities in West Africa. However, funding for the program was reduced and the West Africa activities were removed. NORAD is in the process of issuing the Phase II agreement for the Programme, which will see the continuation of IFRC, WFP, WHO, and WMO activities project in Malawi and Tanzania, albeit at a reduced level of funding. WMO and FAO are developing GCF project proposals for several countries in Africa and Latin America. WMO and FAO are working together on implementing FAO project entitled “Agricultural Services and Digital Inclusion in Africa” in Senegal and Rwanda.
4  Outputs: (a) strengthening of national early warning systems for food security; (b) integration of climate information into insurance, credit provision and crop monitoring; (c) support for context analysis at national level on food security, nutrition and climate change to inform planning; (d) development of new climate products tailored to the needs of vulnerable communities. / 4  WFP has set-up dissemination and communication channels for climate information in Tanzania and Malawi.
4  WMO, FAO and UNCCD organized Latin America and Caribbean regional conference on drought management and preparedness in August 2017 in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Workshop developed a regional strategic framework on drought management for the region.
4  WMO, FAO, EUMETSAT, and regional NHMSs organized a training course on the use of satellite products for drought monitoring and agricultural meteorology applications for the Eastern European countries in April 2017 in Budapest, Hungary.
4  WMO, FAO, EUMETSAT, FEWSNET, JRC, ARGHYMET, and SADC organized a training course on the use of satellite products for drought monitoring and agricultural meteorology applications for the Southern African countries in October 2016 in Harare, Zimbabwe.
4  WMO, FAO, EUMETSAT, UNDP, EU partners, and regional NMHSs organized a training course on the use of satellite products for drought monitoring and agricultural meteorology applications for the Southern Caucasus countries in May 2016 in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Estimated Necessary Budget for 2016-2018: CHF 6 000 000 / Norway’s contribution of USD7.2M received in 2014 supported 2016 and 2017 activities in Tanzania and Malawi.

Within Objective 1: Priority applications – improving decision-making in climate-sensitive areas – Disaster risk reduction

4.1.13 Accomplishments during the period are more aligned with the priority activities outlined in the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Exemplar than those in the GFCS Priority Needs, which has a smaller subset of DRR activities. The Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) initiative, which aims to mobilize more than 100 000 000 USD by 2020 to strengthen risk information and early warning systems in the least developed countries and small island developing states, is launching a programme of work for the 2016-2020 period with activities in Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Niger, Papua New Guinea, and with a regional focus on the Pacific SIDS.