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IBCS MC-3/Doc. 3 Global Framework for Climate Services Chair Management Submitted by: MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE OF THE Committee INTERGOVERNMENTAL BOARD ON CLIMATE SERVICES Date: 2.X.2015 Original Language: English THIRD SESSION Status: Draft 1 Geneva, Switzerland, 26–28 October 2015

AGENDA ITEM 3: REPORT OF THE CHAIR OF THE IBCS

SUMMARY

DECISIONS/ACTIONS REQUIRED:

(1) Take note of progress on the implementation of the GFCS

(2) Provide guidance to further advance implementation of the GFCS

CONTENT OF DOCUMENT:

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APPENDIX A: DRAFT TEXT FOR INCLUSION IN THE GENERAL SUMMARY

3. REPORT OF THE CHAIR OF THE IBCS (AGENDA ITEM 3)

3.1 The Management Committee (Committee) of the Intergovernmental Board on Climate Services (IBCS) noted with appreciation the report by the Chair which included a summary of activities and achievements made under the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS).

3.2 The Chair stressed the importance of involvement of WMO Members and partnerships with relevant partner agencies to ensure (i) coordination of initiatives, their integration, establishment of synergies among relevant initiatives and maximizing the benefits of investments and resources being applied in support of climate services development and application; (ii) a science-based and multi-disciplinary approach in co-design and co-production of climate services with the involvement of users and relevant stakeholders; (iii) efficient provision and use of expertise available through partner agencies and networks; and (iv) mainstreaming GFCS in partners’ agendas and activities. Partners have been very involved in implementing GFCS-related activities and in providing experts to serve in IBCS substructures such as the Task Teams established by the Management Committee to finalize the Operational and Resource Plan for the GFCS for the period 2015–2018 and Monitoring and Evaluation Criteria and Methodology for the GFCS. Implementation of the Operational and Recourse Plan and the Monitoring and Evaluation Criteria and Methodology will require continued involvement by Members and Partners and active resource mobilization to strengthen the GFCS Trust Fund. More work is required to strengthen GFCS pillars and other GFCS infrastructure and to establish structured service oriented approaches in support of all GFCS priority areas.

3.3 The Chair noted that the first two years of implementation of the GFCS had focused on establishing the GFCS governance structure and establishing mechanisms for coordination and implementation of initial activities to enable the development of a Proof of Concept that would inform the development of guidelines for expansion of climate services worldwide. Furthermore, the Chair noted that the Partner Advisory Committee (PAC) in its last meeting, in March 2015, had agreed to demonstrate the benefits of working together in six countries (Burkina Faso, Bhutan, Dominica, Moldova, Papua New Guinea and Tanzania). This approach would contribute to building national capacities for the co-design and co-production of climate services, providing essential knowledge for the production of guidelines. The Chair noted however, that providing effective climate services in the 70 countries identified as not having adequate capacities is an ambition that will take time to realise. Even recognizing that there are a number of countries who are developing climate services independently or with the support of various partners, the GFCS has been supporting direct capacity development in about 10 countries. At the same time the Climate Services Information System and support of Regional Climate Centres to countries has still to be operationalized. The operational and Resources Plan for the GFCS for the period 2015–2018 (IBCS MC -3 Doc. 6.1(1)) provides specific activities in this regard.

3.4 The Committee noted with appreciation that the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), the World Bank (WB) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) were the last agencies that had officially joined the Partner Advisory Committee (PAC) while the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) are in the process of finalizing their applications to PAC membership. With these new members the PAC is currently comprised of 13 members, namely the European Commission (EC), European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Global Water Partnership (GWP), International IBCS MC-3/Doc. 3, DRAFT 1, p. 3

Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UNISDR, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), WB, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), World Food Programme (WFP) and World Meteorological organization (WMO).

3.5 The committee was pleased to note efforts being made to strengthen partnerships with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) particularly in support to the National Adaptation Processes (NAP). In this regard the Committee was pleased with the efforts for the development of an Annex to the Technical Guidelines of the NAP providing details on role and contribution of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), and the value of climate services to support analysis and assessment of climate risks and vulnerabilities. The technical guidelines will be launched as a joint effort of UNFCCC and GFCS as part of COP 21.

3.6 The Committee was also pleased to note specific efforts being made to link the GFCS with the Sendai Framework which resulted in the recognition of GFCS as key to achieving Priority 4 of the Sendai Framework “Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to Build Back Better in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction”. Similar efforts are being made to identify and articulate GFCS activities that support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Samoa Pathway, the Habitat III and other relevant agendas.

3.7 The Committee noted with appreciation that following the decision of the Seventeenth World Meteorological Congress (Cg-17) to adopt Energy as the fifth priority area of the GFCS an Exemplar on Energy has been developed for the consideration of the Management Committee with a view to its approval for the implementation

3.8 The Committee noted with appreciation that an agreement was signed between WMO and NRC on 19 June 2015. Through this partnership NRC is facilitating deployment of experts to support regional and national implementation of GFCS related activities. Through this collaboration the GFCS Office has deployed two experts in the FAO Office in Dakar, Senegal who are supporting five countries in West Africa where frameworks for climate services are being implemented with the support of the GFCS Office (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and Senegal). In addition, WMO and NRC have conducted a joint capacity needs assessment at the IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Centre (ICPAC) and the African Centre for Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) during the months of July to August 2015 to determine human capacity needs to inform deployment of experts in these Centres to help with the development of climate products and services in response of user needs being identified through GFCS flagship activities in Tanzania and Malawi and the five countries in West Africa where the GFCS has started activities.

3.9 The Committee noted with appreciation the support that the following Members so far have made to the GFCS, namely Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong - China, India, Iran, Ireland, Mexico, Norway, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, South Africa, United Kingdom. In particular, the Committee was pleased to note that Norway had provided additional resources to support the recruitment of a senior programme manager in the GFCS Office and made an additional pledge of CHF nine million in support of the GFCS activities in Africa for the period 2017–2019. Furthermore, the committee was also pleased to note that USAID had pledge USD one million in support of GFCS activities in West Africa and India had pledged USD 250 000.

3.10 The committee noted that activities being undertaken focus on facilitating the establishment of frameworks for climate services at national level to ensure appropriate institutional coordination mechanisms and frameworks for addressing climate services capacity development needs and operational provision of products and services; support to regional and IBCS MC-3/Doc. 3, DRAFT 1, p. 4 national capabilities through specific projects such as the Climate Services Adaptation Programme in Africa supported by Norway and the Programme for Implementing of GFCS at regional and national scales supported by Canada; implementation of coordination mechanisms to advance activities under the pillars through the establishment of Joint Offices and exchange of staff from the partner agencies to the GFCS Office (i.e. WHO, GWP and WFP); development, documentation and dissemination of good practices on the development and application of climate services; advocacy of GFCS as a key tool in support of adaptation and sustainable development (i.e. SAMOA Pathway, Sendai Declaration, UNFCCC, World Health Assembly).

3.11 The Committee recalled that the first session of the Management Committee had approved an IBCS communication strategy with a specific workplan for the period January 2014 to July 2015. The Committee was also pleased with the involvement of Management Committee members in promoting the GFCS which resulted in a specific mention of the GFCS in the Sendai Declaration for example. The Committee was pleased to note that as part of the communication strategy promotional events were organized at the margins of important international events such as the United Nations Conference on Small Islands Developing States (Samoa, September 2014), video documentaries were developed showing experiences on development and application of climate services in China, Senegal, Tanzania and UK as well as a corporate video on the GFCS, an e-tutorial on the GFCS was developed in collaboration with UNITAR, the GFCS Quarterly Newsletter was produced, among other activities. Furthermore, the Committee was pleased to note that the approved IBCS communication strategy will continue to be applied. In the coming year focus will be on upgrading the GFCS web site, developing a GFCS Help Desk, targeted campaigns to raise political awareness and support to the GFCS and production of materials for the GFCS website, GFCS newsletter, WMO bulletin and partners’ publications and development of case studies.

3.12 The Committee noted with appreciation the contribution that the Friends of the GFCS, an informal group of Members and partners led by Norway has been playing in (i) mobilizing support for the GFCS, (ii) providing a platform to governments, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations to raise issues of concern in international consultations related to climate services (iii) providing a platform for exchange of information on activities relevant to the GFCS.

3.13 The Committee was pleased to note that a web-based platform had been developed to display current GFCS projects and contributed projects from partners and Members. The Committee noted however that efforts have to be made to motivate partners and members to populate the platform with their activities that contribute to the GFCS.

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APPENDIX B: PROGRESS REPORT FOR INFORMATION – NOT TO BE INCLUDED IN THE GENERAL SUMMARY

MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GFCS

References:

1. Abridged Final Report with Resolutions of Seventeenth Session of the World Meteorological Congress, Geneva, (25 May–12 June 2015), WMO-No 1157. 2. Abridged Final Report with Resolutions of the Second Session of the Intergovernmental Board on Climate Services (IBCS-2), Geneva, 12–14 November 2014, WMO-No. 1149. 3. Abridged Final Report with Resolutions of the Second Session of the Management Committee of the Intergovernmental Board on Climate Services, Geneva, 14 November 2015, WMO-No 1154. 4. Abridged and Final Report with Resolutions of the First Session of the Intergovernmental Board on Climate Services (IBCS-1), Geneva, 1–5 July 2013, WMO-No 1124. 5. Abridged Final Report with Resolutions of the First Session of the Management Committee of the Intergovernmental Board on Climate Services, Geneva, 15–17 June 2014, WMO-No 1144. 6. Abridged Final Report with Resolutions of the Extraordinary Session of the World Meteorological Congress, Part I (Geneva, 29–31 October 2012), WMO-No. 1102. 7. Abridged Final Report with Resolutions of Sixteenth World Meteorological Congress (Geneva, 16 May–3 June 2011), WMO-No. 1077. 8. The Report of the High-level Taskforce for the Global Framework for Climate Services. 9. 9 GFCS website (http://gfcs.wmo.int/)

Background

1. GFCS partners have been engaged in implementation of GFCS-related activities. FAO, GWP, WFP, WHO, UNDP, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), UNISDR and WMO designated experts to serve in the development of the monitoring and Evaluation Criteria and Methodology for implementation of the GFCS. For the Operational and Resource Plan for the GFCS for the period 2015–2018 the International Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), FAO, UNEP, UNDP, WFP and WMO designated experts. 2. The PAC membership has been growing. Currently there are 13 members represented at the PAC (see http://gfcs.wmo.int/pac_members) Two additional partners have sent letter of interest in joining the PAC and are in the process of finalizing their application to PAC membership (IRENA and NRC). 3. Partner have been actively engaged in the implementation of specific activities such as the GFCS Adaptation Programme in Africa (see http://gfcs.wmo.int/projects-list) that is focusing on the delivery of climate services for food security, health and disaster risk reduction in Malawi, Tanzania and Ethiopia. The partners involved in the implementation of this programme are the CGIAR Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS); the Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research – Oslo (CICERO); the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI); IFRC through the Tanzanian and Malawian Red Cross; WFP; and WHO. Various partners are also implementing their activities that contribute to the goals of the GFCS. IBCS MC-3/Doc. 3, DRAFT 1, p. 6

4. Efforts have been made to link with the NAP of the UNFCCC in which climate services play a critical role. Many countries who are developing NAP document have not effectively integrated the contribution of NMHSs and climate services in support of climate risk and vulnerability assessment. To address the shortcoming a specific Annex to the technical guidelines on NAP produced by UNFCCC will be produced by the GFCS in collaboration with UNFCCC Secretariat for launch as part of COP 21 activities. 5. The GFCS was recognized in the Sendai Declaration as key to supporting Priority 4 of the Sendai Framework “Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to Build Back Better in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction”. The Declaration stipulated that to achieve the objectives of Priority 4 at global and regional levels, there is need to promote the further development of and investment in effective, nationally compatible, regional multi-hazard early warning mechanisms, where relevant, in line with the Global Framework for Climate Services, and facilitate the sharing and exchange of information across all countries. 6. Owing to the critical role, importance and great demand of energy for development, particularly sustainable development, the WMO Secretariat convened an ad-hoc group of experts on 13 June 2014 to scope out an Energy Exemplar. Following the decision of the Seventeenth World Meteorological Congress (25 May–12 June 2014) to adopt Energy as the fifth priority of the GFCS, an Exemplar was developed building on the work of the ad-hoc group of experts. The Exemplar explains how improved climate services can benefit the Energy Sector and illustrates a vision as to how the development and application of targeted climate products and services through the GFCS can improve efficiency and reduce risks associated with hydrometeorological hazards of energy systems. 7. Collaboration with NRC which has a roster of experts under its NORCAP facility is helping in addressing GFCS Office human resources to provide direct support at regional and country level. Two experts have been deployed in the FAO Office in Dakar to support Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger, and Senegal while additional experts will be deployed at ACMAD and ICPAC following a joint human needs capacity assessment conducted jointly by WMO and NRG in August 2015. NRC is also considering deploying experts in the Pacific where human capacity needs are very high. 8. Various Members have made contributions to the GFCS, which in aggregate amount to: Australia (CHF 484 000), Bangladesh (CHF 3 706), Canada (CHF 5 796 000), China (CHF 400 000), Finland (CHF 52 320), France (CHF 62 000), Germany (CHF 60 130), Hong Kong, China (CHF 9 520), India (CHF 118 000), Iran (CHF 9 030), Ireland (CHF 488 400), Mexico (CHF 23 843), Norway (CHF 19 135 000), Qatar (CHF 135 100), Republic of Korea (CHF 258 000), Switzerland (CHF 1 250 000), South Africa (CHF 20 000) and the UK (CHF 350 000).Norway provided additional resources (CHF 231 362 per year) to support the a senior programme manager position in the GFCS Office for the GCS for the period 2016-2017 Pledges were made by Finland (CHF 400 000), Indonesia (CHF 650 000), Norway (CHF 9 000 000), USIAD (USD 1 000 000) and India USD (250 000). China and the Republic of Korea seconded experts to the GFCS who have taken up their duties at the end of September 2014. 9. A joint Office on climate and health was established in May 2015 with the WHO. The Office is located under the GFCS Office and is mandated to coordinate implementation of activities under the Health Exemplar of the GFCS. The WFP co-located an officer in the GFCS Office for the period May 2015 to May 2016 to coordinate activities under the Agriculture and Food Security Exemplar. 10. As part of activities under the Communication Strategy approved by the second session of the IBCS, videos were developed to explain the concept of the GFCS and its benefits (corporate video) and videos showing specific examples of development and application of climate services in China, Senegal, Tanzania, UK. For these videos footage with various experts and users were taken (see videos at http://gfcs.wmo.int/videos). In addition, an e-tutorial was developed with UNITAR tutorial designed for national experts and open to practitioners and the IBCS MC-3/Doc. 3, DRAFT 1, p. 7

general public, with the aim of promoting GFCS, raising awareness of its objectives and of the benefits of climate services. The tutorial is available on the GFCS web site at http://gfcs.wmo.int/node/805. 11. A data base of projects being implemented by Members and partners is being developed. A Web-based platform has been developed which allows designated focal points from members and partners to upload information about projects they are implementing that contribute to the GFCS (http://gfcs.wmo.int/contributed-projects)

12. Despite progress made in implementing GFCS-related activities, coordination to ensure effective planning, exchange of information and linkage of initiatives to more effectively develop and apply climate services for decision-making worldwide remains a challenge. Increasing the visibility of the GFCS is a key factor for having GFCS recognized and used as a vehicle for effective coordination of activities and projects, building effective partnerships and for mobilizing the necessary resources for the implementation of the GFCS

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