The South African Weather Services, in collaboration with the Department of Environmental Affairs and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has convened a workshop on national implementation of the WMO Global Framework for Climate Change Services (GFCS).
The workshop today, 19 August 2013, commenced on a favourable note with the Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Mrs Rejoice Mabudafhasi emphasising the importance of access to climate information to support decision-making at all levels. The Deputy Minister pledged her support for a process towards further exploring the implications of the GFCS for South Africa in the context of South Africa’s strategic approach to responding to climate change and its impacts. The workshop is taking place 19 to 22 August at St George’s Hotel and Conference Centre in Gauteng.
The four-day workshop brings together more than 150 climate scientists, sectorial experts and decision-makers in climate change-related fields. The workshop seeks to explore the maturity of activities within the GFCS’s five components, namely the user interface; the climate services information system; observations and monitoring; research, modelling and applications; and capacity development. The workshop will also address the immense variety of user needs for climate services in the country.
The Cabinet approved National Climate Change Response Policy presents South Africa’s vision for an effective climate change response towards a just transition to a climate resilient and lower carbon economy and society. Speaking at the workshop, Deputy Minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi lauded the potential role of the GFCS saying that the Framework “provides a useful basis for coordination of climate services to support South Africa’s disaster risk reduction and emergency response work”.
The Deputy Minister also emphasised the need for improved meteorological data and science that would firstly enable early warning systems, secondly enable planning for emergency response and finally, that would provide the information base that enables the prediction of slow onset events.
The workshop brings together key stakeholders to discuss access to climate data in the country, to consider future needs for meteorological data, and to plan for the enhancement of partnerships around the provision of climate information. This initiative finds its niche in coordinating climate observation, predictions and research across existing knowledge generation institutions.
The GFCS was established under a Declaration of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in 2009 in recognition of the fact that society will need information tools to adapt as the climate will continue to be variable and to change notwithstanding steps taken to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The declaration establishing the GFCS was adopted by high-level policy-makers from more than 150 countries, including Heads of State/Government and more than 80 Ministers and other Senior Government Officials. The GFCS and its establishment was an important step towards strengthening the application of climate science in local, regional, national and international decision-making.
The aim of the GFCS is to strengthen production, availability, delivery and application of science-based climate prediction and service so as to reduce the vulnerability of society and economies to climate change and related hazards as well as strengthen collaborations amongst the various stakeholders. Implementation of the Framework in South Africa would enable producers, researchers and user organisations to join forces to lift the quality and volume of climate services worldwide.
It is envisaged that the workshop will conclude by providing an analysis of the implications of the GFCS in support of the country’s climate change response. Furthermore, it is envisaged that the outcome reached will support a coherent collaboration and integration of the delivery and uptake of climate services at the national level within the ambit of the National Climate Change Response Policy.
Deputy Minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi wished delegates well on their deliberations this week and expressed her confidence in the workshop, “it is my sincere hope that through this workshop, the first steps towards a continuous assessment and improvement of climate-related services will be crafted involving all institutions present here today, that are relevant to the supply of climate services to our country”.
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