© 2012 Economic Commission for Africa
Agencies seek partnerships with ECA on climate services delivery
Durban, South Africa 30 November 2011 (ECA) - A number of leading climate services providers would like to go into a partnership with the newly established African Climate Policy Centre of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) to bring climate services to hundreds of users who need them in Africa, according the Coordinator of the Centre, Mr Youba Sokona.
Speaking to the Information and Communication Service of ECA in Durban today, Mr. Sokona said that he had been approached by the World Bank, the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction (IRI) as well as by USAID and others to lay groundwork for a working relationship between the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) and these institutions in the production and use of climate information and services.
Mr. Youba said that the move followed a side-event “The International Conference Climate Services” at the ongoing 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP17) which opened here Monday.
Mr. Youba spoke as a panelist at the side-event on the need to create and maintain a durable relationship between climate information providers and users in Africa. The side-event had been organised by the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
Other panelists included Dr. Stephen E. Zebiak, Director General, International Research Institute for Climate Prediction (IRI) and Director of, Prediction Research; Dr. Bill Breed, of the Global Climate Change Team, USAID; Ms Kanta Kumari Rigaud, lead adaptation specialist at the World Bank; Mr. Jerry Lengoasa, Assistant Secretary-General of the World Metrological Organisation (WMO); and Mr. Richard Choularton, Senior Policy Officer in the WFP Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Office.
Mr. Choularton did a detailed presentation focused on how WFP has effectively used information to improve the use of good analysis in decision-making and planning processes. He said that this had significantly fostered more timely and appropriate responses to humanitarian crises in Africa and elsewhere. This includes the use of remote sensing to support early warning and response efforts, he explained.
The provision of timely and tailored climate information in the form of climate services can help not just farmers but society as a whole to limit the economic, ecological and social damages caused by climate-related disasters, and take advantage of opportunities provided by favorable conditions, according to Brian Kahn, communications coordinator at IRI.
Climate services have a long way to go in both the developed and developing world because designing effective climate services is a time-consuming process, experts agree.
Issued by the Information and Communications Service of ECA P.O. Box 3001
Addis Ababa Ethiopia
Tel: 251 11 5445098 Fax: +251 11 5510365 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.uneca.org Related Articles
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