WISER Pan-Africa Closing Workshop

Background

The increasing complexity of climate change challenges requires that policy analysis support be provided to Africa's decision makers in developing response strategies, aimed at keeping development and economic growth trajectories on track in the face of a changing climate. In particular, the challenge of mainstreaming climate change into development and the implementation of the NDCs under the Paris Agreement will be even more complex without a substantive uptake of CIS. Therefore, the integration of Weather and Climate Information Services (CIS) in development policy, planning and programmes is vital for Africa to achieve the development objectives as defined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Sendai framework, Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA), the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2063. This, however, requires an enabling environment for substantive investments and uptake of CIS, supported by applied research and policy analyses, as well as coordinated approaches to service delivery, strengthened knowledge frameworks and partnerships between public institutions, the private sector, civil society and vulnerable communities.

The aim of climate information services (CIS) is to provide people and organizations with reliable, timely, user-friendly and tailored climate-related information to reduce climate-related losses and thereby enhance benefits . Hence, factoring CIS into policy, planning and practices are crucial for Africa to achieve its aspirational goals for enhanced competitiveness, reduced poverty and sustainable economic growth. Moreover, advanced knowledge of climate information coupled with appropriate advisory services enhance the capacity of the African society to adapt to climate variability and climate change and thereby improve their capacity to manage climate-related risks. However, the relevance of weather and climate information to the end-users are largely dependent on a number of factors including the ability of scientists to provide fit-for-purpose information, packaged in formats that can be integrated easily into decision-making processes, and others .

The uptake and use of CIS in Africa is influenced by many factors including the lack of reliable historical observations, coarse scale of future climate projections, weak coordinated CIS delivery, and others. Moreover, from the users’ side, the main obstacles for poor uptake and utility of CIS include limited awareness about the existence of specific climate information, poor data accessibility, and lack of capacity to use climate information into decision making process. Accelerated CIS uptake for development planning in Africa also requires an enabling environment for substantive investments and uptake of climate information services, supported by applied research and policy analyses, as well as coordinated approaches to service delivery, strengthened knowledge frameworks and partnerships between public institutions, the private sector, civil society and vulnerable communities.

Africa has greater intention to improve CIS, most recently with the adoption of the Integrated African Strategy on Meteorology although climate information is not widely available and, even where available, it is not used effectively in decision-making process. Moreover, the existing donor-funded programmes are piecemeal, short-lived and not well targeted. Hence, an innovative CIS initiative that provides science-informed solutions to the prevailing climate science and policy challenges are vital for the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement, Agenda 2063 and 2030 Agenda in Africa. Countries in Africa should, therefore, invest on robust climate information and services delivery system for the effective implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and associated mechanisms established through the global climate governance processes.

There is increasing evidence that policy acumen, knowledge brokering, integration into policy processes, contextual demonstration of evidence (making the credible case), identification of opportunities, and an integrated multidisciplinary approach are some of the key prerequisites for policy influence at the highest levels . Therefore, to facilitate high level policy influence for a conducive policy and regulatory framework in support of accelerated CIS uptake for development planning it is, therefore, important to apply such an approach, focusing on (i) strategies to elevate the importance of CIS to the policy discourse of high level policy makers and change drivers, (ii) articulation and demonstration of persuasive evidence-based perspectives on the importance of CIS for development planning, recognising that climate change and development are two sides of the same coin, (iii) aligning with regional policy processes to capitalize on opportunities for policy influence, (iv) generating and brokering knowledge on CIS and development planning, and (v) ensuring that knowledge products are commensurate with communication strategies for highest impact.