This brief describes an SEI initiative focused on the emerging field of climate services – the production, tailoring, interpretation and transfer of high-quality climate information to support planning and decision-making – with a focus on adaptation and disaster resilience.
Knowledge and information are crucial for climate action. Vulnerable communities need to know how climate variables such as temperature and rainfall, and timing and severity of storm patterns and climate extremes may change, so they can adapt to protect themselves. This information needs to be timely, high-quality, relevant and accessible.
Meeting these needs is the focus of an emerging field called climate services, which aims to bridge the gap between climate science, policy and practice for adaptation decision-making and disaster resilience.
This initiative aims to strengthen SEI’s contributions to these fields by developing new approaches for the improved design, use and interpretation of climate services, from the local to the national level.
We will work in countries at all levels of development, focusing particularly on adaptation and disaster resilience. A key output will be a new Participatory Framework for Climate Services (PFCS), drawing on existing knowledge from external sources as well as new interdisciplinary research. The brief provides some background on climate services, then outlines the initiative’s four work packages.
Download the brief (PDF, 2.32MB)