Climate Information and Services: UN CC:e-Learn tutorial

• Level: Introductory
• Time commitment: 1 hour
• Learning product: online tutorial with offline access
• Sector: multi-sector
• Language: English, French
• Certificate available: No

This course is hosted onUN CC:e-Learnfunded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation – see theSDC Climate Change and Environment Network on weADAPT for more information. Please find the course, where you can download the syllabus and access the online interactive tutorial to Climate Information and Services.

Introduction

The African continent, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, is exposed to climate variability and extremes at frequencies which exceed normal thresholds. Such climate-related events could significantly erode gains in poverty reduction and set back economic development.

Climate information and services (CI/S) are key resources for governments and communities to prepare for these changes and when well integrated into policy and practice, they can help reverse this trend and enhance cross-sectoral climate resilient development.

This tutorial highlights key concepts and practical examples to increase decision-makers’ awareness of climate information and services. It is a fast track course on application of climate information and services in decision making.

*This article provides an overview of the course which is available on and off-line. The full course with all learning material and excellent external resources can be accessed here through a free registration on the UNCC:e-Learn website.

Institutional background and trainer

This tutorial has been developed under UNECA’s African Climate Policy Center (ACPC) and the Pan-Africa Weather and Climate Information Services for Africa (WISER) programme, kindly supported by the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID). The WISER programme’s mission is to deliver transformational change in the quality, accessibility and use of weather and climate information services at all levels of decision making for sustainable development in Africa.

Who would find this useful?

• Practitioners with an interest in better understanding the the use and availability of climate services particulary for Africa
• Policy-makers wanting to increase their understanding on how climate information and services can help adaptation across sectors

Training material

This tutorial is divided into three sections, each answering the following questions:

• What are climate information and services (CI/S)?
• What is the role of CI/S in development planning and policy?
• How can decision-makers strengthen CI/S and their use?

Learning outcomes

This fast-track tutorial will enable you to:

• Define climate information and services;
• Identify the uses of climate information and services in development planning and policy;
• Discuss the role of legislation in strengthening climate information and services;
• Provide examples of instrumentsavailable to governments formainstreaming climate information and services.