Enlarging the perspective on climate services GFCS Water

Enlarging the perspective on climate services GFCS Water exemplar Albert Fischer Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO Workshop on Climate Services at the National Level for the Caribbean, Port of Spain, 29 -31 May 2013

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO • Promote international cooperation and coordinate programmes in ocean science • Apply knowledge for improvement of management and governance of ocean Capacity development

IOC objectives and actions • Prevention and reduction of the impacts of natural hazards • Mitigation of the impacts of and adaptation to climate change and variability • Safeguarding the health of ocean ecosystems • Promoting management procedures and policies leading to the sustainability of coastal and ocean environment and resources

Ocean and climate variability and change World Ocean Review

Global Ocean Observing System IOCARIBE-GOOS

IOC/UNESCO as enabler of climate services

IOC/UNESCO as user of climate services • Integrated Coastal Area Management • Ecosystembased management (LMEs)

Climate as only one factor in management issue Halpern et al. , Science, 2008 Cumulative human impact on marine ecosystems

Climate as only one factor in management issue CLME Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis • Large Marine Ecosystem (GEF) goal: improve management of shared living marine resources • CLME analysis of priority transboundary problems: – Unsustainable exploitation of fish and other living marine resources – Habitat degradation and community modification – Pollution • Climate variability/change has a small profile now but this may grow: – coral health: temperature and acidification – changing fish habitat

UNESCO networks as users of climate services • Integrated Coastal Area Management – Methodologies for national implementation in reducing risk and improving resiliency at the coast: hazards, erosion • Biosphere reserves – Man in the Biosphere programme: conservation and sustainable use • (fresh) Water – International Hydrological Programme: use of science to create applications for water management • World Heritage site managers – preservation of natural and cultural heritage

UNESCO contributing to social dimensions of climate services • Reducing vulnerability and increasing resiliency to climate variability and change – while meeting other societal goals – – – Indigenous knowledge and climate adaptation Community-based approaches Ethical dimensions Management of Social Transformations What are the barriers to using climate information? • Education – Education for Sustainable Development: increasing civil capacity – Disaster risk reduction

Climate services must align with other societal goals • At a national level: push the UN and development agencies to coordinate and align to your priorities and agenda • But experiment with the opportunities

UNESCO in the GFCS User Interface • Water

GFCS Water exemplar • Water management and climate variability and change – standard tools to assess and manage water-related risks: assume constant climate and rely on historical observations – Water managers will have key role in climate adaptation strategies – challenge: large uncertainties • Establishing interactions between climate service developers and water managers – scientific and operational levels

GFCS Water examplar Water User Interface Platform • Dialogue between providers and users – feedback, needs, monitoring and evaluation • Building climate literacy in water management community, and • Building water sector literacy in climate service providers • Challenges – lack of understanding/literacy by water managers – mismatch in scales: climate projections and water catchments – management processes designed around historical data, not ready to take in operational data

GFCS Water examplar Principal areas of activity planned • National and regional (river basin) pilot projects to develop flood and drought management plans • Climate-tools-for-water-managers collection of methodologies to deal with uncertainties • Education and training programmes at regional and national levels, through strengthened agency collaboration • Helpdesk function to support water user interaction at national level