Intra-ACP Climate Services and Related Applications (ClimSA)

Project background

Climate extremes are placing growing pressure on water resources, food security, and livelihoods in many developing countries. The 79 Members of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) are among the most vulnerable, yet Member States of the OACPS have contributed least to greenhouse gas emissions.

The EU-funded Intra-ACP Climate Services and Related Applications Programme (ClimSA) was established to address these challenges by enhancing the climate services value chain across the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) regions.

ClimSA has brought together eight Regional Climate Centres (RCCs), ten National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) from focus countries, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), EUMETSAT, the African Union Commission (AUC), and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to strengthen climate prediction, data management, and the delivery of actionable climate services.

By enhancing the production, translation, and uptake of climate information, the Programme contributes directly to informed decision-making, resilience building, and sustainable development in climate-sensitive sectors. ClimSA supports these efforts through technical assistance, financial support, as well as infrastructure and capacity development.

As main users of climate services and the bridge to other final users, the African Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the African Union Commission (AUC), the Caribbean Meteorological Organization (CMO) , and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) are the focus of the programme to ensure sustainability and utilization of climate services. 

Objective(s)

ClimSA aims to improve the production, access to and use of climate information, services and applications for decision makers.

The WMO grant supports ACP regional partners to improve the climate services value chain in five priority sectors: agriculture, disaster risk reduction, energy, health, and water.

Underpinned by capacity development and knowledge management, WMO technical guidance addresses observations, data, predictions, models and the mainstreaming of climate services into policy processes. 

Outputs

The project will focus on five main outputs:

Support stakeholder-driven identification of region-specific priority needs and products via Regional Frameworks for Climate Services and National Frameworks for Climate Services and user stakeholder national and regional consultations
Provide expert advice on country-level delivery of services, validation of the results of the use of the products generated, and associated socio-economic benefits
Promote strengthened operational exchanges of data and products between NMHSs at country level and WMO Regional Climate Centres
Equip Regional Climate Centres with tools and capacities to produce and deliver tailored climate services
Promote exchange of knowledge and best practices across the regions, and support with content development for the Intra-ACP Climate Services Annual Fora

Expected outcomes

Structured interaction between users, researchers and climate service providers in ACP regions through User Interface Platforms.
Provision of climate services at the regional and national level is effectively guaranteed and secured. Climate Service Information Systems (CSIS) are strengthened.
Access to climate Information is improved by strengthening observation and monitoring systems, as well as research, modelling, and prediction.
Capacity of the ACP region to generate and apply climate information and products is improved.
Climate-informed decision-making and mainstreaming of climate services into policy processes at regional and national levels are enhanced.