The Fifth International Conference on Climate Services (ICCS5) took place in Cape Town, South Africa, from 27 February to 2 March 2017.
Climate change will have severe impacts across the globe, with parts of Africa being especially hard-hit. To help shape climate-smart policies and programmes, decision-makers and communities need to be equipped with the relevant information about the local climate and how it’s changing.
Using climate services effectively, however, requires having the capacity to access and comprehend the relevant tools and information. Despite the existence of national and international climate service initiatives and programmes, the need for specialised information to support governments, businesses and the general public is not being met. This is partly due to a lack of capacity, in the form of education, infrastructure and institutional capacity, as well as limited collaboration between groups. The Fifth International Conference on Climate Services therefore placed specific emphasis on capacity development and forging new connections within the growing community of climate services providers and users. Throughout the conference, there was a focus on activities and persistent challenges in Africa. Workshops were also held featuring new cutting edge tools and programs useful to those working with climate services and in related fields.