GWP Contributes to Climate Services Tutorial

The United Nation Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) have developed an online tutorial to raise awareness about the benefits of using climate services for decision-making. GWP contributes to the tutorial through a video interview with GWP Senior Programme and Network Officer Frederik Pischke.

The tutorial is designed for national policy-makers, but it is also open to practitioners and the general public. It features interviews with experts and short self-assessment exercises to test the user’s knowledge. In the GWP part of the tutorial, Frederik Pischke talks about issues related to water management, and the challenges posed by climate variability and change.

“Water is one of the five priority areas of the GFCS because it is the medium through which much of climate change affects society. Climate services are used to enhance effective water management, for example reservoir managers use forecasts to plan ahead to ensure the availability of water resources. Having a better understanding of where and how climate change and climate variability might have an impact helps us prepare better,” says Pischke.

GWP was accepted as a member in the GFCS Partner Advisory Committee (PAC) in January 2015 because of its focus on the Integrated Drought Management Programme (IDMP), the Associated Programme on Flood Management (APFM) as well as the Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) and its contributions to National and Regional Climate Outlook Fora through the GWP Regional and Country Water Partnerships. These initiatives all promote the development of climate services.

The third meeting of the PAC was held on 22-23 October, in which the GFCS tutorial was released. It is accessible here: http://www.unitar.org/free-courses