Pacific roadmap strengthened climate services 2017-2026

This document fulfils the request of the 3rd Pacific Meteorological Council (PMC) and the First Pacific Ministerial Meeting on Meteorology at their meetings in July 2015 for the development of a Pacific Roadmap for Strengthened Climate Services (PRSCS). The Roadmap prioritises key actions identified for implementing the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) that are most relevant to the island nation states and territories of the Pacific. It recognises the need initially to expand on the five original GFCS focus areas: agriculture and food security; disaster risk management; sustainable energy; health; and water, by adding fisheries and tourism.

The principal objective of the Roadmap is to prioritise key actions identified for implementing the GFCS that are relevant to the island nation states and territories of the Pacific Region. The Roadmap focuses on the needs of both climate service providers and the key sectors that rely on their information and advice to inform planning and decision-making. It provides a guiding framework for the development of national and regional climate services targeting the Pacific priority areas. While every effort has been made to be as comprehensive as possible in identifying key actions it is inevitable that time will lead to changes in emphasis and focus, and so there needs to be a process for reviewing them from time to time. 

The success of the Roadmap will be judged firstly on the extent to which the providers of weather and climate information (NMHSs and intermediate users that add further value) can put in place specific actions for generating and delivering services, and secondly on the end-user engagement to co-generate tools and products for building resilience and sustainable development in their respective areas. It is important to recognise that this Roadmap has a Pacific-wide domain of interest and hence is intended to act as a guide and resource for the development of more specifically targeted implementation plans for delivering climate services at national levels. The key outputs of this Roadmap are expressed in the form of Actions Required within the respective GFCS pillars and within the GFCS and supplementary high priority areas.