Climate variability and change pose risks to the Australian economy, environment and society.
Market demand for climate risk guidance is growing in the public and private sectors. This demand is driven by government, business and community awareness of the physical risks and impacts of climate change and variability, including weather and climate-related natural disasters.
A properly coordinated and resourced national climate services capability delivering climate data and information to inform decision-making can help mitigate these risks and provide tangible, macro-economic benefits at a national scale.
‘Climate services’ are the means by which climate knowledge, in the form of scientific data, information and analyses, is turned into ‘actionable knowledge’, in the form of tools, guidance and other information products and services, for end-users.
Globally, cooperation and research on hydrometeorological and climate services is moving towards a seamless framework with advances in development and delivery of climate services relevant across multiple time scales, facilitating applications in a wide range of user sectors.
A national climate services capability for Australia would help to mitigate sovereign risk and create value for all stakeholders in the form of sustainable environmental economic and social outcomes.
In 2019 the National Climate Science Advisory Committee (NCSAC) requested that the Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub prepare a report to inform the strategic development of a national climate services capability for Australia.
This report discusses what climate service resources Australia already has, what an enhanced climate services capability would look like, the benefits of building such a capability and a vision and proposed approach for developing a national climate services capability for Australia, including guiding principles and governance arrangements.
The report is based on a literature review, environmental scan, stakeholder consultation, various analysis and expert knowledge of the report authors and affiliated project members.
Information contained within the report will also provide important input for current initiatives in this space, such as the responses to recommendations from the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements, development of Australia’s next generation of climate change projections and the new Climate Systems Hub, funded through the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program.
Read the ESCC Hub report to the NCSAC on informing strategic development of a national climate services capability for Australia.
This report was prepared under the ESCC Hub Case Study 6.8: Towards a national climate service capability: a report to the National Climate Science Advisory Committee
More information:
Geoff Gooley, ESCC Hub
geoff.gooley@csiro.au