Government, stakeholders and industry on Monday embarked on a three-day workshop to adapt and align a recently tabled global framework to the nation’s climate change ambitions.

The ‘Roadmap towards the national implementation of the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS)’ workshop, hosted by the Department of Environmental Affairs, the South African Weather Service and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), would explore potential implications of implementing the GFCS in South Africa.

The GFCS, which was developed in Geneva in 2009, and approved in 2012, was adopted by over 150 countries, each of which were adapting the WMO-led framework to their individual needs.

The GFCS would enable society to gain access to science-based information and tools to adjust for climate change and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. It also seeks to strengthen the application of climate science in local, regional, national and international decision-making.

The main outcomes of the framework included reducing the vulnerability of society to climate-related hazards, to which Africa was particularly susceptible, through better provision of climate services, while promoting better uptake, understanding and awareness of the need for climate information and climate services, besides others.

It would also move to strengthen the engagement of climate services providers and users and maximise the use of existing climate service infrastructure.

The local workshop would see the assessment of the current climate services provision in the country, explore local future needs and plan the enhancement of all climate services.

South Africa was said to be at the forefront of the implementation of the framework, with Geneva-based South African representative, WMO deputy secretary-general Jerry Lengoasa indicating that South Africa had significant capability in its universities, government, specialised agencies and research institutions.

“South Africa acknowledges the collective response to the impacts of climate change, as guided by the Cabinet-approved National Climate Change Response Policy, which presents South Africa’s vision for an effective climate change response towards a just transition to a climate-resilient and lower carbon economy and society,” Water and Environmental Affairs Deputy Minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi said at the workshop.

She pointed out that with increased weather variability, South Africa needed to adapt itself to more severe weather and climate conditions and ensure preparedness and flexibility for a wide range of possibilities, including potential weather disasters.

“We need improved meteorological data and science that enables early warning systems, enables planning for emergency response and provides the information base that enables the prediction of slow onset events.”

The GFCS provided a basis for the coordination of climate services to support the country’s disaster risk reduction and emergency response work and this, among other things, would be a focus of discussion at the workshop.

The framework would be aligned to the Climate Change Policy, which called for “all hands on deck” as South Africa transitioned to a lower carbon economy, as well as the National Development Plan.

However, Lengoasa stressed that the framework was “bigger” than the WMO and its implementation was beyond the capacity of any single institution.

The workshop involved several institutions, including universities, research institutions and government departments and agencies for the environment, water resources, agriculture and forestry, marine, health, energy, disaster management and other climate-sensitive sectors, which would deliver their contributions to the framework.