The Swiss National Centre for Climate Services (NCCS) – accomplishments and future perspectives

In response to the Global Framework for Climate Services&#8217; (GFCS) call for the establishment of national coordination mechanisms, Switzerland founded its National Centre for Climate Services (NCCS) in late 2015. The Centre is organized as a network of nine Federal Offices and Institutes as well as partners from academia. Based on a federally agreed national adaptation strategy and plan for action, the NCCS is organized in the sense of a nationwide network. All members are on a par and have an equal say. Attention is given to both pure climate information as well as downstream applications along the climate services value chain.The NCCS pursues three main goals: 1) bundle the existing climate services of the Swiss Confederation, 2) foster dialogue among stakeholder communities, and 3) co-produce new tailored solutions. The co-creation and dissemination of climate services is vital for effective climate mitigation, adaptation and societal transformation. Thus, the NCCS supports policymakers from the national to local level as well as the private sector and society at large in minimizing their risks, maximizing opportunities and optimizing costs.Since its foundation in 2015, several accomplishments have been made through the NCCS&#8217; priority themes, such as the release of the Swiss climate scenarios (CH2018) in 2018 and hydrological scenarios (Hydro-CH2018) in 2021 as a downstream application. Other accomplishments include novel insights into climate-sensitive disaster risk reduction as well as the elaboration of a new hail climatology serving multiple stakeholders in the insurance sector. Moreover, the NCCS web portal www.nccs.ch has been online for more than two years, serving as a one stop-shop for the provision of tailored climate services, best practices and guidance.This presentation will give an overview of the NCCS and its first milestones as well as discuss lessons learnt and current challenges. This also includes new perspectives from a new NCCS programme on cross-sectoral climate impacts and the development of respective decision-support tools to be launched in 2021.&#160;

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Climate Change Challenges and Community-Led Development Strategies: Do They Fit Together in Fisheries Regions?

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14206614 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (20) ◽

pp. 6614

Author(s):

Marek Furmankiewicz ◽

Richard J. Hewitt ◽

Andrzej Kapusta ◽

Iga Solecka

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Local Development ◽

Local Level ◽

Development Strategies ◽

Climate Impacts ◽

Climate Mitigation ◽

Mitigation And Adaptation ◽

Local Stakeholders ◽

National Governments ◽

Climate Problem

Coastal and terrestrial fisheries communities in Europe, often economically marginalised, are likely to face severe impacts as climate change becomes more acute. Although progress on climate mitigation and adaptation from national governments remains slow, local development actions can also address these impacts from the bottom up. In this paper we analyse the Fisheries and Sea Operational Programme 2014–2020 and 36 Local Development Strategies prepared within the framework of this programme for the case of Poland. The strategies, which were prepared by cross-sectoral, area-based partnerships known as Fisheries Local Action Groups, are analysed using a content analysis approach. The aim was to assess the degree to which local stakeholders sought to address the climate challenge. We found that the mitigation of climate impacts and the development of renewable energy did not feature prominently in the analysed documents, suggesting that both central policymakers and local stakeholders in Polish fisheries regions had a low level of awareness about the climate problem and their potentially important role in addressing it. Transformation to a post-carbon society undoubtedly requires additional, targeted support and extensive educational activities at the local level, in Poland and elsewhere.

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A Coffee Yield Next-Generation Forecast System for Rain-fed Plantations: the Case of the Samalá Watershed in Guatemala

Weather and Forecasting ◽

10.1175/waf-d-20-0133.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Diego Pons ◽

Ángel G. Muñoz ◽

Ligia M. Meléndez ◽

Mario Chocooj ◽

Rosario Gómez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Local Level ◽

Climate Impacts ◽

Adaptation Strategies ◽

Skill Assessment ◽

Climate Information ◽

Forecast System ◽

Climate Services ◽

Probabilistic Forecasts ◽

Coffee Yield ◽

Coffee Farmers

AbstractThe provision of climate services has the potential to generate adaptive capacity and help coffee farmers become or remain profitable by integrating climate information in a risk-management framework. Yet, in order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to identify the local demand for climate information, the relationships between coffee yield and climate variables, farmers’ perceptions, and to examine the potential actions that can be realistically put in place by farmers at the local level. In this study, we assessed the climate information demands from coffee farmers and their perception on the climate impacts to coffee yield in the Samalá watershed in Guatemala. After co-identifying the related candidate climate predictors, we propose an objective, flexible forecast system for coffee yield based on precipitation. The system, known as NextGen, analyzes multiple historical climate drivers to identify candidate predictors, and provides both deterministic and probabilistic forecasts for the target season. To illustrate the approach, a NextGen implementation is conducted in the Samalá watershed in southwestern Guatemala. The results suggest that accumulated June-July-August precipitation provides the highest predictive skill associated with coffee yield for this region. In addition to a formal cross-validated skill assessment, retrospective forecasts for the period 1989-2009 were compared to agriculturalists’ perception on the climate impacts to coffee yield at the farm level. We conclude with examples of how demand-based climate service provision in this location can inform adaptation strategies like optimum shade, pest control, and fertilization schemes months in advance. These potential adaptation strategies were validated by local agricultural technicians at the study site.

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Multi-Risk Climate Mapping for the Adaptation of the Venice Metropolitan Area

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13031334 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 1334

Author(s):

Denis Maragno ◽

Carlo Federico dall’Omo ◽

Gianfranco Pozzer ◽

Francesco Musco

Keyword(s):

Social Services ◽

Spatial Information ◽

Climate Adaptation ◽

Local Level ◽

Spatial Knowledge ◽

Climate Impacts ◽

Adaptation Planning ◽

Spatial Decision Support System ◽

Metropolitan City ◽

Climate Adaptation Planning

Climate change risk reduction requires cities to undertake urgent decisions. One of the principal obstacles that hinders effective decision making is insufficient spatial knowledge frameworks. Cities climate adaptation planning must become strategic to rethink and transform urban fabrics holistically. Contemporary urban planning should merge future threats with older and unsolved criticalities, like social inequities, urban conflicts and “drosscapes”. Retrofitting planning processes and redefining urban objectives requires the development of innovative spatial information frameworks. This paper proposes a combination of approaches to overcome knowledge production limits and to support climate adaptation planning. The research was undertaken in collaboration with the Metropolitan City of Venice and the Municipality of Venice, and required the production of a multi-risk climate atlas to support their future spatial planning efforts. The developed tool is a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS), which aids adaptation actions and the coordination of strategies. The model recognises and assesses two climate impacts: Urban Heat Island and Flooding, representing the Metropolitan City of Venice (CMVE) as a case study in complexity. The model is composed from multiple assessment methodologies and maps both vulnerability and risk. The atlas links the morphological and functional conditions of urban fabrics and land use that triggers climate impacts. The atlas takes the exposure assessment of urban assets into account, using this parameter to describe local economies and social services, and map the uneven distribution of impacts. The resulting tool is therefore a replicable and scalable mapping assessment able to mediate between metropolitan and local level planning systems.

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Impacts & Sozioökonomie im D-A-CH Raum - Status-quo und gemeinsame, zukünftige Aktivitäten

10.5194/dach2022-271 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tobias Geiger ◽

Gudrun Mühlbacher ◽

Michiko Hama ◽

Andreas Fischer ◽

David N. Bresch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Open Source ◽

Climate Adaptation ◽

Status Quo ◽

Climate Services ◽

National Centre

Die Zunahme von Wetter- und Klimaextremen durch den voranschreitenden Klimawandel ist zunehmend mit gesellschaftlichen Auswirkungen und &#246;konomischen Kosten verbunden. Eine umfassende Quantifizierung und nutzerspezifische Kommunikation dieser sozio&#246;konomischen Auswirkungen an politische und privatwirtschaftliche Entscheider ist f&#252;r die Vermeidung m&#246;glicher Folgen und eine ad&#228;quate Anpassung unerl&#228;sslich.&#160; Gleichzeitig gewinnt die Frage nach dem sozio&#246;konomischen Nutzen von Wetterdiensten und deren Leistungen eine immer gr&#246;&#223;ere Relevanz. Der&#160; sozio&#246;konomische Nutzen beschr&#228;nkt sich dabei nicht nur auf monet&#228;re Aspekte, denn Wetterdienste versetzen die Gesellschaft durch die Bereitstellung entsprechender Informationen in die Lage qua Verhalten besser, sicherer und nachhaltiger auf Wetter- und Klimaereignisse zu reagieren. Dieser Vortrag er&#246;rtert bestehende Aktivit&#228;ten der Wetterdienste aus Deutschland, &#214;sterreich und der Schweiz (DACH) im Bereich Risiko, Impacts und sozio&#246;konomische Nutzenbetrachtungen, u.a. mit Einblicken in&#160; <ul> <li aria-level="1">die Wetter- und Klimakommunikation aus sozial- und verhaltenswissenschaftlicher Perspektive,</li> <li aria-level="1">die Integration von Daten &#252;ber Auswirkungen, Verluste und Sch&#228;den in einer einheitlichen Ereignisdatenbank (CESARE),</li> <li aria-level="1">Ziele und Nutzen eines Risiko- und Auswirkungs-orientierten Ansatzes f&#252;r Wetterdienste, am Beispiel des RiskLabs der ZAMG</li> </ul> <ul> <li aria-level="1">die Entwicklung und Anwendung der open-source Python Plattform CLIMADA [1] im Bereich impact-based warnings (MeteoSchweiz) und Absch&#228;tzung sozio&#246;konomischer Klimafolgen (DWD),</li> <li aria-level="1">&#252;ber 20 weltweite Klimaanpassungsstudien (Economics of Climate Adaptation, ECA [2]) mit Fokus auf Extremwetter,</li> <li aria-level="1">abgeschlossene und laufende Themenschwerpunkte des National Centre for Climate Services (NCCS)</li> <li aria-level="1">bisherige und anstehende sozio&#246;konomische Nutzenbetrachtungen.</li> </ul> Basierend auf einer Synthese der bisherigen Arbeiten erfolgt eine Identifikation zuk&#252;nftiger, gemeinsamer Ziele im Rahmen der D-A-CH Kooperation. Dies reicht von einem gemeinsamen, konzeptionellen und methodischen Verst&#228;ndnis der Bewertung von Auswirkungen und Risiken im Kontext Wetter und Klima bis hin zur Etablierung gemeinsamer Anwendungen und Plattformen zur Durchf&#252;hrung tri-nationaler Projekte. &#160; Referenzen: [1]&#160;&#160;&#160; CLIMADA Python plattform, https://wcr.ethz.ch/research/climada.html [2]&#160;&#160;&#160; Economics of Climate Adaptation (ECA), https://eca-network.org/

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Il mercato nazionale e locale per l'energia. Il servizio al consumatore finale quale ultimo step di un'unica filiera

ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT ◽

10.3280/efe2008-003007 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 153-163

Author(s):

Barbara Antonioli

Keyword(s):

Value Chain ◽

Price Competition ◽

Local Level ◽

Energy Market ◽

Local Market ◽

End User ◽

Regulatory Policies ◽

Real Price ◽

The Impact ◽

Critical Aspects

- The reorganization of the energy market, together with an increase in the mobility of resources and the evolution of supply, have reduced borders between national and local market, and both regulatory policies and players' strategies have to consider these renewed environment. The goal of this paper is to make some considerations about the dimension and the interactions between national and locals, up-stream and downstream energy markets, both in terms of value chain phases regulation and of the impact on firms' organization and on the industry as a whole. We want to highlight evident problems of coordination of different rules, the necessity to define a clear national industrial policy (not fragmented at local level), as well as the relevance of the end user prices regulation for liberalized market. In particular, this kind of regulation seems to represent a key point of the current discussion between operators and the energy Authority. The end users price regulation present some critical aspects related to its (contested) limited contribution to a real price competition but, on the other side, had to be considered as a strong protection for domestic customers, as well as a way to reduce information asymmetry.Key words: Energy, competition, regulation.JEL classifications: H1, K2.Parole chiave: Energia, concorrenza, regolazione.

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Demonstrating the full-value chain of climate services in Southern Africa: the FOCUS-Africa project

10.5194/ems2021-460 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Roberta Boscolo ◽

Hamid Bastani ◽

Asmerom Beraki ◽

Nicolas Fournier ◽

Raül Marcos-Matamoros ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Case Studies ◽

Scientific Knowledge ◽

Value Chain ◽

Service Providers ◽

End Users ◽

Climate Change Scenarios ◽

Climate Information ◽

Climate Services ◽

Wide Range

FOCUS-Africa is an EU Horizon 2020 project funded to co-develop tailored climate services in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The project, led by the WMO and started in September 2020, gathers 16 partners across Africa and Europe jointly committed to addressing the value of climate services for key economic sectors in Africa: agriculture and food security, water, energy, and infrastructure.The project is piloting eight case studies (CSs) in five different countries involving a wide range of end-users. New services derived from seasonal and decadal forecasts are applied for food security and crop production in South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania. High-resolution climate projections, as well as historical climate reanalyses, are used to support planning and investment decisions for: a railway infrastructure and a mix of renewable energies in Tanzania, hydropower generation assessment under climate change scenarios in Malawi, and water resources management in Mauritius.For all the FOCUS-Africa&#8217;s case studies, socio-economic impact assessment of the delivered climate services will be carried out in collaboration with the CS leaders, service providers, and end-users, by providing ex-ante and ex-post evaluations grounded in the Global Indicator Framework for the Sustainable Development Goals. The project will align the capacity development efforts with those promoted by WMO for enhancing the capabilities of the NMHSs to deliver climate services to users and will make sure that the project's innovative processes and tools will be part of the WMO training curricula.FOCUS-Africa's expected impacts are:<ul><li>Build a strong link between the climate scientific community and stakeholders in the SADC region by leveraging the advanced scientific knowledge and strong networks of the implementing team, and by establishing dedicated channels of communications, so as to target the full value chain of our users, from the start of the project</li> <li>Advance the way in which climate information is developed by characterising end-use requirements through regular engagement</li> <li>Contribute to the advancement of the scientific knowledge in the region and strengthened support for international scientific assessments through publications and reports such as those relevant for the IPCC, through the innovative science developed by FOCUS-Africa</li> <li>Demonstrate the effectiveness of the climate information by strengthening the adaptive capacity of end-users by delivering tailored, actionable, and exploitable climate services and by estimating their socio-economic benefits across the full value chain.</li> <li>Enhance policy-making for climate adaptation in the project and other countries</li> <li>Increase women&#8217;s access to climate services</li> </ul>

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Value chain analysis of turmeric subsector in Surkhet district of Nepal

International Journal of Agricultural Invention ◽

10.46492/ijai/2020.5.1.2 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (01) ◽

pp. 16-24

Author(s):

Ganesh Bhat Chhetri ◽

Durga Devkota ◽

Banita Sharma

Keyword(s):

Value Chain ◽

Curcuma Longa ◽

Local Level ◽

Circulatory System ◽

Primary Source ◽

Secondary Data ◽

Early Summer ◽

Value Chain Analysis ◽

Chain Analysis ◽

Cost Of Production

A field experiment was carried out during the early summer seasons of 2018, at Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a high value spice crop of high medicinal and economic concern (HVAP, 2011). It has been using in Ayurveda and medicinal propose from centuries which helps to boost up digestive system, circulatory system, nervous system and immune system (Gunnar, 2018). 60 household respondents were selected using simple random technique without replacement from Beriganga Municipality, Barahataal Village Municipality and Chaukune village Municipality. 4 co-operatives were selected from each level randomly and 5 respondent from each co-operatives, i.e. 20 respondents from each local level. 3 spice industries and 7 traders were selected purposively. Secondary data were collected from secondary sources like PMAMP, journal articles, MoAD etc. Descriptive statistics, benefit cost analysis, value chain analysis were carried out. The study reveals that 81.67% of populations were engaged in agriculture occupation as a primary source of income. The BC ratio of fresh, dry and powder turmeric was found to be 1.30, 1.09 and 1.36 (machinery), 1.16 (Dhiki Jhato) respectively. Similarly the cost of production of fresh dry and powder turmeric was found to be NRs. 18.46, NRs. 119.20 and NRs. 162.92 (machinery), NRs. 189.87 (Dhiki Jhato) respectively. Market margin of fresh, dry and powder turmeric was found to be NRs. 6.03, NRs. 25.07 and NRs. 179.70 respectively. In the study area major value chain actors were providers, producers, collectors, processors, wholesalers, retailers and consumers. Insufficient technical support and improved seed rhizome, insufficient price to cover cost of production and traders dominance in pricing were the major problems faced by turmeric producing community. This study suggests the farmers for seed production, value addition, marketing and distribution in farm level.

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Treatment of International Economic Trade in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Reports

Current Climate Change Reports ◽

10.1007/s40641-020-00163-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 155-165

Author(s):

Jackie Dawson ◽

Jean Holloway ◽

Nathan Debortoli ◽

Elisabeth Gilmore

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

International Trade ◽

Working Group ◽

Global Economy ◽

Climate Impacts ◽

Climate Mitigation ◽

Economic Sectors ◽

Intergovernmental Panel ◽

Cascading Effects ◽

Trade Offs

Abstract Purpose of the Review Climate change presents significant risks to the international trade and supply chain systems with potentially profound and cascading effects for the global economy. A robust international trade system may also be central to managing future climate risks. Here, we assess the treatment (or lack thereof) of trade in a selection of recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment and special reports using a quantitative text analysis. IPCC reports are considered the preeminent source of relevant climate change information and underpin international climate change negotiations. Study Findings Results show that international trade has not had substantial coverage in recent IPCC assessments. Relevant keywords associated with trade appear in very limited ways, generally in relation to the words “product” and “transport.” These keywords are often referring to emissions associated with transportation and the movement of food and global food systems. The influence of trade is given larger consideration with respect to the costs and trade-offs of climate mitigation policies, especially the interactions with food availability, that appear in Working Group III reports compared with the risks to trade from climate change impacts in Working Group II. Trade in relation to other economic sectors is largely absent as well as risks from potential climate-related trade disruption. There is almost no treatment of the potential impacts, risks, and adaptation strategies to manage the climate related-implications for international trade. Recommendations Given the importance of trade to economic growth, we recommend that additional attention be paid to trade and related economic issues in future IPCC assessment and special reports, specifically on the interactions of climate impacts and risks on trade and the potential for trade to moderate these risks. To achieve this, there must be efforts to increase the base of scientific literature focused on climate change and international trade as well as increased effort made among IPCC lead authors to review trade literature that may lie outside conventional climate change scholarship.

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The Water-Energy-Food Nexus as an Adaptation Strategy for Achieving Sustainable Livelihoods at a Local Level

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12208582 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (20) ◽

pp. 8582

Author(s):

Luxon Nhamo ◽

Bekithemba Ndlela ◽

Sylvester Mpandeli ◽

Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Resource Management ◽

Rural Communities ◽

Resource Availability ◽

Local Level ◽

Composite Index ◽

Policy Decision ◽

Adaptation Strategy ◽

Population Increase ◽

Priority Areas

The imbalance between resource availability and population increase requires transformative approaches to inform policy, decision-making and practice on coherent adaptation strategies for improved livelihoods and resilient communities. Nexus approaches are built on an understanding that natural processes do not operate in isolation within a system; hence, an emergent challenge in one unit obviously disturbs the whole system. This study applied an integrated water-energy-food (WEF) nexus analytical model to holistically assess resource availability, distribution, use and management at a local level in Sakhisizwe Local Municipality, South Africa. The aim was to inform strategies and guidelines on improving livelihoods of resource-poor rural communities. The calculated municipal composite index of 0.185, coupled with a deformed spider graph, represents a marginally sustainable resource management result. The analysis simplified the relationship between the intricately interlinked socio-ecological components and facilitated the identification of priority areas for intervention. The process provides pathways that steer resource use efficiencies and attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Unlike current linear approaches, integrated and transformative approaches like the WEF nexus provide a multidisciplinary platform for stakeholder engagement to sustainably enhance cross-sectoral coordination of resource management and harmonisation of policies and strategies. The WEF nexus approach is useful for informing decisions on improving livelihoods, enhancing resource securities, identifying priority areas for intervention and providing transformative pathways towards sustainable development.

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Perceived Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Strategy of Indigenous Community (Chepangs) in Rural Mid-hills of Nepal

Forestry: Journal of Institute of Forestry, Nepal ◽

10.3126/forestry.v16i0.28353 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 ◽

pp. 48-61 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Pragya Khanal ◽

Bishnu H. Wagle ◽

Suraj Upadhaya ◽

Prayash Ghimire ◽

Suman Acharya

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Local Level ◽

National Level ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

Adaptation Strategy ◽

Adaptation Strategies ◽

Marginalized Communities ◽

Indigenous Group ◽

Impacts Of Climate Change

Climate change is projected to increase in vulnerable areas of the world, and marginalized communities residing in rural areas are more vulnerable to the change. The perceptions of climate change and adaptation strategies made by such communities are important considerations in the design of adaptation strategies by policy-makers. We examined the most marginalized indigenous group "Chepang" communities' perceptions towards this change, variability, and their attitudes to adaptations and adapted coping measures in mid-hills of Nepal. We interviewed 155 individuals from two Chepang communities, namely, Shaktikhor and Siddhi in Chitwan district of Nepal. We also analyzed biophysical data to assess the variability. The findings showed that the Chepang community has experienced significant impacts of climate change and variability. They attributed crop disease, insect infestation, human health problem, and weather-related disaster as the impacts of climate change. Strategies they have adopted in response to the change are the use of intense fertilizers in farmland, hybrid seeds cultivation, crop diversification, etc. Local level and national level adaptation policies need to be designed and implemented as soon as possible to help climate vulnerable communities like Chepangs to cope against the impacts of climate change.

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