Future Earth is an international hub of scientists and innovators across disciplines and across the globe to coordinate new, interdisciplinary approaches to research that addresses the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges. Originally founded in 2012 as a global initiative to strengthen the interface between policy and science, two of its main features that are relevant to the formulation and implementation of NAPs around the world are its global Knowledge-Action Networks as well as its Earth Targets Initiatives.

The Knowledge-Action Networks aim at generating the multifaceted knowledge needed to inform solutions for complex societal issues. Identified through a co-designed process that has involved researchers, societal partners from both public and private sectors as well as civil society the current Knowledge-Action Networks focus on the following eight themes: (i) Emergent risks and extreme events; (ii) Finance and economics; (iii) Health; (iv) Natural assets; (v) Ocean; (vi) Systems of sustainable consumption and production; (vii) Urban; and (viii) Water-energy-food nexus.

The Earth Targets Initiatives support businesses, cities and governments that want to develop local and global targets to help maintain Earth systems like land, water and biodiversity with the scientific guidance behind the target-setting and decision-making processes.

Besides benefitting from Future Earth’s publications, NAP-related researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners can also get directly involved in the work of Future Earth by becoming a member or by joining the Knowledge-Action Networks. 

Further information 

Future Earth.

Knowledge-Action Networks.

Earth Targets Initiatives.

Joining Future Earth.

NMHSs form the basis of global climate monitoring and analysis since they are the official authoritative source, and often the single source, as well as the guardians of weather and climate data obtained through networks of in situ measurement stations in their respective countries. According to the WMO Guide to Climatological Practice NMHSs must be able to anticipate, investigate and understand the needs for climatological information among government departments, research institutions and academia, commerce, industry and the general public; promote and market the use of the information; make available its expertise to interpret the data; and advise on the use of the data.

NMHSs provide their data to regional and global data centres for archiving and further processing. Regional or specialized climate centres (RCCs) are centres of excellence designated by WMO to strengthen the capacity of WMO members in a given region to deliver better climate services to national users. They are also encouraged to take up non-operational data services such as coordination, training and capacity building, and research and development.

As a result, NMHSs and RCCs should serve as the primary contact points for NAP practitioners and sources of NAP-relevant climate data, information and advice.. 

Further information 

WMO National Meteorological and Hydrological Services.

WMO Regional Climate Centres. 

The C3S, established in 2014, is a component of the Copernicus Earth Observation Programme of the European Union and provides authoritative information about the past, present and future climate in Europe and the rest of the world. It offers free and open access to climate data and information on a range of topics and sectoral areas. It also offers tools to turn data into relevant products that support adaptation and mitigation strategies by policymakers and businesses. 

Further information 

Copernicus Climate Change Service.

The GCOS programme, established in 1992, promotes the taking of needed observations by national or international organizations for their own interests as well as for common goals (e.g. under the UNFCCC). The GCOS programme does not directly make observations nor does it generate data products. Its overarching aim is to ensure that the observations and information needed to address climate-related issues (e.g. data, climate services, adaptation and climate indicators) are obtained and made available to all potential users. To that end, it regularly assesses the status of global climate observations of the atmosphere, land and ocean and produces guidance for its improvement.

Through its Cooperation Mechanism GCOS also offers focused capacity-building and improvement of infrastructure in least developed countries and small island developing states in order to support critical networks. In some cases, the mechanism also provides funding to cover operating expenses of these networks.

Further information 

Global Climate Observing System.

GCOS Cooperation Mechanism.

The GFCS,  established in 2009, is a UNled initiative that seeks to enhance the quality, quantity and application of climate information in support of decision-making at national, regional and global levels.

Its services involve high-quality data from national and international databases on a selection of climate variables (temperature, rainfall, wind, soil moisture and ocean conditions) as well as maps, risk and vulnerability analyses, assessments, and long-term projections and scenarios. Depending on the user’s needs, these data and information products may be combined with socio-economic variables, such as agricultural production, health trends, population distributions in high-risk areas, and road and infrastructure maps for the delivery of goods.

One of its five components is a user interface platform, through which users can communicate their needs and ensure that climate services respond to them, thus promoting the co-production of knowledge between providers and end users.

The GFCS also provides capacity development to support the systematic development of the institutions, infrastructure and human resources needed for effective climate services. Priority is thereby given to climate-vulnerable developing countries.

The GFCS also facilitates regional workshops that address gaps and needs related to the development and application of climate services at the regional level, and defines respective implementation priorities.

Through national projects the GFCS is supporting the integration of climate services in NAPs and has produced a supplement to the NAP technical guidelines on climate services for supporting climate change adaptation.

Further information

Global Framework for Climate Services.

GFCS implementation plan.

GFCS regional workshops.

The GEO, established in 2005, is a partnership of more than 100 national governments and more than 100 participating organizations that improves the availability, access and use of Earth observations to support climate action, disaster risk reduction, and sustainable development. In addition to over 60 Work Programmes,4 activities and initiatives that address global needs, coordination and knowledge gaps, the GEO community is creating a Global Earth Observation System of Systems. This is to better integrate observing systems and share data by connecting existing infrastructures and using common standards, which has already made accessible more than 400 million open Earth observation data and information resources on a single internet access point. Here, users are able to find data, imagery and analytical software packages relevant to all parts of the globe and are provided with reliable, up-to-date and userfriendly information.

The GEO has also established four regional initiatives (Africa, Americas, Asia-Oceania and Europe) which provide regional data resources and promote collaboration and coordination among the GEO members of the particular region.

In addition, through its flagships, initiatives and regional GEOs, GEO supports institutional strengthening via online and local training, webinars and other mechanisms. The goal is to help share new knowledge, skills and insights to assist developed and developing countries and regions to make full use of Earth observations for research, policy development, decision making and action. 

Further information 

Group on Earth Observation.

GEOSS Portal.

GEO’s Capacity Development.

The IPCC, established in 1988, is the UN body for assessing the science related to climate change as a basis for climate-related policy-making. It does not conduct its own research but determines the state of knowledge on climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation through its assessment reports. The Sixth Assessment Report, of which parts have been published in 2021 and early 2022 and others are forthcoming, contains chapters that focus on regional aspects of climate change, including on regional impact and risk assessments and regional projections, but also on the most recent scientific knowledge on impacts, risks and adaptation strategies, both at the global and regional scales. The IPCC has established a Data Distribution Centre which provides climate, socio-economic and environmental data, both from the past and also in scenarios projected to the future.

The IPCC Task Group on Data Support for Climate Change Assessments contributes to building capacity in the use of data and scenarios for climate-related research, particularly in developing and transition-economy regions and countries. It does this by providing guidance to the IPCC’s Data Distribution Centre on curation, traceability, stability, availability and transparency of data and scenarios related to the reports of the IPCC and by encouraging activities such as expert meetings and liaison with relevant academic institutions to address the requirements of developing countries. To achieve this, the Task Group may work with organizations and activities that have training as their core mandate but it does not develop training programmes on its own.  

Further information 

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 

IPCC Data Distribution Centre. 

IPCC Task Group on Data Support for Climate Change Assessments. 

IPCC Sixth Assessment Report.

The WCRP, established in 1980, aims at determining the predictability of the climate and the effect of human activities on it. Through the past 40 years, it has implemented a large number of major research and Coupled Model Intercomparison Projects through which it has addressed frontier scientific questions related to the coupled climate system which would have been too large and too complex to be tackled by a single nation, agency or scientific discipline. Through international science coordination and partnership among thousands of researchers, the WCRP contributes to advancing the understanding of the multi-scale dynamic interactions between natural and social systems that affect climate.

The WCRP has established a particular framework (CORDEX) to evaluate regional climate model performance through a set of experiments aiming at producing regional climate projections through climate downscaling. 

Further information 

World Climate Research Programme.

Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX).

The WCSP,  established in 2011, contributes to improving the global availability and access to reliable climate data, monitoring and forecasts at various scales. It promotes the development of appropriate institutional mechanisms and operational infrastructure to generate, exchange and disseminate quality information on climate and provides guidance on related applications and services. 

It has two components:  

Further information 

World Climate Services Programme. 

The WMO was established in 1950 and is a specialised agency of the United Nations. It provides leadership and expertise in international cooperation in the delivery and use of high-quality, authoritative weather, climate, hydrological and related environmental services by its members. It is the key driver of many of the networks and programmes described in the sections below and has adopted a range of global standards, technical regulations and supplementary guides for carrying out observations that meet the quality standards required for open data sharing and the interoperability of observational systems.

A major contribution of the WMO to the observation and use of climate-related data is its coordinating function with regard to data producing systems and centres that are responsible for climate monitoring, analysis and prediction at national, regional and global scales. In conjunction with national and regional climate outlook forums these systems and centres play a vital role in the exchange of data and information. Climate outlook forums are gatherings of climate experts, policymakers and sectoral practitioners that together produce climate outlooks and discuss their likely impacts on key economic sectors. As such they provide a platform for data producers to interpret their products jointly with end users and for the end users to communicate further data needs. Such a coordinated approach serves as an important basis for the effective use of climate information for adaptation planning and implementation and are a good networking opportunity for NAP practitioners. In this regard they also play a crucial role in the context of climate services.

The WMO also offers education and training programmes with a focus on capacity-building necessary for well-functioning meteorological, hydrological and climate services.

The Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice has mandated the UNFCCC secretariat to organize annual forums to exchange information for supporting work on research and systematic observation. One of these forums is the research dialogue which is held annually in May/June in conjunction with the first sessional period between Parties and regional and international climate change research programmes and organizations as well as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Each research dialogue provides the opportunity for participating organizations and programmes to share information on developments in research activities relevant to the needs of the Convention as well as for Parties to communicate their views on further research needs and priorities. The information can also be communicated via submissions beforehand. The dialogues are organized around particular themes and the agenda, presentations as well as a summary note are published on the UNFCCC website.  

Further information 

UNFCCC Research Dialogue.

Further information