GMet holds national dialogue on National Framework for Climate Services

ACCRA: The Ghana Meteorological Agency has held a National Dialogue on Ghana’s National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS), with support of the USAID Policy LINK Feed-the-future initiative.

The event which took place on Wednesday, 27th March 2024 at the Alisa Hotel in Accra drew participants from Industry, state institutions, Academia, Non-Governmental Organizations and the Media.

In a speech read on behalf of the Board Chairman of GMet by Professor Leonard K. Amekudzi, Provost College of Sciences KNUST, he emphasized the need for dialogue in climate mitigation.

“As we are all aware, climate change poses a significant challenge to human survival particularly in areas such as food production, water preservation and public health. Climate action including adaptation plans draw back by experts and international bodies play a crucial role in mitigating these challenges. This workshop comes at a crucial juncture providing an invaluable opportunity for stakeholders to collaborate and contribute ideas on how best to support the National Framework for Climate Services in fulfilling its mandate.” He said

The Ag. Director General of GMet, Dr. Eric Asuman detailed the NFCS as a comprehensive plan aimed at providing timely and accurate climate information to support decision making in various sectors of the Ghanaian economy.

He also added that it was an important tool to aid the country achieve its mitigation and adaptation plans by providing essential services.

Mr. Yunus Abdulai, Country Lead of Feed the Future Ghana Policy LINK Activity noted that the NFCS was a critical tool that will enable vulnerable groups adapt to the impacts of climate change and significantly lower their risk.

“The delivery of timely, appropriately packaged, accessible and affordable climate services to smallholder farmers, managers, disaster management organizations, is critical to enhancing the resilience of vulnerable populations to the impacts of climate change,” he said.

Participants were engaged in a group discussion on how stakeholders could collectively work to mainstream the Framework into the operations of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and other private sector organizations

Other key dignitaries present were Professor Nana Ama Browne Klutse, Head Physics Department, University of Ghana Legon, Dr. Antwi Boasiako Amoah, the Ag. Director, Climate Vulnerabilities and Adaptation EPA, Mr. Winfred Nelson, National Development Planning Commission, and Dr. Wilfran Moufouma Okia Head, Regional Climate Prediction Services Division, WMO and made insightful contributions to the NFCS

The National Framework for Climate Services in its implementation will serve the following purposes;

As an Institutional platform, it will coordinate, collaborate and co-produce across line ministries at national and sub-national levels.

As a Legal Framework: it will collaborate to generate and share user-oriented Climate Services for relevant social and economic sectors.

As a tool for bridging gap between available climate services and user needs, continuously identifying user needs for climate services.

For Scientific Coordination: it will synthesize state of the climate at national level, and distill climate knowledge outputs for policymaker actions.

Operational Bridge: between climate research, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and other relevant national institutions.

Lastly it will link to climate action and maximize the application of climate information and products.

(GMet Communications)