World Climate Programme (WCP)

World Climate Programme (WCP)

The World Climate Programme (WCP) primarily aims at enhancing climate services with adequate focus on user interaction, to facilitate evermore useful applications of climate information to derive optimal socio-economic benefits and thereby underpins the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS). The scope of WCP is to determine the physical basis of the climate system that would allow increasingly skilful climate predictions and projections, develop operational structures to provide climate services and to develop and maintain an essential global observing system fully capable of meeting the climate information needs.

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Structure of WCP

The new structure of WCP was adopted by Resolution 18 of WMO Congress-XVI

¹ PROVIA became the fourth component of the WCP, by Resolution 4.3(2)/1 of EC-65.

World Climate Research Programme

The mission of WCRP is to facilitate analysis and prediction of Earth system variability and change for use in an increasing range of practical applications of direct relevance, benefit and value to society.
The overall objectives of the World Climate Research Programme are to determine:

• To what extent climate can be predicted;
• The extent of human influence on climate.

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Global Climate Observing System

The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) is a WMO-led co-sponsored programme of WMO, the IOC of UNESCO, UNEP and ICSU. The GCOS is built on existing operational and scientific observing, data management and information distribution systems. It is based upon an improved World Weather Watch Global Observing System, the Global Ocean Observing System, the Global Terrestrial Observing System, the WMO global observing systems and the maintenance and enhancement of programmes monitoring other key components of the climate system, such as the distribution of important atmospheric constituents (including the Global Atmosphere Watch).

The vision of the GCOS programme is that all users have access to the climate observations, data records and information which they require to address pressing climate-related concerns. GCOS users include individuals, national and international organizations, institutions and agencies. The role of GCOS is to work with partners to ensure the sustained provision of reliable physical, chemical and biological observations and data records for the total climate system – across the atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial domains, including hydrological and carbon cycles and the cryosphere.

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World Climate Services Programme

The scope of WCSP spans across four inter-related areas:

• Climate data and analysis;
• Climate monitoring, watch and prediction;
• Climate system operation and infrastructure;
• Climate adaptation and risk management;

thereby serving as the Climate Services Information System and a part of the User Interface Platform components of the GFCS.

These areas are implemented in two main streams:

• Climate Data and Monitoring
• Climate Applications and Services

WCSP contributes to improve the availability and access to reliable data, advancement of the knowledge in the area of climate data management and climate analysis, definition of the technical and scientific standards, and development of activities to support them in countries. Climate data management will include data rescue, development and coordination of a global climate data management system compatible with the WMO Information System (WIS).

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The Global Programme of Research on Climate Change Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation (PROVIA)

The Global Programme of Research on Climate Change Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation (PROVIA) represents an interface between the research community and decision makers and other stakeholders to improve policy-relevant research on vulnerability, impacts and adaptation (VIA), allowing scientists to coordinate and facilitate the dissemination and practical application of their research.

PROVIA helps international community of practice share practical experiences and research findings by improving the availability and accessibility of knowledge to the people that need it most. PROVIA aims to do so together with collaborative partners, knowledge networks, and the larger VIA community, by identifying research needs and gaps, helping scientific community to mobilize and communicate the growing knowledge-based on VIA so that governments and other main stakeholders are able to solicit scientific knowledge into their decision making processes.