Expanding Access to Climate Information

The Intra-ACP Climate Services and related Applications (ClimSA) Programme is closing critical climate information gaps across African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions. By helping identify data needs, design observational networks, and develop implementation plans, ClimSA ensures priority sectors have the data they need to adapt and respond to climate change challenges. To boost operational access to global and national climate data, ClimSA has strengthened connections between international, regional and national institutions. Regional Climate Centres (RCCs) and National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) now benefit from better data-sharing, enhanced collaboration and improved information flow.

A key milestone of this effort is the signing of 27 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) as of May 2025 - 11 international and 16 national- demonstrating ClimSA’s success in building a more connected and resilient climate information ecosystem.

Assessing Existing Gaps in Data Access

The ClimSA Programme promoted the assessment of the status of observational networks, exchange of meteorological and related data and products. One key finding from those assessments has been the general absence of national and regional data-sharing frameworks. The lack of harmonised regulations, standard operating procedures, data formats and legal guidelines - particularly for gridded climate data - is still significantly limiting the ability to consistently monitor and generate high-quality services across borders. As a result, an assessment on data access bottlenecks is now available to inform ClimSA’s targeted investment to improve data sharing between national and regional service providers.

At the African continent level, the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) continues to generate stations performance products, raising awareness on the weaknesses of the African in-situ observing network.

In East Africa, the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) has initiated a series of Biannual Regional Data Managers’ Meetings to evaluate the impact of existing observational gaps and to collaboratively develop a structured, regional approach to climate data sharing. In the Southern Africa region, Southern African Development Community Climate Services Centre’s (SADC-CSC) findings of the review at the inception of ClimSA showed that further effort was also needed by governments and others to overcome the currently significant restrictions concerning sharing of, rescue of and access to climate and other relevant data, with 50% of the NMHSs still not following the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Integrated Global Observing System (WIGOS) and Implementation Plan for the Evolution of Global Observing Systems (EGOS-IP).

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has assessed NMHSs in four Pacific countries, revealing a wide range of capacity levels: from well-established systems to those needing basic support, like Nauru. In response, tailored solutions including training, data recovery and infrastructure upgrades are being implemented to meet each country’s unique needs.

As part of broader efforts to strengthen climate observation infrastructure in Guyana, Jamaica and Dominica, the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology Hydrology (CIMH) - in collaboration with Guyana’s Hydrometeorological Service - conducted site assessments of three Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) located in Orealla, St. Ignatius, and Kaietuer. The evaluations revealed that these stations required complete replacement of structures, sensors and fencing to restore full operational capacity.

Another aspect of access tackled by the ClimSA Programme is the actual tools necessary to access available data. RCCs have been encouraged to provide technical support to NMHSs staff on various tools that improve the capacity to use the available data to generate routine products and provide services to end users. The main promoted tools are the ClimSA Stations and the PUMA Stations. Another one is the Climate Data Tool (CDT). The CDT was developed at the International Research Institute of Columbia University (IRI), USA. IGAD is using CDT to support national climate services providers in the organisation and quality control of climate data, combining station observations with proxies (satellite or reanalysis), validation of combined data, spatio-temporal analysis of stations and gridded data, and visualization of point and spatial data.

Enhancing Strategic Data Access and Global Partnerships

Improving access to global climate data remains a vital priority for enhancing the quality and reach of climate services in Africa. Under ClimSA, a key focus is ensuring that RCCs and NMHSs benefit from strengthened operational access to high-quality, science-based climate information available from international partners. As a result, 11 global MoUs have been secured.

As a global technical partner, European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) made available its 40-plus years’ worth of satellite observations over Africa to support the climate information services value chain.

ACMAD signed six international MoUs and agreements: MoU with the Pan-African Farmers’ Organization (PAFO); data access agreement with EUMETSAT; a cooperation agreement with ECMWF, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, for access to sub-seasonal forecasts data to provide vigilance services for meningitis epidemics surveillance and control in Africa; an open data agreement with WHO/AFRO to improve meningitis vigilance products; with the European Joint Research Centre (JRC) on one working arrangement. The WMO unified data policy promoting open data exchange was also reviewed and supported.

The African Union Commission (AUC) has signed a MoU with EUMETSAT to further strengthen Africa-Europe cooperation on earth observation data from the next-generation satellite systems.

In West Africa, the AGRHYMET Regional Climate Centre is facilitating access to global datasets, including those from NOAA NCEP, Tropical Applications of Meteorology using Satellite Data (TAMSAT) and Copernicus ERA5 to develop agrometeorological and climate bulletins that directly support agricultural decision-making. Two MoUs were signed with EUMETSAT and MyClimate Risk.

In Central Africa, ClimSA has been supporting on-the-job training sessions for CAPC-CA [Centre d’Application et de Prévision Climatologique de l’Afrique Centrale] staff to facilitate access to ACMAD products.

In East Africa, ClimSA’s support has contributed to ICPAC playing a leading role in facilitating regional access to high-quality climate data from global providers. ICPAC is expanding international collaboration with institutions such as the UK Met Office, Norwegian Research Centre AS and EUMETSAT, and has formalised new partnerships through two MoUs with respectively the Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office and the Finnish Meteorological Institute will allow capacity building and cooperation in the fields of meteorology and climatology.

Tapping into synergies between ClimSA and the EU-funded Satellite and Weather Information for Disaster Resilience in Africa (SAWIDRA) project, ICPAC has installed a RARS antenna, which enables real-time reception of high-resolution satellite data from polar-orbiting satellites such as NOAA, METOP, and China Meteorological Administration (CMA) FengYun satellite programme. This data is assimilated into Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) systems to improve severe weather forecasts, demonstrating how ICPAC is leveraging both partnerships and technology to build a more robust, regionally responsive climate service ecosystem. 

In Southern Africa, efforts led by the SADC-CSC focus on improving access to data produced by Global Producing Centres. Upcoming shipments of PUMA stations will further strengthen regional infrastructure, ensuring that NMHSs across SADC Member States are equipped to receive and interpret real-time global data products.

In the Caribbean, CIMH is scaling up its capacity for environmental and climate health monitoring. Dust monitoring systems have been made operational, improving real-time air quality tracking. Automated Weather Stations are also deployed to Dominica, Guyana and Jamaica, where they will enhance local climate data collection, providing essential information for both environmental management and disaster risk planning.

Shaping User-Driven Climate Services User Feedback

To ensure that climate services across ACP regions are genuinely responsive to user needs, ClimSA supports active engagement of RCCs in defining and consolidating requirements for user-driven services, while also strengthening the feedback loop with international data providers. This approach is rooted in the principle that climate information must be shaped by its end users, whether they are farmers, disaster risk managers, health officials, or national meteorological services.

Under ClimSA, WMO and JRC have jointly undertaken activities to define and consolidate requirements for user-driven climate services. This includes providing feedback to international data providers and RCCs to ensure that climate information products meet the needs of end-users. RCCs draw on their regional experience to inform the development of more targeted, accessible climate data services.

The ClimSA Programme helped to prioritise user feedback to enhance the effectiveness and accessibility of climate services. By promoting active engagement with users through Climate Outlook Forums (COFs), User Interface Platforms (UIPs) and annual global forums, ClimSA ensured that the voices of those who rely on climate information are more effectively heard. RCCs and NMHSs use these structured channels to gather valuable insights into how climate data is accessed, interpreted, and applied across sectors. With over 200 participants regularly attending global annual ClimSA forums in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, the Programme has successfully created a dynamic environment for dialogue and co-creation, enabling continuous improvements in the relevance and usability of climate services.

Unlocking National Climate Data: Regional Collaboration and Data Rescue

Timely and reliable access to national-level climate data remains one of the most pressing challenges facing RCCs as they fulfil their regional mandate to provide high-quality climate services. Despite the wealth of observational records collected over decades by NMHSs, much of this data remains inaccessible, trapped in physical archives, paper logbooks and deteriorating storage facilities across ACP regions. Acknowledging both the urgency and complexity of this issue, the ClimSA Programme, in collaboration with the WMO and RCCs, has launched a region-wide data rescue initiative. A major milestone has been the signing of 16 MoUs between RCCs and NMHSs, specifically aimed at unlocking and preserving these critical climate records.

To operationalize these ambitions, ICPAC has signed 11 MoUs with NMHSs and key regional institutions. These agreements formalise data-sharing arrangements, collaboration on early warning systems, and joint efforts in capacity development.

In West Africa, AGRHYMET has successfully linked Automatic Weather Stations with the CLIMSOFT in Burkina Faso, enabling more efficient and standardised data management. Additionally, AGRHYMET’s prototype data-sharing charter, now signed by NMHSs in Mauritania, Togo and Benin, provides a practical framework for formalising and operationalizing data exchange across countries. These kinds of agreements are essential for creating a shared regional infrastructure, where climate data can move seamlessly between national and regional platforms.

Data rescue efforts are also being supported as part of ClimSA in all SADC Member States by the SADC-CSC. This development came out of a week-long capacity-building workshop held in Johannesburg from 31 July to 4 August 2023, focusing on climate data homogenisation and the harmonisation of data systems across the region.

In the Caribbean, CIMH has been supporting Dominica in data rescue activities, and signed an agreement with the NMHS in Jamaica.

Way Forward: Keeping the Momentum

By investing in better access to climate data, ClimSA is helping to lay the foundations for a more integrated and effective climate services information system in the ACP regions, ensuring that vital climate information is not only accurate but also accessible and actionable across the regions. As the Programme concludes, the challenge and opportunity lie in sustaining this momentum. Together with its broader efforts to engage stakeholders, enhance climate service delivery, build capacity, and integrate climate considerations into policies and programmes, ClimSA is also supporting RCCs in becoming WMO-designated centres. These combined actions are helping to embed climate services into national and regional planning, strengthening resilience and promoting sustainable development.