Context:

• India is embarking on launching its maiden National Framework for Climate Services towards providing climate services and information.

What is the National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS)?

• National Framework for Climate Services draws inspiration from the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS), which existed during the third World Climate Conference in 2009.
• Nodal Agency: India Meteorological Department (IMD)
• Mandate
  • To strengthen the observational network on land and the seas, improve the data inflow and eventually use it to run weather and climate models for deriving climate predictions.
  • To support efforts to prepare for new climate conditions and adapt to their impacts on water supplies, health risks, extreme events, farm productivity, infrastructure placement, power and energy generation, etc.
• Significance
  • National Framework for Climate Services will work in bridging functioning gaps between the various agencies who require climate services. 
    • These include the hydrological, power, renewable energy, transport, dams and irrigation, health agencies are central, state and other levels.
• Countries, where the National Framework for Climate Services implementation is in the advanced stages, include
  • Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Madagascar, Moldova, Niger, Senegal, Chad, Togo, Tanzania, Vanuatu and South Africa.

Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS)

• GFCS is a partnership of governments and organizations at a global level, for the production and better usage of climate information and services. 
• Aim: To facilitate researchers and users of climate information and services to join hands to make informed and actionable decisions for long-term betterment.
• GFCS envisages to generate high-quality data from national and international databases on temperature, rainfall, wind, soil moisture and ocean conditions and other vital weather parameters. 
• Major Components of GFCS
  • Observations and Monitoring
  • Research, Modelling and Prediction
  • Climate Services Information System
  • User Interface Platform 
  • Capacity Building

News Source: The Indian Express