FCFA Programme Rationale

Ranger, Garnett, Pierce, Aspinall

FCFA will increase the quality and availability of such information and build greater expertise in how to apply this in core development areas. As such, FCFA will contribute towards increasing the resilience of African people to climate variability and change, safeguarding economic development and increasing the effectiveness and value for money of investments.

The programme will be delivered through collaborative, interdisciplinary partnerships of the world’s best researchers, selected through a rigorous competitive call process. A range of projects will fall under the FCFA programme including large, regionally-focussed research programme consortia, a global model development consortium, smaller targeted supporting projects and cross programme research, knowledge exchange and capacity building activities through the Coordination, Capacity Development and Knowledge Exchange (CCKE) Unit.

The programme’s success will be measured by the way that its research contributes knowledge and evidence to enhance the resilience of African people to climate variability and change and through this help to improve the lives of poor people in sub-Saharan Africa.

Using climate information to achieve long-term development objectives for African ports

George Woolhouse and Darren Lumbroso, HR Wallingford

Port infrastructure is designed for a lifetime of many decades and may be operational in a future climate that will be significantly different to the historical climate used for planning and design.

Ports are highly vulnerable to climate-related impacts. Their location in often dynamic coastal environments places them at risk from storm surges, extreme waves, high winds and extreme rainfall.

A close dialogue is needed between climate scientists and the port industry to translate awareness of climate risks into practical actions to reduce those risks.

This policy brief focuses on port infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa. It investigates the climate change risks, the use of climate services in decision-making and makes recommendations for actions to enhance the resilience of port infrastructure. It summarises a more comprehensive paper2 prepared to support the scoping phase of the Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) programme for the ports sector.

Using climate information to achieve long-term development objectives in Malawi

Katharine Vincent, Tracy Cull and Diana Chanika, Andy Dougill, Lindsay Stringer and Jami Dixon and David Mkwambisi

Climate change is altering the context in which decisions are made. In order to remain robust and sustainable within the context of a changing climate, policy and planning decisions need to take into account the projected changes in temperature, rainfall and extremes. In order for climate scientists to generate useful future projections, they need to understand what weather and climate information decision-makers need.

A pilot study on the use of climate information in decision-making in Malawi finds that ministries and departments are not yet using medium- to long-term (5–40 years) climate projections, despite the availability of regionally- downscaled information and the latest projections reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

This policy brief highlights key findings from the FCFA Malawi pilot case study regarding how current and future climate science can enable development and humanitarian policy, planning and implementation that is climate-smart and robust to projected climatic changes in the medium- to long-term.

Using climate information to achieve long-term development objectives in Rwanda

Paul Watkiss, Global Climate Adaptation Partnership

Climate change and extreme weather are already taking a toll on Rwanda. The country suffers floods and landslides, and variable rainfall affects farming, causing soil erosion and droughts. Scientists predict future climate change has the potential to exacerbate these impacts and to introduce new risks.

These impacts have been recognised and are being integrated into national policy. In 2011, Rwanda launched a National Strategy for Climate Change and Low Carbon Development, and the country now has an operational climate and environment fund (FONERWA, named after its French acronym). It is also mainstreaming climate change into national and sector development plans.

Against this background, the FCFA pilot study investigated the current and potential future use of climate information for adaptation in Rwanda. The study was undertaken by the Global Climate Adaptation Partnership (GCAP), working with the UK Met Office and Atkins.

Using climate information to achieve long-term development objectives in coastal Ghana and Mozambique

Anna Steynor, Chris Jack, University of Cape Town Climate Systems Analysis Group (CSAG); Jon Padgham, The global change SysTem for Analysis, Research and Training (START); Sukaina Bharwani, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

Accra, Ghana and Maputo, Mozambique face many development challenges, such as poor transport and drainage infrastructure, as a result of inadequate regulation and law enforcement. Climate change could lead to flooding and coastal erosion and will compound these challenges.

As part of the Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) scoping phase, the authors assessed whether and how future climate information is being used to guide the planning and delivery of development programmes in the two cities. Methods included a desktop study, a preliminary survey and a participatory workshop in each city. In the process, a recently developed ‘co-exploration’ workshop methodology was further refined.

The study on the use of medium to long-term climate information in the cities of Accra in Ghana and Maputo in Mozambique found that future climate information does not appear to be directly used in either city.

Using climate information to achieve long-term development objectives in Zambia

Bettina Koelle, Carina Bachofen, Pablo Suarez, Erin Coughlan, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre; Richard Jones, Met Office Hadley Centre; Wisford Mudenda, Zambia Red Cross Society

Zambia’s climate is bound to change in the coming decades – as climate change takes hold globally. Even if global greenhouse gas emissions fall drastically, Zambia will be affected by changes in temperatures and rainfall for the next generation.

This policy brief highlights key findings from the FCFA Zambia pilot case study regarding how current and future climate science can enable development and humanitarian policy, planning and implementation that is climate smart and robust to projected changes in the medium to long term. The findings are based on activities undertaken by the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre between February and October 2014, in close collaboration with the Met Office Hadley Centre and the Zambia Red Cross Society. These activities included a literature review, scientific research, two multi-sector, multi-stakeholder workshops and a high-level meeting with key representatives from government, civil society, the Met Office and the private sector.

Examining the utility and use of long-term climate information for hydropower scheme in sub-Saharan Africa

HR Wallingford

This paper investigates the current and potential use of long-term climate information for decision making for hydropower schemes in Saharan Africa. Hydropower schemes are long-lived infrastructure. These are pieces of infrastructure that usually can be maintained for a significantly greater number of years than most other capital assets.

The main objectives of this paper are to provide evidence on risks and opportunities which climate change presents to hydropower schemes; and the use of climate services in medium to long-term decision making related to hydropower infrastructure. This will ensure that public policy, institutional and cultural issues do not impede the integration of climate change adaptation in the planning and design of hydropower schemes.

In terms of meeting the Sustainable Development Goal of development climate resilient resources of energy, an in increase of hydropower on the continent would lower production cost of energy, reduce carbon emissions and at the same time ensure universal access to affordable reliable, and modern energy services, increase the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix, and expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for developing countries.

The use of climate services for decision making in the ports sector

HR Wallingford

Infrastructure is a priority areas for the integration of climate science into decision making. Infrastructure which is being planned now may now be operational in a future climate significantly different to the historical climate commonly used for planning and design. Existing and planned infrastructure assets may also not be able to cope sufficiently with current levels of climate variability, with climate change exacerbating future risks. This is especially true of long-lived infrastructure, operational over decades and for periods often exceeding its original design life.

This paper focuses on port infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa. It further investigates climate change risks and the use of climate science in decision-making processes as it pertains to African port infrastructure as well as the climate change related risks to African ports, the role of climate services in long-lived infrastructure and the current status of climate change in port planning and decision-making. Recommendations are then put forward as to how existing and planned port infrastructure can be made to be climate resilient, through increasing awareness of climate change and its effects, research and improving policy and planning processes.

Report on ports

HR Wallingford

To help guide the FCFA programme, the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CKDN) was commissioned by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to undertake a scoping phase.

The focus of the FCFA is to advance scientific knowledge, understanding and prediction of African climate variability and change on five to 40 year timescales, together with support for integration of science into longer-term decision making leading to improved climate risk management and the protection of lives and livelihoods.

Infrastructure is a priority area for integration of climate science into decision making. Infrastructure which is being planned now may be operational in a future climate significantly different to the historical climate commonly used for planning and design. Existing and planned infrastructure assets may also not be able to cope sufficiently with current levels of climate variability, with climate change exacerbating future risks. This is especially true of long-lived infrastructure

This paper focuses on port infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa. It investigates the climate change risks and the current use of climate science decision making.

Climate information and long-term decision making in Africa

Lindsey Jones, Jean-Pierre Roux, Thomas Tanner, Charlotte Scott

In informing the wider Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) research programme, the 18-month scoping phase evaluates the needs of users of long-term climate information against the strengths and limitations of current climate science. In so doing, four case studies have been selected in sub-Saharan Africa; these explore real-world adaptation challenges in Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda and Accra/ Maputo (the latter is a combined urban case study).

Although the case studies are ongoing, common factors affecting the communication, use, and uptake of climate information in medium and long-term climate-resilient development can be synthesised from the scoping activities to date.

This newsletter describes the activities undertaken by the case study teams. It also presents a series of lessons learned relating to two areas, i) opportunities and barriers to the uptake of long-term climate information, and ii) ways to improve stakeholder engagement processes around the use of climate science in adaptation decisions. It also outlines recommendations for enhancing the science-policy interface and ways to encourage uptake of long-term climate information.