their expertise and resources in order to design and produce knowledge, information and services that support effective decision-making. By combining their diverse, but mutually supportive mandates and skills, the GFCS partners are starting to play a vital role in assisting countries of the developing world to build greater climate resilience. GFCS priorities The GFCS has identified five priority areas of work where the application of climate knowledge for action is most urgently needed: Agriculture and Food Security; Disaster Risk Reduction; Health; Water Resources Management, and the newly added priority area of Energy. In each of these sectors, the GFCS has five overarching goals: Reducing the vulnerability of society to climate-related hazards through better provision of climate information; Advancing the key global development through better provision of climate information; Mainstreaming the use of climate information in decision-making; Strengthening the engagement of providers and users of climate services; Maximizing the utility of existing climate service infrastructure. To address the entire value chain for the effective co-production and use of climate services, the following five main functional components or pillars of the GFCS need to be in place: The User Interface Platform to provide ways for climate service and providers to — interact to identify needs and capacities and improve the effectiveness of the Framework and its climate services; The Climate Services Information System to produce and distribute climate data, products — and information according to the needs of users and to agreed standards; Observations and Monitoring to generate the necessary data for climate services according – to agreed standards; Research, Modelling and Prediction to harness science capabilities and results and develop — appropriate tools to meet the needs of climate services; Capacity Building to support the systematic development of the institutions, infrastructure — and human resources needed for effective climate services
their expertise and resources in order to design and produce knowledge, information and services that support effective decision-making. By combining their diverse, but mutually supportive mandates and skills, the GFCS partners are starting to play a vital role in assisting countries of the developing world to build greater climate resilience. GFCS priorities The GFCS has identified five priority areas of work where the application of climate knowledge for action is most urgently needed: Agriculture and Food Security; Disaster Risk Reduction; Health; Water Resources Management, and the newly added priority area of Energy. In each of these sectors, the GFCS has five overarching goals: Reducing the vulnerability of society to climate-related hazards through better provision of climate information; Advancing the key global development through better provision of climate information; Mainstreaming the use of climate information in decision-making; Strengthening the engagement of providers and users of climate services; Maximizing the utility of existing climate service infrastructure. To address the entire value chain for the effective co-production and use of climate services, the following five main functional components or pillars of the GFCS need to be in place: The User Interface Platform — to provide ways for climate service and providers to interact to identify needs and capacities and improve the effectiveness of the Framework and its climate services; The Climate Services Information System — to produce and distribute climate data, products and information according to the needs of users and to agreed standards; Observations and Monitoring – to generate the necessary data for climate services according to agreed standards; Research, Modelling and Prediction — to harness science capabilities and results and develop appropriate tools to meet the needs of climate services; Capacity Building — to support the systematic development of the institutions, infrastructure and human resources needed for effective climate services