RCOF Review 2008
Regional Climate Outlook Forums (RCOFs), an innovative concept conceived, developed and supported as part of WMO’s Climate Information and Prediction Services (CLIPS) project in partnership with the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), regional climate institutions and other agencies, has completed ten years of successful operation in different sub-regions of Africa, in parts of South America and the Andean region.
RCOFs in various forms and sizes are now in operation serving more than 10 sub-regions around the world, and concerted efforts are being made to extend the concept to several other regions. Despite the challenges of resources and human and infrastructural capacities, some of the RCOFs have achieved remarkable progress in regional networking and user liaison, and substantially contributed to capacity building and user awareness.
An international expert review meeting on RCOFs being coordinated by WMO, hereafter called RCOF Review 2008, has been conceived to undertake a comprehensive global review of the RCOF process, share experiences, highlight successes, address the challenges and pave the way forward. The long RCOF experience, coupled with the varied strategies adopted by each of the RCOFs suiting their own local needs, will be of immense value to guide and develop such initiatives.
This review is built upon the similar review that took place during 16-20 October 2000 at Pretoria, South Africa and will provide opportunity to revisit the recommendations of the previous review and assess how the RCOF concept has taken them into account and how the RCOFs have evolved in response to the changing needs and perspectives of regional climate outlooks.