Use of climate information for socio-economic benefits

Climate and weather conditions affect almost every industry in nearly every country. Over the coming decades climate change could potentially have adverse impacts on many countries and on a range of industries. For example, agricultural production, particularly in some of the developing regions of the world is likely to be hard hit by climate change over the coming decades. Hence, adaptation to climate change and mitigation of greenhouse warming are critical for regional and global sustainability. In this context, the importance of collection, dissemination and use of climate information across many countries as a global public good is highlighted in this paper.