Terms of Reference (updated 31 December 2013)

  • Facilitate coordination of WCRP research activities relevant to the provision of regional climate information and related climate services.
  • Integrate the user and decision maker context into the design and development of regional climate science through two-way communication and co-production activities.
  • Facilitate, in cooperation with other relevant international organisations, the provision of good practice guidance for potential users on the identification, selection, processing, application and interpretation of regional climate information.
  • Provide advice to WCRP regarding research activities needed to support and improve regional climate science and prediction.
  • Provide recommendations to WCRP regarding the provision and communication of information for regional impact assessment, decision making and climate services as related to, for example, water, health, food and disaster risk reduction. This includes helping to ensure that observing networks are optimized, maintained over the long term and adapted to user needs.
  • Oversee and promote specific WCRP regional climate research initiatives including the Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX), and other activities as may be established in the future, either independently or in collaboration among the WCRP Projects or with other sister research programmes.
  • Strengthen the role of regional climate science within WCRP with research results communicated effectively to, or where possible designed in partnership with, climate service institutions. This may include preparation of web-based information, publication of reports, organization of targeted workshops, encouraging the building of research partnerships, etc. It should also be informed by and support research on climate science communication.
  • Liaise as appropriate with other organisations or bodies developing scenarios of environmental and socioeconomic conditions, and facilitate the assessment of (and develop a set of best pratices with respect to) the consistency and plausibility of regional climate projections in the context of integrated scenario development.
  • Foster communication between WCRP, GFCS and Future Earth, and serve as the point of contact between WCRP and regional climate information/service entities (e.g. WMO Regional Climate Centers, the Climate Services Partnership (CSP), etc.).
  • Liaise as appropriate with other relevant international weather, oceanographic, climate and global change research programmes and communicate science priorities to relevant funding agencies, NGOs and development agencies.