To launch the development of GFCS at the international level, the World Climate Conference - 3 succeeded in obtaining buy-in at the highest possible political level by engaging Heads of State and Government and Ministers. Expanding and maintaining this high-level political commitment is essential at the national level for building the necessary collaboration across government ministries.
This collaboration can be orchestrated through a Framework for Climate Services at the National Level. To help build and facilitate this Framework, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), in collaboration with other agencies with a potential to deliver climate services, should consider informing and involving all relevant ministries, such as those responsible for agriculture, water, environment, health, and foreign affairs. Contacts at both the leadership and working levels, through personal visits and workshops, should be initiated as soon as possible. Many contributors to and users of GFCS will be non-governmental entities, including universities, NGOs, and the media. These various contributors will have an important role both in providing information and in ensuring that services are appropriate for, and delivered to, the user communities with which they already work.
As this list of potential partners reveals, there is almost no limit to the number and kinds of national entities that could be engaged in GFCS. Setting priorities on which ones to focus on first is clearly essential. The choices could, if appropriate, be driven by the four GFCS priority areas of water management, disaster reduction, agriculture and health, taking due account of national priorities and policies, especially those for sustainable development and climate adaptation and mitigation.