The National Climate Outlook Forum (NCOF) and National Stakeholder Consultation (NSC) on Climate Services were hosted by the Department of Hydro Met Services (DHMS), Ministry of Economic Affairs, Bhutan and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and held at Thimphu, Bhutan 19-21 October 2015. Participants in the events included a wide-ranging representation of partners and stakeholders from the water, disaster risk management, health, agriculture, and energy sectors, among others.
The NCOF and NSC addressed the implementation and delivery of climate services at the national level, including an overview of the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) as it relates to the national context; climate services successes, needs, gaps and challenges; and the existing institutional framework for climate services in Bhutan. The NCOF, an operational activity, set the stage for a regular dialogue between the provider of seasonal climate information, DHMS, and sectoral users of climate information in Bhutan. The NSC brought together representatives from the GFCS Office, WMO, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Regional Integrated Multi-hazard Early Warning System (RIMES), the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), World Bank, United Nation Development Program (UNDP) and relevant national sectoral stakeholders.
NCOF-1 and NSC in Bhutan were supported by the Programme for Implementing the GFCS at Regional and National Scales, funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada. Collateral support was also provided by the project Strengthening Hydro-Meteorological Services for Bhutan, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Finland.