The Sixth International Conference on Climate Services (ICCS-6) was held in Pune, India, on the campus of the Indian Institute for Tropical Meteorology (IITM), February 11-13, 2020. Ten years after the third World Climate Conference launched the Global Framework for Climate Services, ICCS-6 provided an opportunity to reflect on the progress that the climate services community had made over the last decade, as well as on outstanding challenges. More than 200+ people traveled from 22 countries and across India to participate in the conference. Over the course of two and a half days, conference participants took stock of recent progress on the development and use of climate services; they recognized a need to improve the use of climate services to build resilience and address climate change adaptation at scale. They used conference discussions as a basis to articulate the priority actions needed to ensure that recent advances are effectively put to use, in a changing policy landscape, in ways that target and are commensurate with the scale and urgency of the climate challenge.

A presentation on WCRP was made at the beginning of the conference by Dr R. Krishnan, JSC member, in collaboration with Dr Helen Cleugh, JSC Vice-Chair.  ICMPO was closely involved in the organization of ICCS-6, and Dr Rupa Kumar Kolli, Executive Director, participated in the Synthesis Panel at the close of the conference. For more information of ICCS-6: https://www.climate-services.org/

South Asia Heat Health Summit

The South Asia Heat Health Summit took place on 14 February 2020 in Pune, India, in conjunction with ICCS-6. The Summit was co-organized by the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN), IITM, IRADe, India Meteorological Department, Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences, WHO, WMO and IDRC to build capacity, promote sharing, and encourage evidence-based policy and actions to improve the management of extreme heat risks. The regional summit brought together interdisciplinary experts and practitioners to share experience and concerns, learn from each other, identify new solutions and opportunities, and raise awareness of the urgent need to protect ourselves and communities from extreme heat in a warming world. ICMPO was closely involved in the organization of the event, and Dr Rupa Kumar Kolli, Executive Director, provided wrap-up and way forward at the close of the summit.  For more information of the summit, please check http://www.ghhin.org/news/south-asia-heat-health-summit.