Climate services go local in Western Kenya Making sure that important weather and climate information reaches everyone is critical for local development – as demonstrated by a WISER (Weather and Climate Information Services for Africa) project in Western Kenya.

Novel tool unveiled for climate risk profiling and adaptation Last week, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) launched an online climate risk profiling and adaptation tool, the Green Book, for local government decision-makers across South Africa.

‘Big data’ to help plan for climate shocks in East Africa A new digitally-based tool, incorporating up-to-date climate information and many other kinds of social and economic data, is being created to help African policy-makers better respond to their constituents' development needs. Leonie Joubert reports.

African Climate Risks Conference 2019 Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) is organising an African Climate Risks Conference that will take place from 7 - 9 October 2019 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The call for abstracts is now open.

Near-term climate prediction ‘coming of age’ Grahame Madge of the UK Met Office reports on new directions in climate science that will support policy and planning everywhere. The emergence of near-term climate predictions will especially benefit developing countries facing many climate stresses and vulnerabilities.

Hike in record-dry months for Africa's Sahel worries scientists A recent study reveals alarming trends in the lack of rainfall in Africa's Sahel region - reports Laurie Goering of ThomsonReuters.

East African climate services connect with local communities Met departments and others are strengthening climate services in East Africa and it is having a positive impact on development, reports Bill Leathes of the Met Office, the UK’s national meteorological service.

Communicating climate information and uncertainties better - Cognitive psychology insights and practical experiences A webinar from the Future Climate for Africa programme on 29 November will share practical recommendations and approaches to communicating climate change information, including uncertainties. It will draw on insights from cognitive psychology and experiences from FCFA's work in west and southern Africa.

Building trust between users and producers makes for better climate services Suzanne Carter looks at how the producers and users of climate information can build trust and ultimately work to make weather and climate services more useful in planning for development.

Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay join to increase resilience of tri-border region The 'Triangle City Cooperation' project - part of the Climate Resilient Cities in Latin America initiative - has not only furnished evidence and solutions to combat climate vulnerability in the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. It has also catalysed new forms of tri-border cooperation among the countries, to build their collective climate resilience.

E-learning course to support IPCC reviewers There is still time to register - before the 4 June deadline - to take part in a special e-learning course, which is designed to support experts on to become reviewers of the Assessment Reports of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).