Economic Valuation Working Group
The diffusion of climate services depends on a number of factors, including the quality of available climate service products and their costs. Potential users are interested in understanding the benefits of climate services in relation to the costs to develop, implement, and sustain these products.
The Economic Valuation of Climate Services Working Group, which consists of a team of economists and weather, climate, and hydrological (WCH) practitioners, is co-chaired by John Zillman and Glen Anderson. The group came out of the first International Conference on Climate Services and has collaborated on several activities to assess valuation methodologies, demonstrate the benefits of climate services, and help providers prioritize opportunities for expanding the use of climate services.
The goals of this working group include:
- Synthesize current work on economic valuation
- Encourage the valuation of climate services by providing users and providers with guidance on appropriate methodologies for valuing their own activities
- Advance the current state of knowledge on climate services valuation
Value of Climate Services across Economic Boundaries: A Review of Relevant Literature
In January 2013, the Economic Valuation Working Group published the report, “The Value of Climate Services across Economic Boundaries: A Review of Relevant Literature.” This report summarizes the findings of the literature review and provides a summary of key issues associated with studies conducted to date. It can be downloaded here: CCRD-Climate-Services-Value-Report_FINAL.
Valuing Weather and Climate: Economic Assessment of Meteorological and Hydrological Services
In 2015, the Working Group released the book Valuing Weather and Climate, which was written in collaboration between the World Meteorological Organization, the World Bank, and the CSP, with financial support from the Unites States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Climate Change Resilient Development (CCRD) project.
The book targets National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS), donors and funding agencies, other public and private providers of climate services, users, and economists. The book can be downloaded here.
Economic Valuation Workshops
The WMO organized several one-week seminars in Brunei, South Africa, and Curacao for regional representatives of NMHS, which included training on the design of socio-economic benefits studies and climate service delivery. The seminars also afforded the writing team the opportunity to receive input from seminar participants on the structure and content of the primer.