Abstract

The necessity to provide climate information (historical and future climates) to support decision and policy making, particularly in the context of adaptation, raises many challenges. These challenges arise as there is an increasing need for information that can inform decisions and policy development and that same time reflects the evolving state of the climate science and adaptation theory and practice. These challenges include understanding uncertainties and different means of reflecting these in adaptation assessments. Addressing these challenges often means understanding the nature and processes involved in making the associated decisions and policies. It also means looking at the information from the perspective of extracting that which is necessary to inform these processes; more than just providing a description of the climate. There is also a need to for decisions and policies to embrace the uncertainties. This presentation explores some of the lessons learned and the challenges still needing to be addressed towards achieving the desired balance and to enhance the value of climate information in supporting adaptation.