ACCESSING AND USING CLIMATE DATA AND INFORMATION IN FRAGILE, DATA-POOR STATES

This report provides guidance for peacebuilding practitioners in fragile states on accessing and using climate data to manage risks. It highlights how conflict destroys meteorological infrastructure—citing examples from Afghanistan and Rwanda—and suggests using satellite-derived data (such as GPCP and MODIS) as alternatives. The report outlines the differences between historical, current, and prospective climate information and provides a four-step framework for rebuilding national weather services, based on a case study from Sierra Leone.

• Populations in fragile states are more vulnerable to weather and climate variability due to geographic exposure, heavy reliance on rain-fed agriculture, and histories of violence, poverty, and weak governance that undermine resilience.
• Conflict and state fragility lead to a precipitous decline in climate data generation. This occurs through the destruction of weather stations, the flight or death of technical staff, and the cessation of training programs. For example, in Afghanistan, the Taliban banned weather forecasting in 1996, viewing it as sorcery, and destroyed archives and offices.
• Climate information is categorized into three types for practitioners: historical information (past trends and seasonality), current information (recent conditions and anomalies), and prospective information (forecasts, projections, and scenarios).
• Climate variability occurs across three primary timescales: inter-annual (1 to 10 years), which is the most significant for practitioners; decadal (10 to 30 years), which can create clusters of wet or dry years; and long-term trends (beyond 30 years), primarily driven by climate change.
• Prospective climate information varies by predictability and lead time. Weather forecasts are generally more accurate in mid-latitudes, while seasonal climate forecasts are generally more predictable in the tropics.
• When local ground-station data are missing, satellite-derived data and models can fill gaps. Available resources include the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP), the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM), and MODIS for land-surface temperature and vegetation indices.
• The process for rebuilding national climate station networks in fragile states, as demonstrated in Sierra Leone, involves four key steps: site selection based on WMO guidelines, system design and procurement (preferring automatic stations), comprehensive technical training, and supervised installation.
• Integrating climate risks into peacebuilding is critical because decisions regarding the control and use of freshwater, productive land, and forests have immediate and long-term impacts on livelihoods and stability.

APA

Mason, S., Kruczkiewicz, A., Ceccato, P., & Crawford, A. (2015). ACCESSING AND USING CLIMATE DATA AND INFORMATION IN FRAGILE, DATA-POOR STATES. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/accessing-climate-data-information-fragile-data-poor-states.pdf

Chicago

Mason, Simon, Andrew Kruczkiewicz, Pietro Ceccato, and Alec Crawford. ACCESSING AND USING CLIMATE DATA AND INFORMATION IN FRAGILE, DATA-POOR STATES. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2015. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/accessing-climate-data-information-fragile-data-poor-states.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mason |first1=Simon |last2=Kruczkiewicz |first2=Andrew |last3=Ceccato |first3=Pietro |last4=Crawford |first4=Alec |title=ACCESSING AND USING CLIMATE DATA AND INFORMATION IN FRAGILE, DATA-POOR STATES |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=May 2015 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/accessing-climate-data-information-fragile-data-poor-states.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mason2015accessing, author = {Mason, Simon and Kruczkiewicz, Andrew and Ceccato, Pietro and Crawford, Alec}, title = {{ACCESSING AND USING CLIMATE DATA AND INFORMATION IN FRAGILE, DATA-POOR STATES}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2015}, month = may, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/accessing-climate-data-information-fragile-data-poor-states.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }