Evaluating the benefits of weather and climate services in South Asia: a systematic review

Abstract

The use of scientific information about future weather and climate offers enormous potential for society to better manage the risks associated with climate variability and change. There has been significant investment in weather and climate services (WCS) over the past years; however, empirically based evidence of the socio-economic benefits of such services is very limited. Understanding and capturing the real benefits of WCS as they unfold on the ground are key to ensure continue investment in WCS as well as to enable adaptive management. In this paper, we conduct a review of the literature of WCS evaluations in South Asia. We systematically document and analyse empirical evidence as reported in the academic and grey literature to highlight (1) the scale and scope of WCS that have been evaluated in the region; (2) the methodological approaches that have been used to monitor and evaluate the benefits of WCS initiatives on the ground and (3) the socio-economic benefits of WCS categorised under a triple bottom line approach that takes into consideration economic, social and environmental benefits. The paper explores these findings and highlights key areas that warrant further discussion and research. These include a limited effort to systematically record and document the benefits of WCS and an over-emphasis on capturing evidence of short-term economic benefits at the expense of long-term economic benefits, as well as social and environmental benefits. We conclude this paper with a call for increased cooperation between meteorologists, economists and social researchers to develop empirical case studies of benefits and trade-offs as they occur on the ground.