Constraining and enabling factors to using long-term climate information in decision-making

Although considerable progress has been made in incorporating weather and seasonal forecasts into decision-making, the use of long-term climate information lags behind the pace of scientific developments. This article seeks to better understand reasons for this shortfall. This structured literature review explores what are the main constraints and enablers to the uptake of long-term climate information in decision-making.

This paper suggests the following:

• Stand-alone interventions aimed at promoting the uptake of climate information into decision-making are unlikely to succeed without genuine and sustained relationships between producers and users.
• Not every decision requires consideration of long-term climate information for successful outcomes to be achieved.
• Information should be targeted towards investments and planning decisions that are relevant to longer-term timescales.

Climate Policy, July 2016.