Services to save the world? Analyzing the logics of climate services

Author: Atte Harjanne, Aalto University School of Business / Finnish Meteorological Institute

Abstract: Climate services have in recent years become a favored means to improve use of climate information in decision-making, with the aim of improving climate change adaptation and mitigation and disaster risk management throughout the society. Among the most prominent promoters of climate services are the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the European Union (EU), who actively fund and facilitate the development of these services.

From institutional point of view, climate services can be considered as an emerging organizational field (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983) where institutional logics (Thornton & Ocasio, 1999) are now solidify-ing. By studying how and what different actors inside and outside the field of climate services talk about these services, I have analyzed i) the logics underlying the promotion and development of cli-mate services and ii) potential risks and pitfalls of these logics. Reaching the stated aims of improving climate adaptation and mitigation by servitizing (Vandermerwe & Rada, 1988) climate information is far from simple process. In addition, the European aim to create commercial climate service markets brings about fundamental questions about the role of research and researchers in society.

The analysis is based on analysis of WMO and EU documents and 89 research interviews of European climate service experts and potential users. Some results have been previously published in Harjanne (2017) but I also present results from a yet unpublished manuscript.

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