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The Global Climate in 2015–2019 is part of the WMO Statements on Climate providing authoritative information on the state of the climate and impacts. It builds on operational monitoring systems at global, regional and national scales.

Agriculture is deeply interconnected with weather and climate, the main drivers of agri- culture production, but also the dominant factors in the overall variability of food production. Agri- culture constitutes the principal livelihood of 70% of the world's poor; many of them are hungry and living in vulnerable, climate-sensitive areas. Since the undernourished population reached 1 billion persons in 2009, raising food production by some 70% to meet the needs of a projected world popula- tion of 9.1 billion people in 2050 may be one of the greatest challenges of the century. In addition, changes in climatic conditions are already having impacts on agriculture and the use of natural re- sources for food production. Climate science has much to offer in addressing these challenges, espe- cially with respect to the characterisation of agroclimatic resources and development of climate- responsive food and agriculture policies, programmes and practices. However, as food systems expand into marginal and vulnerable areas, the need for a renewed, holistic focus is becoming evident, taking into account ecological, economic and social perspectives. Climate and agriculture services must therefore consider climate as a resource, understand current and future vulnerabilities and risks, and develop synergies that embrace innovation in climate science in order to facilitate sustainable agri- culture and food security. The emerging ability of climate science to provide timely and accurate climate information, together with innovative tools and methods for analysis, presents opportunities for managing current climate risks and for initiating strategic climate-resilient adaptation in agri- culture. However, to make effective use of these advancements, action-oriented climate advice should integrate information on different time scales (intra-seasonal, seasonal and long-term) for risk/ opportunity management and strategies for optimal and sustainable use of land, water and genetic resources. Strong partnerships and collaboration among international institutions, national hydro- meteorological services, agricultural extension agencies, national research institutions, community- based organisations and social networks are a prerequisite for the advancement of action-oriented ad- vice. All of these efforts present key challenges, but offer immense opportunities, for both climate science and agriculture services, with respect to supporting sustainable agriculture and food security.

The traditional reductionist approach to science has a tendency to create 'islands of knowledge in a sea of ignorance', with a much stronger focus on analysis of scientific inputs rather than synthesis of socially relevant outcomes. This might be the principal reason why intended end users of climate information generally fail to embrace what the climate science community has to offer. The translation of climate information into real-life action requires 3 essential components: salience (the perceived relevance of the information), credibility (the perceived technical quality of the information) and legitimacy (the perceived objectivity of the process by which the information is shared). We explore each of these components using 3 case studies focused on dryland cropping in Australia, India and Brazil. In regards to 'salience' we discuss the challenge for climate science to be 'policy-relevant', using Australian drought policy as an example. In a village in southern India 'credibility' was gained through engagement between scientists and risk managers with the aim of building social capital, achieved only at high cost to science institutions. Finally, in Brazil we found that 'legitimacy' is a fragile, yet renewable resource that needs to be part of the package for successful climate applications; legitimacy can be easily eroded but is difficult to recover. We conclude that climate risk management requires holistic solutions derived from cross-disciplinary and participatory, user-oriented research. Approaches that combine climate, agroecological and socioeconomic models provide the scientific capabilities for establishment of 'borderless' institutions without disciplinary constraints. Such institutions could provide the necessary support and flexibility to deliver the social benefits of climate science across diverse contexts. Our case studies show that this type of solution is already being applied, and suggest that the climate science community attempt to address existing institutional constraints, which still impede climate risk management.