There continues to be a growing awareness among decision-makers of the relevance and importance of climate information to a range of social and economic issues. To attempt to better inform such decisions a market of climate services is emerging. Such services are based on climate data and scientific knowledge covering the past, present and possible future climates. A key component of the data and knowledge, particularly concerning the future climate, is derived from numerical models of the climate and the associated Earth system including physical, chemical and biological processes.

The European Commission is supporting Climateurope, a coordination and support action, under the Horizon 2020 framework programme to build an environment and range of activities around Earth system modelling and climate services. One activity is the release of a publication series to map and analyse relevant initiatives, challenges and emerging needs relating to Earth system modelling and climate services in Europe, involving expertise from a range of stakeholders. This publication series consists of three volumes. The first in 2017 focussed on the state-of-the-art of European Earth system modelling to explain and illustrate the abilities and limitations of Earth system models in relation to the potential for climate services. In this second document special attention is given to the best use of climate models and Earth system models to underpin climate services, including support for their interpretation to strengthen the science base of climate services. A final volume will be produced in 2020 about matching the new demands of climate services with evolving Earth system modelling capabilities.