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Building and advancing disaster and climate resilience for Pacific communities is everyone’s business. With this in mind, the joint meeting between the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and the National Disaster Management Offices (NDMOs) in the Pacific opened at the Novotel Hotel in Nadi, Fiji, on Thursday.
The two-day meeting aims to promote collaborations between providers, NMHSs, and users, NDMOs, of climate information, as they work to develop a regional User-Interface Platform (UIP) for the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) sector in the region. Considered a key pillar under the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) and the Pacific Roadmap for Strengthened Climate Services (PRSCS), the UIP aims to promote the collective development, delivery, and utilisation of climate information to improve prevention, preparedness, and response to disasters and extreme climate events.
The Acting Director of Fiji Meteorological Service and Acting Permanent Representative of Fiji to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Mr Bipen Prakash, welcomed all the participants, acknowledging the need for closer collaboration between the NMHSs and NDMOs. He said the timing of the meeting could not have been better as it precedes the sixth Meeting of the Pacific Meteorological Council (PMC-6), the first Development Partners and Donors Engagement Meeting (DPDEM-1) and the third Pacific Ministerial Meeting on Meteorology (PMMM-3) from 14 – 18 August 2023 at Denarau, Fiji.
“Fiji is delighted to host all of you here for what is shaping up to be a festival of important meetings where outcomes and decisions made will ultimately lead to better coordinated efforts to save lives and help our communities,” he said.
The meeting is supported through the European-Union funded Intra-ACP Climate Services and Related Application (ClimSA) project by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and the Climate and Oceans Support Program for the Pacific (COSPPac). Additionally, support is provided by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Pacific Community (SPC), the Pacific Regional Climate Center-Network, and other partnering organisations.
SPREP’s Director of Climate Change Resilience, Ms Tagaloa Cooper said the nature of the worsening climate crisis demands a bold response.
“We need to build new structured engagement platforms and pursue new approaches and partnerships to strengthen the interaction between providers and users of climate information at the regional and national levels,” she said. “I also want to leave you with this last thought, while as NMHSs and NDMOs you all have different functions and roles to play, the common denominator is that we are all here to serve the same people, our Pacific communities. The collaboration between the NMHSs and NDMOs plays a vital role to effectively reduce the effects of disasters, creating a safer and more resilient society.”
The WMO Director for Disaster Risk Reduction, MHEWS Office and Public Services, Mr Cyrille Honoré, agrees noting the initiative to bring DRR and hydromet communities together is excellent.
“Operational services need to be evaluated for continuous improvement and sustainability in the long term. I trust that from this starting point, conversations between NDMOs and NMHSs will continue at both regional and national level, in the interest of the people we all serve,” he said.
The meeting is guided by several overarching objectives, which includes the need to identify optimal methods to solicit feedback from the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) community regarding the products provided by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and co-developing products at the regional or national level to support initiatives like the Pacific Island Climate Outlook Forum (PICOF) and the National Climate Outlook Forum (NCOF). It is also looking at strengthening outreach efforts to enhance climate literacy within the community.
The Head of Pacific Subregional Office, UNDRR Suva, Ms Gabrielle Emery, reassured of UNDRR’s commitment to support the agreed outcomes of the discussions.
“You are all leaders in advancing the disaster and climate resilience agenda in your countries and regionally, so thank you for your continued efforts. UNDRR is delighted to support this important joint workshop, which provides us a strategic moment of pause to explore how we can work better together, capitalize on the respective expertise our agencies bring to the table and ultimately and scale up our efforts for more effective DRR and resilience building,” she said.
Whilst the agenda of the two-day meeting varies in terms of issues discussed, a key outcome is a collective agreement on a UIP for DRR for the Pacific, or how to continue the interaction and knowledge exchange between the Meteorology and Disaster Risk Reduction communities.
The Director for the Geoscience, Energy and Maritime Division at SPC, Ms Rhonda Robinson, took a journey down memory lane, reminding how far the Pacific region has come.
“The last time we met in this very room was in 2013 from what I understand as we embarked on a couple of firsts. The convening of the Joint Pacific Climate Change Roundtable and Pacific Disaster Risk Management Platform, the inaugural Pacific Islands Emergency Management Alliance and the beginning of the roadmap to develop a strategy for climate and disaster resilience in the Pacific which we now know as the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific,” Ms Robinson said.
“Today, we know that you are working together but we also know that we can do more together and look forward to listening to you all in the coming week so we are able to respond and elevate your priorities.”
The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme expresses gratitude to our donor partners, European-Union funded Intra-ACP Climate Services and Related Applications (ClimSA) project and the United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) for supporting the joint initiative.
