Climate Change Scientists Meet In Port Vila
(Secretariat of the
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Last week this need was reiterated by participants at “The Island Climate Update (ICU) End User Consultation Workshop” in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
Hosted by the Vanuatu Meteorological Services (VMS), the 3 day workshop called for improved seasonal climate outlooks to the region.
Vanuatu Meteorological Services Acting Director, Salesa Kaniaha, said the main aim of the meeting was to facilitate an interaction between the climate scientists who make forecasts and the people who use it for planning purposes.
“By discussing how the forecasts are used together with members of the public, civil and business sectors, we hope to make many improvements this year and rapidly upgrade the ICU product to better suit the public’s needs.”
The workshop was a pilot for ICU Project’s initiative to consult with key regional and national decision makers who use climate updates.
“Hopefully this workshop will be replicated in other island nations in the Pacific region to help improve end user interactions with the local Meteorological Services and uptake of the ICU monthly forecasts,” said Kaniaha.
The workshop was organized jointly by VMS, the project implementing agency – Secretariat of the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC), and project partners the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). ICU is funded by the New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID).
SOPAC-based Pacific Islands Global Ocean Observing System (PI-GOOS) Coordinator, Paul Eastwood, says the workshop’s objective was to better understand the needs of local end-users for climate information, to help to improve ICU products and services, and to ensure their effective delivery to local end users.
“The workshop allowed end users from various public sectors departments to express their needs for national, regional, and local level climate information, such as improved forecasts for rainfall, sea surface temperature, runoff, and soil moisture.”
“It was agreed that the best mechanism to deliver accurate climate forecast information to in-country end users is through the monthly climate bulletin issued by the Vanuatu Meteorological Service.”
Eastwood added that strengthening the capacity of the national meteorological services of SOPAC member countries to “issue accurate and high quality climate bulletins that reach out to all sectors of society will continue to be the main focus of the Island Climate Update in the future.”
The ICU Project was set up in 2000 to improve effectiveness of planning processes in climate-sensitive sectors in the Pacific through increasing access to accurate climate information.
Its main output, “The Island Climate Update” Bulletin provides a monthly climate outlook that is distributed widely across the Pacific to National Metrological Services (NMS) and other interested readers.
ICU products and services include the Regional Climate Review, Regional Climate Outlooks, Soil moisture, ENSO Update, Tropical Cyclone update and National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand (NIWA) scientists’ expertise. More information can be obtained at the ICU website (www.niwa.cri.nz/ncc/icu).
Targeted users of the ICU bulletin include National Metrological Services (NMS), National Hydrological Services (NHS), National Disaster Management Offices (NDMO), Agriculture, Fisheries, Health and Tourism sectors as well as water and power utilities.
The workshop was attended by end-user representatives from Vanuatu Government departments, NMS representatives from
