The Secretariat of Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) hosted a hybrid regional planning workshop on “Enhancing Climate Information and Knowledge Services for Resilience in 5 island countries of the Pacific Ocean” from 21 to 24 March 2023 in Nadi, Fiji. The four-day workshop was aimed at reviewing and planning a rollout of project activities between SPREP and in each of the five member countries under the project, namely Cook Islands, Niue, Palau, RMI, and Tuvalu.
The programme is focussed on integrating climate and ocean information services and multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWS) in the five countries. The four project key results are strengthening the delivery model for climate information and services, improving community preparedness and response capabilities and resilience to climate risks, and enhancing regional knowledge management and cooperation for climate services and MHEWS.
Representatives of the five countries were engaged in interactive sessions during the week to map their activities with SPREP in line with the SPREP activities of the project.
“In this four-day planning, I would like to understand what existing work is ongoing so that we can align and harmonise the efforts being made to deliver actions that are relevant and helpful to our communities. This will ensure that we are not duplicating efforts and are maximizing benefits provided by the project,” said Ms Lynna Eridel Thomas, a representative from Palau.
The workshop is co-facilitated by the Environment Management and Governance Programme (EMG) and Climate Change Resilience Programme (CCR) of SPREP as one of the eight regional technical partners, together with the UNEP Programme Management Unit in its sub-regional office in Samoa.
“The results of the mapping exercise will aid the harmonization of activities at both the country level and regional level. Strengthening delivery models for climate information through this project will assist the countries to establish advanced climate services,” said Mr Salesa Nihmei, Meteorology and Climate Adviser of SPREP.
This project is a UNEP led and Green Climate Fund (GCF) funded initiative and it addresses priority needs identified in the Pacific Islands Meteorological Strategy 2017-2026 and the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific. It will directly contribute to Article 7 of the Paris Agreement, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 on Climate Action, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the SAMOA Pathway.
For more information on the “Enhancing Climate Information and Knowledge Services for Resilience in 5 island countries of the Pacific Ocean” programme, please contact Jope Davetanivalu at [email protected] or Salesa Nihmei at [email protected].
For information regarding the UNEP Programme Management Unit, please contact [email protected].