Climate Change Resilience
21 October, Nadi, Fiji - National Meteorological Services (NMSs) across the Pacific and partners celebrated an outstanding achievement in showcasing some of the successes, good practices and lessons learnt in the provision of climate services through the launch of a compendium of case studies titled - 'Pacific Islands Meteorological Services in Action: A Compendium of Climate Services Case Studies.'

"This milestone is credited to you the NMSs," said Dr Netatua Pelesikoti, Climate Change Director of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

"This is only the beginning of more initiatives to help share your stories with the rest of the world."

Compendium Launch PhotoAuthors of case studies within the newly launched Compendium

The compilation of the compendium was led by SPREP through funding from the Government of Finland as part of the Finland-Pacific (FINPAC) Project on Reduced vulnerability of Pacific island country villagers' livelihoods to the effects of climate change". Funding support was provided by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) through the Environment and Climate Change Canada for the engagement of the Science Editor.

"WMO is happy to collaborate with partners in the Pacific region to support the provision and application of climate services; an excellent example of the fruit of this collaboration is this Compendium," says Ms. Lisa-Anne Jepsen, the representative of WMO at the launch.

Seven authors were present at the launch. "I am very thankful for the opportunity to be part of this process as writing for a wider audience is something that is always challenging in my work" says Ms. Kikuko Mochimaru from Palau.

"Now, I am more confident that I have improved my communication skills, but I am also proud that I have contributed to showcasing the work that we are doing in Palau in the area of climate services".

The Pacific Islands Climate Services (PICS) Panel provided overall guidance on the process from the planning in 2014 to the Writeshop for NMS's and the review process. Key partners involved included the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the Bureau of Meteorology and the Pacific Community.

The launch took place on the evening of 20 November in Nadi, Fiji at the closing of the Pacific RoadMap for Strengthened Climate Services Workshop.  Electronic versions of the new Compendium will soon be available at www.sprep.org