The European Union Invests EUR 9 Million In Climate Information Services In The Pacific – Kiribati

Friday 9 July, Apia, Samoa – A five-year EUR 9 million project aimed at strengthening the production, availability, delivery and application of science-based information, supporting decision-makers was today launched at the Pacific Climate Change Centre in Apia, Samoa. This project will provide innovative and collaborative solutions to manage climate-related risks and to support sustainable development in the Pacific.

The Intra-ACP Climate Services and Related Applications (ClimSA) in the Pacific project is funded by the European Union and will be implemented from 2021 to 2025 to improve climate services in the Agriculture and Disaster Risk Reduction sectors. The project beneficiaries will be Pacific countries, with Kiribati and Samoa being the pilot countries. Some activities will also be implemented in Nauru and Tonga.

The project was officially launched during the virtual celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Pacific Meteorological Council, which was joined virtually by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and partners from around the Pacific and the world, as well as Members of the Diplomatic Corps and government representatives in Samoa.

A virtual signing ceremony was facilitated between the European Union Ambassador for the Pacific, His Excellency Sujiro Seam, and Ms Tagaloa Cooper, Director of the Climate Change Resilience Programme of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the implementing agency.

Ms Cooper, said, “This project will enhance core services to different sectors and hopefully we will see when we review and monitor the impacts of the information and how science can influence the sectors as we continue our duty to building the resilience of the Pacific.

Ambassador Seam pointed out that “With the adoption of its first climate law, the European Union reaffirmed its commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050 in the fight against climate change. In this context, science-based information with reliable data on climate change and climate variability is critical for the Pacific.”

“The new adaptation Strategy adopted by the European Union acknowledges the challenges associated with the adverse effects of climate change, in particular for the most vulnerable countries, and the need to enhance adaptive capacity and climate resilience. The investment of EUR 9 million in the ClimSA project reflects the ambition of the European Union to strengthen resilience and disaster preparedness capacities for Pacific communities,” he added.

The main objective of the ClimSA project is to support the climate information services value chain with technical and financial assistance and capacity building. This will ultimately result in improved access and use of climate information and enable the use of climate services and applications for decision making at all levels in the Pacific region.

The project is timely and necessary since climate variability and change are already having and will continue to have severe impacts on national economies and key socio-economic sectors. Large-scale resilience intervention based on scientific data will be necessary to compensate for these effects.

The project is expected to enable structured interaction between users, researchers and climate service providers. It will also aim to effectively guarantee provision of climate services at regional and national level, as well as provide improved access to climate information.

In addition, it will enhance capacity in the region to generate and apply climate information and products along with enhanced climate informed decision-making and mainstreamed climate services into policy processes at regional and national levels.

The ClimSA project is funded by the European Union’s 11th European Development Fund “Intra-ACP Climate Services and related Applications Programme” and is being implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) with several collaborating parties, namely the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the EU’s Joint Research Centre, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and the Pacific National Meteorological and Hydrological Services.

For more information on ClimSA in the Pacific please contact the Pacific Meteorological Desk Partnership at PacMetDesk@sprep.org.