15 August 2023, Nadi Fiji - Solomon Islands, with a population of just over 686,878 people, is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change due to the fact the majority of the population lives within 1.5 kilometre of the coastline.
The country is also regularly exposed to extreme weather events such as flash floods and droughts although tropical cyclones are perhaps the most devastating natural disasters to have hit the nation.
For the Director of Solomon Islands Meteorological Services, Mr David Hiba Hiriasia, this reality is not far from his mind as he sits in the Sofitel Conference room where he is meeting with fellow Met Directors from other Pacific countries.
He is attending the sixth Meeting of the Pacific Meteorological Council (PMC-6), where officials have gathered to discuss and explore opportunities to strengthen weather, climate, water, ocean and related development services in the context of sustainable development.
“I see our work here as very important to the collective effort to protect lives and properties and give our people the best opportunity to protect themselves against all hazards,” he said. “We all have different challenges within our individual countries but this is a forum where we bring some of those challenges and see if we can find some solutions as a collective.”
Mr Hiriasia has been involved in the PMC process for several years and has seen the Council grow in size and stature.
“One of the biggest changes I’ve seen is the number of people attending the PMC, from very small beginnings to now where we have a lot of partners and donors in the room. It’s a great opportunity to advance our work. I believe that as the PMC, we have made some progress in a number of areas but there is also a lot work to be done.”
One of the highlights for Mr Hiriasia at PMC-6 is the inclusion of the National Disaster Management Offices (NDMOs). Prior to the PMC-6, a joint meeting of the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and NDMOs in the Pacific, resolved to work towards building a new structured engagement mechanism and pursue new approaches to strengthen collaboration between providers and users of climate information.
The outcome of the meeting will be presented to the Pacific Met Council.
“To me this is very important. We don’t work in isolation, we might have different roles but our goal is to serve our people the best way we can. I see this new development as a step in the right direction to strengthen our partnerships,” he said. “In the Solomon Islands, we are under the same ministry so our working relationship is very good but we also want to see what the PMC is doing to further develop these linkages.”
Networking is another important aspect of the PMC for the Met Director.
“To have all these people under the same roof, who are interested in the same issues and challenges, is a very good opportunity to build our networks.”
For the Solomon Islands, one of the most important issues for them at PMC-6 is the Weather Ready Pacific Programme. The Weather Ready Pacific aims to reduce the human and economic cost of severe weather events across the Pacific – protecting communities and livelihoods, and making a strong positive contribution to the economy of the region.
On Monday, an overview of the WRP Governance Assessment, outlining a proposed roadmap for the operationalisation of the programme, was presented to members of the Council for their consideration. Consultant, Ms Patricia Sachs-Cornish provided some options for the next steps, which the members had asked for some time to discuss and review.
Mr Hiriasia said it’s important for PMC-6 to conclude with concrete steps on how to take Weather Ready forward.
“The goals and aspirations of the Weather Ready programme encapsulates why we go to work. At the end of the day it’s a programme that is there to save lives,” the Solomon Islands Met Director said.
“If you look at the global landscape and how things are done, most of the funding is allocated for climate impacts, those are slow onset events. Weather Ready primarily focusses on the weather and this is where we lack a lot of resources.
“I see Weather Ready as a game changer for us. We totally support it and we will continue to work with all our partners and donors to ensure this is implemented successfully. We welcome the support, and we acknowledge Australia for this, and we look forward to the next steps coming from this meeting, and eventually the implementation of it.”
The Solomon Islands is an archipelago located in the Melanesian region of the Pacific, south-east of Papua New Guinea. Located in the Coral Triangle, which is considered the “Amazon of the Seas”, the country’s expansive area covers a unique range of atolls, mountains, and salt-water lagoons, and has some of the world’s richest marine diversity.
More than 75% of the population of Solomon Islands live in the rural areas, mostly around the coast.
The Sixth Pacific Meteorological Council (PMC-6), the First Development Partners and Donors Engagement Meeting and the Third Pacific Ministerial Meeting on Meteorology (PMMM-3) are held in Nadi, Fiji respectively from 14 – 18 August 2023. They follow a range of pre-PMC meetings held in Nadi Fiji from 7 – 12 August 2023.
The PMC-6, the First Development Partners and Donors Engagement Meeting and PMMM-3 is supported by a strong partnership between the following: The Government of Fiji, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the European Union’s Intra-African Caribbean Pacific Climate Services and Related Applications (Intra-ACP) Project, United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), Climate and Oceans Support Programme in the Pacific (COSPPac), Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), Climate Risk Early Warning Systems (CREWS) Pacific Project, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Pacific Community (SPC), Varysian, GCF Funded VanKIRAP project, the People’s Republic of China's contribution to SPREP and OTT HydroMet.
For more information on the PMC-6 please visit the Pacific Met Desk website https://www.pacificmet.net/pmc-6-2023 or email [email protected] and insert PMC-6 Query in the subject line.