Climate Change Resilience
4 July 2013, Nadi, Fiji - Climate change practitioners within the Pacific region have been urged to make use of information made available by the respective Pacific Island countries National Met Service Offices.
Meteorology and Climatology Advisor with the Secretariat of the South Pacific Regional Environment Program, SPREP, Neville Koop made the call during his presentation at the 2013 Pacific Climate Change Roundtable.
Koop said a lot of climate information is stored at the respective met services within the region and climate scientists and stakeholders can be able to access this vital information to assist them in their work.
"If you can't get scientific reports from IPCC (Intergovernmental Penal on Climate Change), the next best place to get climate information is your local met office. For Pacific Island countries they are your source for climate knowledge and I strongly encourage you very strongly to go to them if you have any questions or want to know any information about the science of climate", Koop Said.
Similar sentiments were shared by the acting Director of Vanuatu Meteorological and Geo-hazard Department, David Gibson.
Gibson in an interview with the SPREP media team said that the met services cannot be left out when it comes to discussions on climate change.
"When we talk about climate change, we cannot run away from the met service people. They have the data and if you want to do research you go to them. We have to involve them when we talk about climate change, whether we like it or not", Gibson said.
He went on to call on respective Pacific Island Governments to place more emphasis on their Met Services, considering the important work they do.
"It is important for our Governments within the region to think importantly about the Met Services and the role they play so that we don't leave them out, but we develop them to a stage where we can use it to address climate change and other issues".
Meantime, the 2013 PCCR has created an avenue for all stakeholders, including climate scientists and weather experts within the region to come together and discuss how best they can be able to work together to build a climate change resilient, Pacific Island region.
The Pacific Climate Change Roundtable (PCCR) was established to coordinate climate change dialogue and networking in the region. PCCR also facilitates linking global and regional stakeholders with the national and community levels.
Meteorology and Climatology Advisor with the Secretariat of the South Pacific Regional Environment Program, SPREP, Neville Koop made the call during his presentation at the 2013 Pacific Climate Change Roundtable.
Koop said a lot of climate information is stored at the respective met services within the region and climate scientists and stakeholders can be able to access this vital information to assist them in their work.
"If you can't get scientific reports from IPCC (Intergovernmental Penal on Climate Change), the next best place to get climate information is your local met office. For Pacific Island countries they are your source for climate knowledge and I strongly encourage you very strongly to go to them if you have any questions or want to know any information about the science of climate", Koop Said.
Similar sentiments were shared by the acting Director of Vanuatu Meteorological and Geo-hazard Department, David Gibson.
Gibson in an interview with the SPREP media team said that the met services cannot be left out when it comes to discussions on climate change.
"When we talk about climate change, we cannot run away from the met service people. They have the data and if you want to do research you go to them. We have to involve them when we talk about climate change, whether we like it or not", Gibson said.
He went on to call on respective Pacific Island Governments to place more emphasis on their Met Services, considering the important work they do.
"It is important for our Governments within the region to think importantly about the Met Services and the role they play so that we don't leave them out, but we develop them to a stage where we can use it to address climate change and other issues".
Meantime, the 2013 PCCR has created an avenue for all stakeholders, including climate scientists and weather experts within the region to come together and discuss how best they can be able to work together to build a climate change resilient, Pacific Island region.
The Pacific Climate Change Roundtable (PCCR) was established to coordinate climate change dialogue and networking in the region. PCCR also facilitates linking global and regional stakeholders with the national and community levels.