17 October 2024, Nuku’alofa, Tonga – Fifty-seven participants representing 14 Pacific Islands convened the fifteenth Pacific Islands Climate Outlook Forum (PICOF-15), which for the first time since its inception in 2015, focussed on Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI).
In opening the event, Mr. Salesa Nihmei the Meteorology and Climatology Advisor of the Secretariat for the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) said: "Over the years, SPREP and the Pacific Islands Climate Services (PICs) Panel have done its best to engage sectors beyond the met services, however, we that we can do more to progress to address needs of people with special needs in the climate information space. This PICOF-15 is special because we have partnered with the Pacific Disability Forum (PDF) to strengthen the forum through delivering workshop-style sessions, so that critical information reaches the most vulnerable in our communities.”
The PICOF-15 enabled the region’s National Meteorological and Hydrometeorological Services (NMHSs) to present and discuss the seasonal climate for end-2024 to mid-2025, as well as present the ocean and tropical cyclone outlooks.
It presented the opportunity for the meteorological (met) community to discuss the accuracy and impacts of the past seasonal outlook which was issued in April 2024. The review is from April to October 2024.
The PICOF-15 is a platform used by the met community to discuss the accuracy and the impacts of the previous year’s forecasts, and also analyse the various scenarios for the upcoming season. Of the two PICOFs that are held each year, one in April and one in October, the October PICOF is of particular interest because of the Tropical Cyclone Outlook which is issued for the cyclone season from November to April.
“Weather, climate and water extreme events are becoming more frequent and intense in many parts of the world because of climate change. The most recent example is hurricane Milton and the people in Tampa Bay (Florida) have described it as the first major hurricane to make land fall in 100 years," said the representative from the host country, the Kingdom of Tonga, Mrs. Seluvaia 'Ilolahia, Acting Director for Tonga Meteorological Services.
"In March 2023, severe tropical cyclones Judy and Kevin were a pair of intense tropical cyclones that made landfall in Vanuatu two days apart. Our communities are exposed than ever before to multiple related hydro-meteorological hazards, which are themselves evolving because of other factors like population growth, urbanisation, and environmental degradation.”
An initiative of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), this forum brought together national, regional and international climate experts, on an operational basis, to produce regional climate outlooks based on climate predictions. By bringing together countries with common climatological characteristics, the forum ensures consistency in the access to, and the interpretation of, climate information.
Taking place in conjunction with PICOF-15 is the Pacific Island Climate Advance Outlook (PICASO) Training and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ClimSA Technical Coordination Workshop.
A detailed PICOF-15 statement will be issued in coming days.
PICOF-15 is a joint event supported by the EU-funded Intra-ACP Climate Services and Related Applications Programme (Intra-ACP ClimSA) SPREP and the Australian and New Zealand Aid funded Climate and Ocean Support Program in the Pacific (COSPPac).