In 2021, Pacific Leaders endorsed the Weather Ready Pacific Decadal Programme of Investment (WRP), which seeks to reduce the human and economic costs of severe weather, water and ocean events across Pacific Island communities, by strengthening national meteorological and hydrological organisations and their partnerships with national disaster management organisations. This programme of investment ensures
that the Pacific participates in and benefits from advances in forecast and warning systems that should ultimately enable increased accuracy, geographic specificity and lead time of forecasts.
In 2023, the Pacific Meteorological Ministers endorsed Weather Ready Pacific as the vehicle for Early Warning for All, commended the Government of Australia in their initial investment to the programme.
The Pacific Meteorological environment has evolved over the past decades and has come a long way in supporting NMHS in the provision of essential services to the safety and well-being of Pacific communities. While we recognise this improvement in the provision of services, more must be done to ensure coherence and coordination of the significant investment in the development and improvement in the capacities and capabilities of NMHSs as recognised in the overarching Pacific Islands Meteorological Strategic (PIMS) 2017-2026 and its associated Roadmaps. The Weather Ready Pacific Decadal Investment Programme, commissioned by SPREP and designed in close partnership with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and Directors of the NMHSs of SPREP members, provides the platform for a facility that will enable greater cohesion and coordination. More importantly, WRP will address the critical gaps and provide a sustainable and harmonised approach.
Within this environment, the region has organised itself under the following arrangements: The Regional Hub for Meteorological Services in the Pacific called the Pacific Meteorological Desk, in SPREP with the Climate Change and Resilience Directorate, has been operational since 2011, in its current form. Within this Regional Hub, the Pacific Meteorological Council (PMC) and the Pacific Meteorological Desk Partnership (PMDP) work hand in hand, under the guidance of the Director of Climate Change and Resilience.
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