One Planet Summit

1. Take tangible and collective action - There are solutions, let’s roll them out globally and locally as swiftly as possible.

2. Innovate - Let’s be creative and resourceful in adapting our systems to the inevitable changes and step up our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

3. Support one another - We are all affected by climate change, but some of us are more vulnerable than others. Let’s work together for the good of all and increase our support even more to the countries and peoples who need it most.

How can we do this? By putting forward new and tangible actions and ideas (ClimActs) that involve all public and private stakeholders.
 
We are ONE planet.
 
Rendez vous in Paris on 12 December. See you there!   Registration: One Planet Summit

 

WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas will be a keynote speaker at the One Planet Summit. 

WMO will address:

CLIMATE RISK and EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS
for Least Developed Countries
and Small Island Developing States

Risk and climate information that guides early warning systems
Improved service delivery of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services
Effective communication networks that reach communities at risk
Preparedness and response plans, including targeted education and public awareness

Better warnings for a climate-ready world. The Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) initiative aims to significantly increase the capacity of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to generate and communicate effective, impact-based, multi-hazard gender-informed, early warnings and risk information.

CREWS projects let countries and expert partners lead. CREWS projects vary, as they are led by national governments, working with our implementing partners, which ensures the most pressing needs are filled first, and our funds are leveraged for maximum impact. But all our projects take tangible, collective actions to reduce losses in lives and livelihoods from climate change by ensuring early warnings reach those most at risk.

Why is CREWS needed?

High risk: In LDCs and SIDS increasing numbers of people are at risk of losing their lives as a result of weather and climate-related hazardous events. This trend is in part attributed to low or basic capacity to use risk information and to provide early warning.

High demand: LDCs and SIDS are prioritizing early warning systems improvements for climate change adaptation, as reflected in their Nationally Determined Contributions for climate change.

Scaling up potential: Although investment to strengthen climate services has increased, funding needs remain unmet. Closing the funding gap requires building on existing investments, leveraging additional funds and improving effectiveness.

How does CREWS support LDCs and SIDS?

Country and regional projects are implemented with the support of international partners who provide technical assistance and capacity development. The World Bank /Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) through their respective networks and constituents serve as Implementing Partners of the CREWS initiative, assisting the selected recipient countries and regional organizations in the design of the projects and providing implementation support.

CREWS in action

In Burkina Faso, women are engaged in the design of early warning messages to ensure women as well as men receive warnings.

In Niger, CREWS is strengthening civil protection to safeguard both city dwellers and farmers from floods. 

In the Pacific, CREWS is training meteorologists and disaster risk managers to use a common, universally understandable communication protocol for warnings so people know what to do and when.

Funding Objectives

The CREWS investment target is USD 100 million by 2020. With new investment, CREWS will support additional countries to develop national plans and strengthen early warning systems. Countries in the CREWS pipeline include Caribbean SIDS, Chad, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Myanmar, Senegal and Uganda. CREWS projects that are awaiting funds in the Caribbean will minimize future hurricane losses. In western Africa, a CREWS project would link work underway in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to create more powerful region-wide results.

 

Africa Hydromet Program

 

WMO, through the Africa Hydromet Programme, established a collaborative framework with the African Development Bank and the World Bank to support the implementation of the Integrated African Strategy on Meteorology (Weather and Climate Services), a key policy document endorsed by the African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET) and the African Union Commission which aims to strengthen climate and disaster resilience by enhancing regional and national meteorological and hydrological centers and services in the continent.

The Communique from the AMCOMET-Africa Hydromet Forum, a high-level conference which took place in September this year, urges Development Partners, including the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and other relevant partners, to scale up support for the modernization of hydromet systems, according to the needs and priorities expressed by Member States and to mobilize all available resources for the capacity building, technological upgrade and service delivery needs of the hydromet services; and, to facilitate the promotion of south-south and north-south cooperation for knowledge exchange and capacity development, including voluntary twinning arrangements among national and regional hydromet services.

It calls for further support from African governments to ensure that National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) have the necessary financial and human resources, capacity and legislative/policy framework to provide timely, reliable and efficient hydromet services to underpin sustainable and resilient development of all sectors of the economy and all segments of society. It commits to, and reaffirm support for, national and regional ownership of the modernization of national meteorological and hydrological services for delivery of more accurate, timely and reliable weather, water and climate services to accelerate socio-economic development, and strengthen climate and disaster resilience; further commit to ensuring that the modernization of hydromet services is included as among the priorities in respective National Action Plans; and, commit to work within our respective governments to ensure sustained resourcing of this modernization program.

 

Weather and Climate Information Services (WISER)
for Africa Programme

 

The WMO and the African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology are collaborating with  Department for International Development of the United Kingdom (UK) under the Weather and Climate Information Services (WISER) for Africa Programme. 

WISER is funded with UK aid from the British people and will deliver maximum value for money by working in partnership and collaboration, capacity building and leveraging funds to ensure long term sustainable delivery and improvement of weather and climate services in Africa.  DFID is providing approximately US$ 5.2 million to support the implementation of the Integrated African Strategy on Meteorology (Weather and Climate Services), a key policy document developed under the auspices of the African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET) and endorsed by the African Union Heads of State and Government.

Completed projects under phase 1 of the WISER Programme include the development of National Strategic Plans for National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, specifically for the Kenya Meteorological Department, the Tanzania Meteorological Agency, the Uganda National Meteorological Authority, Météo Rwanda and Météo Burundi. National Strategic Plans are critical documents that effectively  AMCOMET has also carried out capacity needs assessments for Regional Climate Centres in Africa, including ACMAD (African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development), AGRHYMET (AGRiculture, HYdrology and METeorology) and ICPAC (IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre).

Two projects are currently underway for Phase 2 of the WISER Programme, namely Highway and AMDAR. 

The High Impact Weather Lake System (Highway) Project aims to increase use of weather information to improve resilience and reduce the loss of life and damage to property in the East African region.  The project will address the lack of much needed in-situ observation and data availability, both for research and operational purposes. The project will also develop, validate and implement innovative products to improve the early warnings in the region. Key activities will revolve around user engagement to understand and meet specific services needed through a co-production process, from needs analysis, packaging and distribution of products and services as well as a feedback mechanism for improvement.  Key partners include National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS) in East Africa (namely, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda), the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) and the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat.

The Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay (AMDAR) Programme is a key component of the WMO Integrated Global Observing System. It uses an aircraft’s existing sensors, avionics and telecommunications systems to gather, process and disseminate data to National Meteorological Services who use to improve the accuracy of weather forecasting services and applications. AMDAR has been operating successfully in Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania for years, however, there are gaps in its network in certain regions, including in Central and North America.  A Public Private Partnership between WMO, Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) and Kenya Airways is expanding AMDAR to fill gaps in the African network.  The high-quality data will be used by the KMD to improve weather services to aviation and public weather applications that meet sector-specific needs. 

The WMO and the AMCOMET Secretariat are implementing these projects in partnership with the African Climate Policy Center and the Met Office, among other partners.