WMO is ramping up its drive to mobilize political and financial support to strengthen hydrometeorological services in Africa in order to boost climate adaptation and sustainable development. This includes through access to the very latest satellite technology to improve weather forecasts and hazard warnings.
On the opening day of the UN General Assembly on 24 September, WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas participated in a high-level meeting with UN Development Programme Administrator Achim Steiner and the Africa Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Josefa Sacko, on how to scale up resources to help African countries adapt to climate change and associated extreme weather.
“It is now the time to shift from words to action,” Amadou Kone, Minister of Transport of Cote d’Ivoire, told the ECOWAS Hydromet Forum. He was supported at the podium by Gilberto Correia Silva, Minister of Agriculture and Environment of Cabo Verde and Chair of the Bureau of AMCOMET.
“The African continent contributes very little to greenhouse gas emissions but suffers disproportionately from the impact of extreme weather events which are becoming more extreme and more frequent, “ said Mr. Correia Silva.
“For example, in the past four years, my small country has suffered from two major droughts, floods and from Hurricane Fred,” he told the Meeting of the AMCOMET Bureau.
About 70 percent of disasters in the region are caused by severe weather and climate events, as highlighted by recent devastating flooding in Nigeria.
WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas stressed WMO’s commitment to increase resilience and climate adaptation in support of the international agenda on sustainable development.
“Africa needs weather and climate information for planning its development. We need to move to a time when our farmers will be informed as to when to expect the rains and plan their crops. The time is now for our citizens to be updated on the weather for the day through their mobiles and other devices. Early warning systems are badly needed to avert disasters,” said Josefa Sacko.
Original source: WMO
Published on 24 September 2018
