15 September 2017: African ministers advanced action on modernizing weather and climate services for disaster resilience and climate change adaptation during the first African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET) Africa Hydromet Forum, launched by the World Bank, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

Co-hosted by the African Union (AU) Commission and the Government of Ethiopia, the inaugural Forum convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 12-15 September 2017, bringing together more than 500 representatives from governments, the private sector and civil society.

The Forum sought to, inter alia: strengthen regional and national leadership to improve weather, water and climate, or hydromet, services; demonstrate the socio-economic benefits of hydromet services modernization; promote exchange of good practices and lessons from existing programmes; and enhance collaboration with the private sector, civil society and academia.

The Forum included a session on the role of hydromet for the implementation of the Sendai Framework for DRR in Africa, the SDGs and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

“Climate services permit government agencies to effectively plan for climate change based on the latest information, and businesses in climate-sensitive sectors to incorporate timely, accurate data in the decisions that affect their industry,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

Recognizing that improved hydromet services can ease disaster-related losses and boost economies, the Forum highlighted the role of hydromet in Africa’s climate-resilient development and adaptation planning across sectors, including agriculture, water, transport, civil aviation, natural resource management, environment, energy and disaster risk management (DRM).

The Forum included sessions on: improving hydromet services for resilient communities and development; linking regional and national initiatives; public-private engagement; and the role of hydromet for the implementation of the Sendai Framework for disaster risk reduction (DRR) in Africa, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate change. [AMCOMET Africa Hydromet Forum] [AMCOMET Press Release] [Meeting Agenda] [Meeting Documents] [WMO Press Release] [World Bank Press Release] [UNECA Press Release]

* * *

The SDG Knowledge Hub publishes regular adaptation and loss and damage updates that can be found under the tag Adaptation and Loss and Damage Update.