Sunny Seuseu the ROK PI-CLIPS project coordinator at SPREP said they will be developing tailored climate prediction information using a region specific tool so that our National Meteorological Services are able to contribute to community resilience and national development planning through better localised climate services.

"We will achieve this by helping our National Meteorological Services access and use specific seasonal climate change prediction systems tuned to island environments, analyse and review the information which can be shared to support the decision making processes in local communities and climate sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water, health and disaster risk management."

‘Ofa Fa’anunu the Director of Meteorological Services said Tonga is very pleased to be part of this project that will bring together a range of partners from across the region and beyond to help strengthen their decision making processes, allowing them to take into account seasonal climate predictions when it comes to planning, especially now that we are in El Nino year.

The project implemented by SPREP and Korea based APEC Climate Center (APCC) includes Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

A Pacific Meteorological Council Meeting will be held on July 20-23 to be followed by the first Pacific Ministerial Meeting on Meteorology on 24 July in Tonga.

The scientists were invited by the Deputy Prime Minister Hon Siaosi Sovaleni and the Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communications (MEIDECC) to the launch the project.