Enhancing Climate Information and Knowledge Services for Resilience in 5 Island Countries of the Pacific Ocean
Pacific RISA joined seven other regional technical partners in a Green Climate Fund (GCF) project titled ‘Enhancing Climate Information and Knowledge Services for resilience in the 5 island countries of the Pacific Ocean’, referred to as UNEP CIS-Pac5. The program, led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and funded by the GCF, aims to establish integrated climate and ocean information systems and multi-hazard early warning systems in Cook Islands, Niue, Palau, Republic of Marshall Islands and Tuvalu. UNEP CIS-Pac5 is anchored in a coalition of 8 regional and international technical partners, including APEC Climate Center (APCC), Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), East-West Center (EWC), Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre (Climate Centre), New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), The Pacific Community (SPC), Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), and University of Hawaiʻi (UH).This five-year, USD 49.9 million project was initiated by UNEP to support climate resilience for 100,000 beneficiaries across the five Pacific Island countries through three outcomes:
increased generation and use of climate information in decision making;
strengthened adaptive capacity and reduced exposure to climate risks; and
strengthened awareness of climate threats and risk-reduction processes.
Pacific Island Developing States are disproportionately exposed to climate hazards and impacts such as more frequent or intense tropical cyclones, flooding, and drought. This project aims to increase local capacity to respond to climate events and reduce their impact by improving climate information services and early warning.
Palau’s National Climate Change Coordinator in the Office of Climate Change Erbai Matsutaro (left) describes the map of climate events and impacts that his breakout group created. Photo by Krista Jaspers.
The Pacific RISA team is working in collaboration with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Hawaiʻi International Pacific Research Center to develop two national ocean portals, allowing local managers to readily access climate information, for the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Palau. The team is also working to use climate indicators to inform early warning systems focused on health and drought. These sector-specific climate early warning systems (CLEWS) will downscale and tailor existing data into actionable, locally relevant climate information such as real-time observations, forecast, and long-term trends. The first sector-based CLEWS workshop was held in early 2024 in Palau, where approximately 100 participants representing Palau’s national and local government, communities, nonprofits and NGOs, and academia engaged in a 2-day workshop on the need to translate existing climate data into relevant, tailored products for Palau’s critical sectors.
Research Team Dr. Victoria Keener (Arizona State University, East-West Center)
Dr. Laura Brewington (Arizona State University, East-West Center)
Dr. Jim Potemra (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa)
Dr. John Marra (East-West Center, formerly NOAA NCEI)
Chelsey Bryson (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa)
One Jae Lee (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa)
Paula Moehlenkamp (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa)
Partners Republic of the Marshall Islands Ministry of Environment, Climate Change Directorate
Majuro Weather Service Office
Palau Weather Service Office
Palau Bureau of Budget and Planning, Ministry of Finance
Palau Office of Climate Change
Resources
Brewington, L., Bryson, C., Frazier, A., Keener, V.W., Marra, J.J., Matsutaro, E.X., Mochimaru, K., & Moehlenkamp, P. (2024). A climate services dialog to build sector-based Climate Early Warning Systems in the Republic of Palau. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 105(8): E1610–E1618. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-24-0157.1
Bryson, C., Keener, V.W. (2024). Climate Finance in the Pacific: Opportunities and Challenges for Increasing Coordination and Collaboration in Green Climate Fund projects. Asia-Pacific Journal of Ocean Law and Policy. 9(2): ISSN 2451-9391. https://doi.org/10.1163/24519391-090200004.
Climate Early Warning Systems
Enhancing Climate Information and Knowledge Services for Resilience in 5 Island Countries of the Pacific Ocean
Pacific RISA joined seven other regional technical partners in a Green Climate Fund (GCF) project titled ‘Enhancing Climate Information and Knowledge Services for resilience in the 5 island countries of the Pacific Ocean’, referred to as UNEP CIS-Pac5. The program, led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and funded by the GCF, aims to establish integrated climate and ocean information systems and multi-hazard early warning systems in Cook Islands, Niue, Palau, Republic of Marshall Islands and Tuvalu. UNEP CIS-Pac5 is anchored in a coalition of 8 regional and international technical partners, including APEC Climate Center (APCC), Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), East-West Center (EWC), Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre (Climate Centre), New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), The Pacific Community (SPC), Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), and University of Hawaiʻi (UH). This five-year, USD 49.9 million project was initiated by UNEP to support climate resilience for 100,000 beneficiaries across the five Pacific Island countries through three outcomes:
Pacific Island Developing States are disproportionately exposed to climate hazards and impacts such as more frequent or intense tropical cyclones, flooding, and drought. This project aims to increase local capacity to respond to climate events and reduce their impact by improving climate information services and early warning.
The Pacific RISA team is working in collaboration with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Hawaiʻi International Pacific Research Center to develop two national ocean portals, allowing local managers to readily access climate information, for the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Palau. The team is also working to use climate indicators to inform early warning systems focused on health and drought. These sector-specific climate early warning systems (CLEWS) will downscale and tailor existing data into actionable, locally relevant climate information such as real-time observations, forecast, and long-term trends. The first sector-based CLEWS workshop was held in early 2024 in Palau, where approximately 100 participants representing Palau’s national and local government, communities, nonprofits and NGOs, and academia engaged in a 2-day workshop on the need to translate existing climate data into relevant, tailored products for Palau’s critical sectors.
Research Team
Dr. Victoria Keener (Arizona State University, East-West Center)
Dr. Laura Brewington (Arizona State University, East-West Center)
Dr. Jim Potemra (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa)
Dr. John Marra (East-West Center, formerly NOAA NCEI)
Chelsey Bryson (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa)
One Jae Lee (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa)
Paula Moehlenkamp (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa)
Partners
Republic of the Marshall Islands Ministry of Environment, Climate Change Directorate
Majuro Weather Service Office
Palau Weather Service Office
Palau Bureau of Budget and Planning, Ministry of Finance
Palau Office of Climate Change
Resources
Brewington, L., Bryson, C., Frazier, A., Keener, V.W., Marra, J.J., Matsutaro, E.X., Mochimaru, K., & Moehlenkamp, P. (2024). A climate services dialog to build sector-based Climate Early Warning Systems in the Republic of Palau. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 105(8): E1610–E1618. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-24-0157.1
Bryson, C., Keener, V.W. (2024). Climate Finance in the Pacific: Opportunities and Challenges for Increasing Coordination and Collaboration in Green Climate Fund projects. Asia-Pacific Journal of Ocean Law and Policy. 9(2): ISSN 2451-9391. https://doi.org/10.1163/24519391-090200004.
‘Enhancing Climate Information and Knowledge Services for resilience in the 5 island countries of the Pacific Ocean
Hawaii-based Climate Data Products in Palau
Our Vision
Pacific Island communities that are resilient to climate impacts and using climate information to manage risks.
Follow Pacific RISA
Archives