A new partnership was announced today to develop better early warnings systems for floods and other natural disasters for countries in the developing world.
The UK government and the UK Met Office will join forces with the US government, NASA, NOAA, US Geological Survey, Google and other partners to improve access to early warnings, weather forecasts and climate information in poorer countries under the newly launched “Public-Private Partnership on Climate Data and Information for Resilient Development”.
Improved Forecasting, Communication and Early Warnings
The partnership aims to strengthen early warning systems for drought, floods and storms and ensure warnings reach the most vulnerable. The project will also bring new forecasting technologies into use, giving people more time to prepare for extreme weather, and support the modernisation of weather services in Africa and Asia by building their in-country capabilities. Partners will also be testing new ways of communicating weather forecasts and climate information.
The UK’s International Development Secretary, Justine Greening, said, “The UK’s Met Office is home to some of the world’s leading climate scientists. Our British Met Office experts, NASA and Google will improve the weather warnings the poorest countries need to get better prepared earlier for devastating natural disasters such as droughts, floods and storms”
Greater Resilience and Preparedness
One part of the project will produce the first continent-wide detailed future climate projections for Africa working with the Met Office, UK universities and African scientists. By offering improved access to weather forecasts and climate information, the project aims to help businesses, governments and communities in developing countries to adapt to climate change through making better information available.
The UK’s Met Office Chief Scientist Professor Dame Julia Slingo said, “This partnership will tap into the enormous potential for science to provide better tools to help people in the developing world tackle the risks from weather and climate extremes, something drawn out by the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction agreed earlier this year.
“The tools and services developed through this partnership will contribute significantly to greater resilience and preparedness, helping to protect the lives and property of some of the poorest in the world”.
Partnership
As well as those mentioned above, the Founding partners of the Public-Private Partnership on Climate Data and Information for Resilient Development include The American Red Cross, Asian Development Bank, Esri, Inter-American Development Bank and Skoll Global Threats Fund.
Google os to provide free access to one petabyte (1,000 terabytes) of cloud storage to house satellite observations and climate and weather data.
Founding organisations have committed more than $31 million (£20 million) to the initial phase of the partnership. This includes $10 million (£6.5 million) from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and $10 million from the UK Department for International Development (DFID).
