The Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) has launched a National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS) to provide a clear guide in planning and decision making to reduce Ghana’s climate vulnerability.
The Agency has also launched the Meteorological Society of Ghana to strengthen the science and raise awareness of the importance of weather and climate, support meteorological professionals and inspire enthusiasts.
The launch of the document and the society are in line with the requirements of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the International forum of meteorological society and the African meteorological society are to advance metrology for sustainable development in the country and streamline climate services and information dissemination.
While the framework would guide decision making of climate sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water, energy and health; the society would be made up of professionals and academics, enthusiasts and observers or anyone interested or involved in meteorology or associated sciences
The launch of the society makes Ghana the ninth country in Africa and the second in West African to have a national meteorological society.
The occasion was used to unveil the five interim members of the society namely, a visiting professor of the University of Leeds, UK, Professor Benjamin Lamptey; head of the department of meteorology and climate science, Kwame Nkrumah university of Science and Technology, Dr Thompson Annor; lecturer of the department of atmospheric and Climate Science, University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR); Associate Professor at the Department of Physics, University of Ghana, Legon, Prof Nana Ama Browne Klutse, and the Acting Director General of GMet, Eric Asuman.
The launch coincided with the celebration of the 2023 world meteorological day celebration in Accra organised by the GMet with support from FeedtheFuture Policy link, a USAID support initiative.
This year’s world meteorological day celebration is on the theme “the future of weather, climate and water across generations.
Pay attention to forecast
The Minister of Communication and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful in a speech read on her behalf by the Director in charge of Research at the Ministry, Alfred Nortey, said the NFCS was critical to consolidating and harmonizing climate services in Ghana as it supported evidence-based decision and policy making.
Owusu-Ekuful said the Ministry would provide the necessary policy guidance to support the effective implementation of the NFCS which would require legal backing, an inter-ministerial committee and a technical committee to enjoin institutions in the production, use and dissemination of climate activities.
On the society, she said it would provide a resource pool that would advise the government on meteorological and climate –related matters
She urged the public to pay particular attention to the weather forecasts of GMet to protect lives and property from as the nation approaches the major rainy season for the southern sector.
Natural disasters
The Acting Director-General of GMet, Eric Esuman, in a speech on behalf of the Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said the World Economic Forum had indicated that in the next ten-years, failure to mitigate climate change, failure of climate change adaptation and natural disasters will be the highest risks for the global economy.
The observation, he said was of concern as half of the members of the organization do not have adequate multi-hazard early warning systems and that there was the need to fill the gaps in the basic observing system, especially in Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States.
“Early warnings are the low-hanging fruit of climate change adaptation – which is no long a luxury but a must,” he said.
Also, he said the WMO was working on a Global Water Information System to promote free exchange of hydrological data as about half of all disasters were water-related and there was the need for better water monitoring and management.
The board chair of GMet, George Amo said the world was experiencing increasing temperatures and sea levels, changing precipitation patterns and more extreme weather were threatening human health and safety.
The Country lead for FeedtheFuture Policy Link, Yunus Abdulai, said meteorological services contribute immensely to the agriculture sector and food security and with over 90 percent of the agriculture practice in Ghana and Africa being rain fed “they have become extremely vulnerable to unpredictable climate conditions.”
Providing climate information services (CIS0, he said was an important adaptation strategy that enables smallholder farmers to make climate smart decisions to mitigate the impacts of climate –related disasters such as flood and droughts.
Pull qoute
This year’s world meteorological day celebration is on the theme “the future of weather, climate and water across generations.
By PeterQuao Adattor
