| Safety
Disaster Risk Reduction, WMO and the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF). Maarten van Aalst, Director General of the Royal
Netherlands Meteorological Institute said: “As a national Meteorological Institute, we see the rapid increase in weather extremes in our changing climate, and we realise that we need partnerships all across society to make sure our warnings lead to early actions. The Netherlands’ vulnerability as a low-lying delta is significantly reduced by the power of good data and predictions, and the ability to act on that information – from satellites to sandbags. Water at the Heart will strengthen our peers in the global south to deliver similar services.” Water at the Heart aims to address climate-related risks that can too often fall between the cracks of most country-level water, sanitation, and hygiene policies. It will focus on practical, locally driven action to better anticipate disasters and prepare communities well in advance, combining local knowledge and global technology to help communities understand and act on the water-related risks they face - before they become disasters. The programme is focused on supporting the countries of Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda in the Nile River basin. These countries are not only among the least developed in the world but are also highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
References
https://reliefweb.int/report/libya/libya-floods-climate- and-infrastructure-catastrophe
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/they-knew- fury-libyans-that-warnings-went-unheeded-before- flood-2023-09-15/BBC
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-66961312
https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/ north-africa/libya/when-dams-libya-burst-natural-or- preventable-disaster
Information from the World Meteorological Organisation can be found at
https://public.wmo.int/en
www.waterpowermagazine.com | November 2023 | 27
Furthermore, Water at the Heart will also use the
latest science and technology to monitor and forecast weather and water-related hazards, and will invest in communications technologies to warn communities of what is coming and enable early action. As a result, this programme is a direct contribution to the implementation of the Early Warnings for All initiative. To ensure the implementation of this five-year partnership, the Government of the Netherlands has generously committed 55 million euros. “The majority of hazards are water-related, particularly floods and droughts. Climate change will further increase the frequency and severity of these events. End-to-end early warning systems are critical to save lives and minimise the impact of disasters,” WMO Secretary-General Taalas said. “WMO is working with SOFF to close the basic weather and climate observation data gap and strengthen the foundational element of better data for better forecasts. Water at the Heart of Climate Action will make a tangible contribution to the Early Warnings for All initiative.”
Above: In the aftermath of the dam failures in Derna Valley on 11 September 2023 Editorial credit: seraj elhouni /
Shutterstock.com
Below: Water at the Heart of Climate Change is a joint initiative which will help countries in the Nile River Basin address climate-related risks that too often fall between the cracks
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