LAHORE: South Asia Hydro-met Forum (SAHF) is all set to meet in Bangkok on November 30, 2023 to review the progress on impact-based forecasting programme for enhancing delivery of weather, water, climate, ocean, and capacity building services, said sources in the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).

The executive committee members of SAHF are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The forum has been constituted for providing strategies and future direction on weather forecasting.

The forum would look into evidence-based reports on gaps in the current observations and monitoring, modelling and forecasting, impact-based forecasting and capacity building efforts both at regional and national levels and providing recommendations for enhancing delivery of weather, water, climate, ocean, and capacity building services. The World Bank is providing continuous support to SAHF programme since its inception in 2018.

The forum would develop strategies to strengthen public-private engagement to enhance climate services, support the development of routine social and economic analyses to measure the progress of SAHF, building on Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia (RIMES) Climate Data Access and Analysis System (CDAAS) and Regional Data Analytics System (RDAS) and Copernicus Climate Changes Service (C3S), among others.

It may be noted that a good number of countries in South Asia, including Pakistan, face non-availability of technical and budget for sustaining these investment driven enhancement and up-gradation of observation systems to meet with climate change challenges.

The forum would put in place value added service delivery through generation of user specific tailor-made services to inspire user sectors to pay for services through cost recovery and plough back the proceeds for upkeep and maintenance of observation systems sustainably.

Sources said India would provide regional support through regional collaboration mechanism and institutions like Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC)-Tropical Cyclones, RSMC-South Asia Forecast Programme, and RSMC-South Asia Flash Flood Guidance.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023