Over the next five years, the Government of Norway will disburse around one million dollars to strengthen Mozambique's early warning and climate change adaptation system.
To this end, the National Meteorological Institute (INAM) and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute (Met Norway) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Wednesday afternoon (08) in Maputo.
On the occasion, the Minister of Transport and Communications, Mateus Magala said he hoped the partnership would improve the provision of meteorological and climatic services.
"This partnership will involve the establishment of best practices, collegial discussions and training in the use of shared tools, dissemination of results, sharing of tools to manage and assess the quality of meteorological data," he said.
"It is our expectation that, by 2030, INAM will be able to improve the provision of meteorological and climate services, to inform decision-makers at (all) levels, to inform and prepare decision-makers and the general public to cope with extreme weather and climate events," he added.
He said he expected INAM to strengthen scientific partnerships, research and studies to improve the verification, accuracy and reliability of operational meteorological and climate services in Mozambique, as well as the fulfilment of international and regional commitments.
For his part, the Norwegian Ambassador, Haakon Gram-Johannessen, pointed out that the collaboration between INAM and Met Norway is fundamental, as it will strengthen Mozambique's capacity to prevent the impacts of extreme events.
"The early warning system is an important tool in responding to these events. It lets us know how likely it is that such events will happen, and what to do when they do," he said.
In this context, the collaboration between INAM and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute is fundamental, as it will strengthen Mozambique's capacity to prevent the adverse impacts of any climatic phenomenon.
He said that Mozambique has been cyclically affected by extreme weather events.
"Cyclones Idai and Fred are recent examples and the effects are still being felt today and improving meteorological data and knowledge about the climate to inform and guide decision-making and response at national, provincial and district level is our main objective."
The initiative is in line with UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the World Meteorological Organisation's guidance on the initiative to "provide every citizen on the planet with an integrated Early Warning for Early Action system over the next five years".
The memorandum between the two countries comes at a time when Mozambique is entering the 2023-2024 rainy season and there is a need to plan to respond better to extreme phenomena.
Recently, Mozambique's Technical-Scientific Commission on Climate Change (CTCMC), which met in Maputo, said it expected early action from government institutions, non-governmental organisations and communities to curb the impact of climate change that could occur during the 2023-2024 rainy season.
Mozambique is cyclically affected by severe rainfall. Examples of this were Cyclones Idai, Kenned and Fredd, which devastated the central and northern regions. In fact, at the end of the 2022-2023 rainy season, Maputo experienced unusually heavy rains, with extensive damage.
In view of all this, investing in predicting these phenomena will be a key factor in providing a better response and minimising damage.
This rainy season, which lasts until April 2024, is expected to see below-normal rainfall in the south and the southern part of the centre of the country, and normal rainfall with a tendency towards above-normal rainfall in the north and north of the centre of the country, as well as the risk of flooding in the main river basins.
The forecast also predicts the El-Nino phenomenon, which is accompanied by drought and dryness, especially in the south.
Mozavibe/AIM
