OPENING STATEMENT BY H.E. MRS. TUMUSIIME RHODA PEACE,
COMMISSIONER FOR RURAL ECONOMY AND AGRICULTURE
AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION AT THE 11TH EUMETSAT USER FORUM IN AFRICA

HELD AT THE KOPANONG CONFERENCE CENTRE

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

8 SEPTEMBER 2014

• Thank you Judy Beaumont, Deputy Director General for Environmental Affairs for being an excellent Director Programmes.
• Yesterday I thought that the High-level Meeting on Global Climate Services had stolen the show from the EUMETSAT User Forum because it had a great start but I see that today is even much better.
• Your Excellency Roeland van Geer, Head of the European Union Delegation to South Africa
• Let me recognize Mr. Jeremiah Lengoosa, Deputy Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation and also wish you well in your bid for Secretary General of the WMO which is also around the corner.
• Mr. Alan Ratier, Director-General of EUMETSAT
• Representative of the SADC Executive Secretary
• Dr. Linda Makuleni, CEO of the South African Meteorological Services and representing the Honourable Minister of Environmental Affairs
• Representative of the AMCOMET Secretariat
• Members of the Delegation of the African Union Commission
• Representatives of the RECs and the Caribbean and Pacific Regions
• Representatives of AU Member States
• Members of the Diplomatic Corps
• Members of the Media Corps
• Distinguished Participants
• Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning. It is a great honour for me, on behalf of the Commission of the African Union, to be at this important occasion. I wish to, first of all, convey warm greetings from Her Excellency, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, and to express my sincere appreciation to the Government and people of the Republic of South Africa for the warm welcome and generous hospitality accorded to me and my delegation. I wish to, also, thank the South African Weather Service (SAWS), the European organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) for all the efforts and resources involved in organizing this Forum.

South Africa offers rich experience in weather services and I call upon other AU Member States, RECs and RICs to take advantage of that. You would recall that not long ago, South Africa hosted the 17th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) where a lot was done to advance the global climate change negotiations. We applaud the leadership of Hon Edna Molewa and through her the government and people of South Africa.
Excellences
Ladies and Gentlemen

Allow me, from the outset, to announce that the 11th EUMETSAT User Forum, that has gathered all of us here today, is an event which is happening at a critical point in time, especially for Africa. It coincides with a number of important engagements. It is a period in which we are putting together the Africa Agenda 2063 on the Africa we Want in the next 50 years and we have been soliciting views and ideas from all stakeholders. Also, this year is the AU Year of Agriculture and Food Security and so what we are doing here is very relevant given how agriculture is affected by weather and climate change. Aware of the myriad challenges, we are still determined to opt for every trusted path to move forward. With the positive collaboration we have with our international partners, I am convinced that this Forum will allow us to appreciate more the magnitude of the challenges and solidify our resolve for joint action against phenomena that alter, and in some cases negatively impact, our life-support systems.

Excellences,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

As Africa, we consider satellite technology as critical towards dealing with some of the challenges in near-real time. This has been demonstrated by the African Monitoring of Environment for Sustainable Development (AMESD) project that has since transited to the Monitoring for Environment and Security in Africa (MESA) project – both funded by the European Union. The contribution of satellite technology and space science, is thus, vital for the implementation of national, regional and continental strategies such as the Integrated African Strategy of Meteorology (Weather and Climate Services), the African Strategy of Disaster Risk Reduction, and the implementation of the draft African Climate Change Strategy, among others.

If I may quote from the 2014 IPCC Report (i.e. Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability), “impacts from recent climate-related extremes, such as heat waves, droughts, floods, cyclones, and wildfires, reveal significant vulnerability and exposure of some ecosystems and many human systems to current climate variability” (end of quote). While it is clear that such extremes are altering our ecosystems, disrupting our food production and water supply, damaging our infrastructure and settlements, and increasing morbidity and mortality rates, literature reveals that countries at all levels of development are not well prepared for current climate variabilities in some of the affected sectors. Africa is the worst affected because of limited resources and the unpreparedness which characterises many of our countries. This cannot be taken lightly. I was talking at breakfast with Mr Jeremiah Longoasa and he told me that he had attended the Meeting of SIDS and that he found that there is a lot we can learn from SIDS in the Pacific that would greatly benefit our own small island states. As our scientists, practitioners, policy and decision makers, service users, etc. gather to deliberate in various sessions of this Forum, we expect recommendations that respond to our challenges and speak to our needs. Reflecting on our activities and integrating satellite technologies in our current and future endeavors, with the communities at heart, should be part of our aspirations at this Forum. We should not forget that our relevance lies on us addressing both current and future challenges that matter to the citizens in the communities and nations we serve. This is because eour work will only be appreciated if it makes a positive impact at the country level.

Excellences
Ladies and Gentlemen

While we are aware of the existence of consistent satellite data for earth observations, climate monitoring as well as tracking environmental changes and others, we should also be mindful of the fact that pthe ossession of the ability to exploit satellite technologies is critical. That is why cooperation and collaboration, in this field, are vital. I am meant to understand that in order to exploit satellite data, including historical data, there is need for international collective efforts which ensure that processes such as data recalibration, reprocessing, as well as making them available for applications are successfully and timely executed. In this regard, I wish to register our appreciation to EUMETSAT for playing a very critical role of contributing towards enabling Africa to access satellite data for use for socio-economic development. I am glad that to consolidate this collaboration, the AUC and EUMETSAT, last year, signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the Implementation Arrangement which define our working modalities, particularly with regards to the implementation of the MESA project.

Excellences
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is worth acknowledging the fact that Africa is able to access such a resource of satellite data through cooperation programmes and actions that are funded by the European Union. At this juncture, I must say that we applaud the EU for funding our programmes such as the MESA programme that I just mentioned, the Programme of Action for the Implementation of the Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction, Capacity Building programme for the Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI), the Climate Information for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) Programme and many others. The African Union Commission also benefits from the technical support that the European Union provides to the MESA project through the EU-Joint Research Centre (JRC). Allow me, therefore, to take this opportunity to request Your Excellency Roeland van Geer, Head of the European Union Delegation to South Africa to convey our gratitude to the relevant authorities of the European Union structures. I must add that the EU is supporting many other programmes of the African Union not only in climate change and climate services and we appreciated this multi-faceted cooperation and assistance.

Excellences,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Taking stock of our seriousness in implementation of recommendations, I am glad to note that most of the recommendations of the 10th EUMETSAT User Forum have been executed with very few under implementation. On our part as AUC, we have also implemented what we were supposed to implement particularly with regards to the MESA project. We will be highlighting some of these in some of the sessions as I have come with a technical team which is going to remain here in the discussions.

Last but not least, I wish again to thank the organizers of this Forum for working very hard to bring together such a big number of participants and for facilitating our interaction and reinforcing our collaboration in furtherance of the implementation of programmes and projects in meteorology and climate services. I must also add that the management and staff of the Kopanong Conference Centre do deserve our appreciation.

With these remarks, I wish you fruitful deliberations.

I thank you for listening to me.