STATEMENT BY H.E. MRS. TUMUSIIME RHODA PEACE,
COMMISSIONER FOR RURAL ECONOMY AND AGRICULTURE

AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION

AT THE HIGH-LEVEL MEETING OF THE GLOBAL FRAMEWORK FOR CLIMATE SERVICES (GFCS)

HELD AT THE KOPANONG CONFERENCE CENTRE

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

7 SEPTEMBER 2014

• Thank you, Makuleni, CEO South African Weather Services and our Director of Programmes
• Your Excellency Edina Molewa, Minister of Environmental Affairs of the Government of the Republic of South Africa
• Your Excellency Sofia Moreira de SousaDeputy Head of the European Union Delegation to South Africa
• Mr. Jeremiah Lengoosa, Deputy Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)
• Mr. Alan Ratier, Director-General of European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT)
• Representatives of the African Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and the Caribbean and Pacific Regions
• Representative of the AMCOMET Secretariat
• The Director of Programme
• Distinguished Delegates
• Ladies and Gentlemen

I am delighted to participate in this high-level meeting. I would like to, first of all, convey to you warm greetings and best wishes from Her Excellency Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, the Chairperson of the Commission. In the same vein, I wish to express our sincere appreciation to the Government and people of the Republic of South Africa for the gracious welcome, generous hospitality and excellent facilities placed at our disposal. I wish to, also, commend highly the collective efforts deployed by the South African Weather Service (SAWS), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and members of the ACP Global Framework for Climate Services (ACP-GFCS) Task Team to ensure that this meeting materalises.

The Commission of the African Union values this partnership. This is, indeed, building on the “Addis Ababa Declaration in support of the implementation of the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) in Africa” which agreed on at the eve of the 10th EUMETSAT User Forum in Africa, on 30 September 2012, by the representatives of the ACP Secretariat, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and the Commission of the African Union, in the presence of the representatives of the European Union, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the African Centre of Meteorological Application for Development (ACMAD), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).

We consider as critically important that the GFCS aims to enhance better management of risks associated with climate change and climate variability, through the development and incorporation of science-based climate information and prediction into planning, policy and practice on global, regional and national scale. To this end, it is encouraging to note that African, Caribbean and Pacific regions are taking proactive steps to address challenges posed by climate through the implementation of the Addis Ababa Declaration.

The seriousness with which we are taking the agreement on the Declaration in September 2012, is manifested by the many activities that have taken place so far and, here, I wish to highlight two of them:
1. The Declaration is taken into account and referred to in the Integrated African Strategy for Meteorology (Weather and Climate Services), which was adopted during the Second Session of AMCOMET in October 2012 in Harare, Zimbabwe and further endorsed by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union which took place in January 2013. This is, indeed, eloquent testimony of the importance that Africa, up to the highest level, attaches to addressing the challenges posed by climate change considering that provision of reliable climate information is pivotal.

2. It is also worth mentioning that a Technical Task Team composed of the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions and co-chaired by the ACP Secretariat and the AUC has been facilitating the implementation of the Declaration. EUMETSAT and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have served as an effective and efficient co-Secretariat to the Task Team. I am glad to note that in discharging the mandate of developing a proposal and mobilizing resources for a GFCS-ACP project, notably through the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) for ACP regions, the Team has managed to identify potential regional programmes which will strengthen subregional capacities necessary to produce regional climate services that meet the needs of various sectors, notably: agriculture and food security, disaster risk reduction, health and water. Of course, this includes the oceans and seas. The project will also be vital for the implementation of the GFCS at the national level where actual action is required. Indeed, your earlier remarks, Honourable Minister highlighted the importance of activities at country level.

We do recognise that the Addis Ababa Declaration, not only, supports the implementation of GFCS, but also calls upon the international community, particularly our key partners, the European Union, to support its implementation. It is in this respect that I register the appreciation of the AU to the EU for financially and technically supporting the implementation of various projects in Africa, in this area particularly the Monitoring for Environment and Security in Africa (MESA), the Climate Information for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa), the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and Sahel Initiative, the Capacity Building Programme for the Multilateral Environmental Agreement (MEAs), and many more, all of which are of great significance for our continent, our member states and our citizens. It is our hope that the European Union will also consider supporting the ACP-GFCS programme through the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) for the ACP regions. I wish, at this juncture, to also urge the African Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to be forthcoming in indicating their consent for the GFCS programme to be funded through their subregional allocations from the EU ACP resource envelope. I trust that the representatives of RECs present here are aware of this as it is a recommendation of the Task Team of which RECs are active members.

Finally, I wish to express gratitude to the representatives of the WMO Intergovernmental Board on Climate Services and AMCOMET Secretariat who are also here with us. As they are kept abreast of the work of the Team as well as the contribution of the proposed programme to the implementation of the GFCS and the Integrated African Strategy on Meteorology (Weather and Climate Services), we rely on their support.

I would like to conclude by assuring you all that the African Union Commission is committed to advancing the issues of meteorology and climate services in Africa and, in this connection, may I call on Partners to continue supporting us in the implementation of the programmes and initiatives pertaining to this important sector in Africa. In the context of Africa Agenda 2063, the Meteorology and Climate Services contribute to building resilience of communities and nations on the African continent.
I would like to end by wishing you all fruitful outcomes and I thank you for your kind attention.