Remarks by Dr Vincent Biruta, Minister of Natural Resources at 42nd Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum

Hon. Min. Dr. Vincent Biruta of Rwanda Natural Resources

 Republic of Rwanda

Ministry of Natural Resources

Remarks by Dr Vincent Biruta, Minister of Natural Resources

42^nd Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum

22 February 2016 | Kigali, Rwanda

–     The UNDP Rwanda Country Representative

–     The Permanent Representatives of the Greater Horn of Africa countries of the World Meteorological Organisation

–     The Representative of the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre

–     Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen

Good morning to you all. I am pleased to welcome you to the Forty Second Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum and I would like to extend a special welcome to those who are visiting Rwanda for the first time. I hope you enjoy your stay in the country.

Today we come together from across the Greater Horn of Africa to assess the impact of last year’s El Niño event and to put together a regional climate outlook for the March to May 2016 rainfall season. We will also develop plans and strategies so we are well prepared for a range of different climate events. These are important tasks for a number of reasons.

The countries in our region are highly dependent on rainfall and so are vulnerable to climate variability. With climate change causing more extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, we need to be better prepared and more coordinated in how we deal with the impacts of a changing climate. Food security, agriculture, water and sanitation, power generation and our natural heritage all depend on it.

This is why we need to get better at not only predicting the weather and changes in the climate, but also at being ready to adapt to them and, when needed, provide early warnings to those in need.

This work is about shoring up our development gains and building a strong, climate resilient foundation from which to grow and meet the aspirations of our people.

By 2050, Rwanda aims to be a developed, climate-resilient and low carbon economy. To achieve this, we have put in place a number of policy and institutional frameworks. Our national vision incorporates climate change, our Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy puts environment and green growth at the centre of development and our Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy includes 14 distinct programmes of action to ensure we meet our goals. In addition, Rwanda’s Green Fund has mobilised 100 million dollars and is already investing in 30 transformative climate resilience initiatives across the country.

But we know that we cannot get there alone. Rwanda, like other nations in the Greater Horn of Africa, is striving for deeper integration with its neighbours. With greater integration comes greater dependency. This is a good thing and we should not shy away from it. Instead, we need to work more closely with one another, plan more carefully and better coordinate our mitigation and adaptation responses. If we do this together, I have no doubt that we can weather any storm that comes our way.

With so many experts from different backgrounds here today, I encourage you to use your collective skills, knowledge and experience to produce a regional climate outlook that can inform policy makers in various sectors across the region.

I would like to conclude by thanking the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre, Rwanda Meteorology Agency, the World Meteorological Organisation and other partners for organising this forum. I would also like to thank the United Nations Development Programme and USAID for supporting the forum.

Once again, thank you for being here today. I wish you fruitful discussions and look forward to exchanging ideas throughout the day.

On this note, it gives me great pleasure to declare the Forty Second Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum officially open.

Thank you.

RWANDA TO HOST THE 42 GREATER HORN OF AFRICA CLIMATE OUTLOOK FORUM (GHACOF42)

Ahead of the 42^nd Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum to take place on 22 to 24 February 2016, on this Thursday, Rwanda Meteorology Agency held a Press Briefing to give the insights on the Forum. 

                                   A big number of Journalists attended the Press Briefing

The forum that is being organized under the theme “2015 El Niño impacts and lessons learned in the Greater Horn of Africa” is expected to be attended by around 120 participants including focal points of the various socio-economic sectors such as Agriculture, Food security, Livestock, Water resources, Health, Disaster risk management and the media; climate scientists from the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), universities, research institutions and regional and international organizations engaged in climate modeling, prediction and applications for the Great Horn of Africa (GHA) region. Various regional, international, Governmental and Non-Governmental organizations and the donor community will also attend.

In many parts of Africa climate variability and change has an adverse effect on key socio economic sectors such as agriculture and Food Security, Disaster Risk Management, water resources, health and energy. When vulnerable populations are exposed to extreme climate and weather events the negative impacts can be serious to their livelihoods, to the point where external emergency assistance is often required. The prevalence of climate-sensitive livelihood systems, high levels of vulnerability, and a highly variable climate make this a regular occurrence in the GHA. 

 

The GFS image showing Total Precipitation

Talking to the media, Mr John Ntaganda Semafara, the Acting Director General at Rwanda Meteorology Agency said that most of the disasters recurrently happening in the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) are climate related. 

He added that these disasters cause socio-economic miseries and economic losses in the region and often retard socio-economic development.

He said, “Climate variability and change is likely to lead to the increase in frequency, magnitude, and severity of extreme weather and climatic events such as drought, floods, sea level rise, diseases and storm surges.”

The Greater Horn of Africa region has been noted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as one of the most vulnerable regions of the world to climate change. In this regard, there is need for robust climate advisories like those provided by the Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forums (GHACOFs), which Rwanda Meteorology Agency will downscale to come up with the seasonal climate outlook for the March-May rain season. 

The GHACOF products can be used for disaster risk management and climate change adaptation to enhance the resilience of vulnerable communities.

Commenting on the predicted Elnino phenomenon, again the Ag. Director General said that the current El Niño triggered floods in the equatorial sector which have caused deaths of people and livestock, damage and destruction of infrastructure especially roads, bridges (Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Somalia, Tanzania), destruction of crops and other livelihoods (Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania).

He added that In the Northern Sector of the GHA, the prevailing drought conditions have already triggered humanitarian responses in Ethiopia and Sudan which are the most drought affected countries so far. Other countries in the region like South Sudan are experiencing effects of both drought in the northern parts and floods in the southern parts, coupled with the on-going conflict situation which further compounds the vulnerability conditions.

These observed climatic impacts had been clearly predicted during the GHACOFs 40 and 41, upon which some considerable contingency preparations for response to El Niño were made by individual Member States. Climate and weather information is therefore increasingly becoming a critical resource for countries to plan for preparedness and response as well as generating early warning information for early action.

The co-operating institutions include National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) namely Institut Géographique du Burundi; Agence National de la Météorologie de Djibouti; Eritrea Meteorological Service; National Meteorological Services Agency of Ethiopia; Kenya Meteorological Department; Rwanda Meteorological Agency; Somalia Meteorological Services; South Sudan Meteorological Services; Sudan Meteorological Authority; Tanzania Meteorological Agency; Uganda National Meteorological Authority; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); WMO Global Producing Centers of long-range forecasts; UNISDR and Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS-NET) and World Bank Group among others.

For media inquiries please contact Leonard TUKAMWIBONERA
The Public Relations and Communication Officer 
Tel:0782101153 or Email: l.tukamwibonera@meteorwanda.gov.rw