South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) member countries

Ministry of the Environment of Italy National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology of Italy(INGV)

Considering the limited technological capacity in most, if not all South Pacific Small Island Developing States, and the impact weather has on the daily life of their inhabitants, the establishment of a regional climate bulletin was crucial to the dissemination of climate information and forecasts to avoid costly and disastrous effects of shifts in climate. A regular user-friendly bulletin on the South-Pacific region would help in-dividuals, industries and Governments in the Pacific. This need has been evidenced in 1996 by a study commissioned by the SPREP, an intergovernmental organization based in Samoa. At the beginning of the project, the only existing newsletter, published quarterly by Pacific ENSO Application Center, pertained solely to US affiliated countries and territories. This ongoing project involves the Italian Ministry of the Environment, acting as the funding agency; the INGV, providing technical assistance; SPREP, as local coordinator of the project in Samoa; and the New Zealand National Institute of Water
and Atmospheric Research, in charge of publishing the bulletin.

• Climate change and sea-level rise (Chapter I of the Barbados Programme of Action)
• Natural and environmental disasters (Chapter II of the BPoA)
• Science and technology (Chapter XIII of the BPoA)

“The Island Climate Update” (ICU) bulletin is being published on a monthly basis since October 2000 and sent to individuals and organizations throughout the Pacific. The bulletin can also be found on the Internet at www.niwa.cri.nz/NCC/ICU.
It includes:
• A weather forecast for the forthcoming month in the South-Pacific region (the outgoing long-wave radiation, rainfall and sea temperature anomalies, the Southern Oscillation Index);
• A forecast for the following three months focusing on the probabilities of rainfall departures from average, and possible storm patterns;
• A compilation rainfall observational data from all the South-Pacific meteorological organizations.

So far, forecasts by ICU have been accurate. As predicted in the November 2000 issue, rainfall for the islands of Samoa, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Cook Islands has been lower than average and, although it was unusual for the season, drought conditions prevailed in the islands during January 2001.

Through the use of relatively simple means for the collection and dissemination of weather information, such as this bulletin, the feeling of security and well-being of the local population of small islands can be enhanced, and disaster preparedness and response improved.

Dr. Corrado Clini, Director
Department for Global Environment, International
and Regional Conventions (PIA)
Italian Ministry of the Environment
Via Cristoforo Colombo, 44
I-00147, Roma, Italy
Tel.: (39) 06-57228101
Fax: (39) 06-57228175
E-mail: pia-sdg@minambiente.it