ASMC - WMO Regional Forum

About the Forum

The inaugural ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) – World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Regional Forum, titled “Towards a Weather-Ready and Climate-Resilient ASEAN”, will bring together global, regional and national leaders and partners from across the climate services value chain to focus on how climate services, including high-resolution regional climate projections and early warning systems, can better support climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in Southeast Asia. The Forum will also discuss how the Early Warnings for All initiative is being implemented in Southeast Asia and scaled up to protect lives and livelihoods.

Provisional Programme (Updated as of 26 August 2024)

Wednesday, 4 September
Programme uses Singapore Standard Time and is 8 hours ahead of GMT (GMT+8)

Welcome and Introduction
09:00am – 09:10am	Opening Address by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, Singapore
09:10am – 09:15am	Opening of the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre for Vegetation Fire and Smoke Pollution (RSMC-VFSP)
09:15am – 09:25am	Keynote Speech by Prof. Celeste Saulo, World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General
09:25am – 10:05am	High-level Dialogue Moderator: Prof. Winston Chow, Co-Chair, IPCC Working Group II on Impacts, Adaptation and vulnerability Panellists: Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, Singapore Prof. Celeste Saulo, World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General
10:05am – 10:30am	Tea Break
10:30am – 12:10pm	Context-setting Technical Presentations Understanding the need for high-resolution regional climate projections (Speaker: Dr Faye Abigail Cruz, CORDEX-SEA) Impacts of climate change in Southeast Asia: The latest regional findings from Singapore’s Third National Climate Change Study (Speaker: Dr Aurel Moise, Centre for Climate Research Singapore) The importance of a multi-stakeholder approach toward climate resilience and adaptation (Speaker: Dr Juli Trtanj, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)) Overview of the global Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative – Opportunities for ASEAN Member States (Speaker: Mr Ben Churchill, WMO Regional Office for Asia and the South-West Pacific (RAP))
12:10pm – 01:45pm	Lunch
Technical Forum Part I: Adaptation Planning for Climate Change Impacts in Southeast Asia
01:45pm – 02:35pm	Food Security in a Changing Climate Regional overview of climate change impacts on food security and/or water resources and tools available for addressing climate risks (Speaker: Mr Beau Damen, Food and Agriculture Organization Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific - FAO-RAP) Case study from ASEAN Member State on efforts within the region to address climate change and food security (Speaker: Dr Margaret Yoovatana, Department of Agriculture, Thailand)
02:35pm – 03:50pm	Implication of Climate Change on Regional Heat and Human Health Regional overview of projected changes in extreme temperatures across Southeast Asia from V3 (Speaker: Dr Sandeep Sahany, Centre for Climate Research Singapore) Heat health in a warming Southeast Asia – How climate change will impact human health (Speaker: Assoc. Prof. Jason Lee, Southeast Asian (SEA) node of the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN)) Utilising climate services and information to support the management of climate-related health risks in a changing climate (Speaker: Dr John Nairn, Climate Extremes Consulting and COtL Mesonet)
03:50pm – 04:20pm	Tea Break
04:20pm – 05:10pm	Climate Change Scenarios and Planning for Urban Infrastructure, Coastal Cities and Sustainable Development Integrating climate change scenarios into long-term urban planning as an adaptation strategy (Speaker: Ms Sandy Kumar, UN-Habitat) Case study from ASEAN Member State – Singapore’s coastal protection measures (Speaker: Ms Hazel Khoo, PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency)
05:10pm – 06:00pm	Panel Discussion: Translating Climate Science into Climate Adaptation Action Moderator: Prof. Dale Barker, Director of Centre for Climate Research Singapore Panellists: Prof. Chris Hewitt, WMO Dr Zurina Moktar, ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC) Dr Mohd. Hisham Mohd Anip, METMalaysia Mr Zulfadhli Mahri, Brunei Climate Change Office (BCCO)

Thursday, 5 September
Programme uses Singapore Standard Time and is 8 hours ahead of GMT (GMT+8)

Technical Forum Part I (Cont’d): Adaptation Planning for Climate Change Impacts in Southeast Asia
09:00am – 09:15am	Recap of Day 1 discussions (Speaker: Prof. Dale Barker, Centre for Climate Research Singapore)
09:15am – 10:25am	‘World Café’ – Interactive Discussions Application of climate projections and climate services to support national activities in (i) food and/or water security; (ii) human health; and (iii) urban planning and sustainable development.
10:25am – 10:55am	Tea Break
10:55am – 11:40am	Session Summaries from Rapporteurs of the World Café
11:40am – 01:00pm	Deep-dive into the 2023 WMO State of the Climate Reports for the South-West Pacific and Asia Keynote address and sharing of key findings (Speaker: Prof. Celeste Saulo, WMO) Panel discussion: Way forward with supporting NMHSs in ASEAN Member States in translating climate information into action (Moderator: Prof. Chris Hewitt, WMO) (Panellists: Prof. Celeste Saulo (WMO), Dr Thea Turkington (CCRS), Mr Marco Toscano-Rivalta (UNDRR), Mr Daisuke Maruichi (UN ESCAP)) Q&A session
01:00pm – 02:00pm	Lunch
Technical Forum Part II: Early Warning Systems as an Adaptive Measure: Experiences and Opportunities in Southeast Asia
02:00pm – 02:05pm	Introduction - The challenges, opportunities and way forward for the SEA region (Speaker: Mr Jochen Luther, WMO Regional Office for Asia and the South-West Pacific (RAP))
02:05pm – 03:45pm	The Challenge - Disaster Riskscape and State of Early Warning Systems in the Southeast Asia Regional overview (Speaker: Mr Marco Toscano-Rivalta, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)) Case study #1 – Timor-Leste (Speaker: Mr Terencio Moniz, Directorate of Meteorology and Geophysics (DNMG), Timor-Leste) Case study #2 – Philippines (Speaker: Dr Nathaniel Servando / Ms Thelma Cinco, The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Philippines) Q&A session (Moderator: Mr Jochen Luther, WMO RAP) VNMHA Forecasting System of Climate and Weather to Increase Resilience of Vulnerable Coastal Communities (Speaker: Mr Tran Quang Nang, Viet Nam Meteorological and Hydrological Administration (VNMHA)) The role of global and local Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) in supporting impact-based forecasting / early warning systems (Speaker: Prof. Dale Barker, Centre for Climate Research Singapore) Q&A session (Moderator: Mr Jochen Luther, WMO RAP)
03:45pm – 04:15pm	Tea Break
04:15pm – 06:00pm	The Opportunity - The UN Early Warnings for All initiative Regional ESCAP programmes and initiatives (Speaker: Mr Daisuke Maruichi, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)) The Weather and Climate Information Services (WISER) Programme (Speaker: Mr David Corbelli, UK Met Office (UKMO)) The Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) Initiative (Speaker: Mr John Harding, CREWS Secretariat) Q&A session Panel discussion: Experiences from ASEAN Member States and opportunities for ASEAN as a whole (Moderator: Mr Ben Churchill, WMO Regional Office for Asia and the South-West Pacific (RAP)) (Panellists: H.E. Dr Seth Vannareth (Cambodia, MoWRAM), Dr Virany Sengtianthr (Lao PDR, DMH), Dr Luis Rodriguez (IFRC), Dr Jothi Ganesh Shanmuga Sundaram (WFP), Mr Socheath So (Cambodia, National Committee for Disaster Management))

Friday, 6 September
Programme uses Singapore Standard Time and is 8 hours ahead of GMT (GMT+8)

Technical Forum Part II (Cont’d): Early Warning Systems as an Adaptive Measure: Experiences and Opportunities in Southeast Asia
09:00am – 10:05am	Interactive Group Exercise How to get there with available mechanisms and tools - Building on existing initiatives, programmes/projects and partnerships to achieve EW4All (Facilitators: Mr Jochen Luther (WMO RAP), Ms Catherine Jones (FAO))
10:05am – 10:30am	Summaries from the Interactive Session (Speaker: Mr Marco Toscano-Rivalta, UNDRR Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific)
10:30am – 11:00am	Tea Break
11:00am – 12:00pm	Panel Discussion: Way forward with supporting NMHSs and ASEAN Member States in achieving EW4All How to scale up efforts to all ASEAN Member States? (Facilitator: Mr Ben Churchill, WMO RAP) (Panellists: Dr Wattana Kanbua (Thailand, TMD), Dr Catherine Jones (FAO RAP), Mr Raihanul Haque Khan (RIMES), Mr Sadhu Zukhruf Janottama (AHA Center))
Closing
12:00pm – 12:20pm	Summary and Key Takeaways as Call to Action (Speakers: Mr Lesley Choo (ASMC), Mr Ben Churchill (WMO RAP))
12:20pm – 12:30pm	Closing Remarks (Speakers: Ms Koh Li-Na (ASMC), Prof. Celeste Saulo (WMO))

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