TWENTY TWO years ago in 1993, the Regional Meteorological Services Directors (RMSD) first met in Vanuatu to discuss how the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) could

best be supported in order to effectively contribute to strengthening the resilience and security

Of the Pacific Communities to climate change.

The meeting was a recommendation from a study carried out in 1991 called the ìChanging Climate in Paradiseî which emphasized the need for annual meetings by the Pacific Island Meteorological Services to provide a foundation for regional cooperation in climate monitoring and climate data services in support of climate change.

Eighteen years and 14 RMSD meetings later in 2011, the First Meeting of the Pacific Meteorological Council (PMC) was held in Majuro, Republic of Marshall Islands in August 2011 and endorsed the PIMS 2012-2021 and the Pacific Meteorological Desk Partnership (PMDP), hosted and based within the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP).

The PMC was established in accordance with the decision of the 21st SPREP Meeting in 2010 based on a recommendation from the 14th RMSD meeting.

The PMC was established as a subsidiary of SPREP providing an authoritative guidance to weather, climate, climate change and extreme events and can make decisions as well as providing an opportunity for development partnerships to be established.

The PMC-2 was held in Fiji from 1 to 5 July 2013.

The vision of PMC is for the NMHSs of the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) to be able to provide reliable, timely, and culturally appropriate weather, climate, and early warning services to their nations and communities which help to safeguard life and property, and contribute to national development programs with contributions from sustained observing systems, telecommunications, data processing, and management systems serving decision makers and communities.

The objectives are aimed to strengthen the capacity of the NMHSs thus contributing to the

safety, well-being, and development aspirations of the people of the Pacific islands during the

provision of weather, climate, and related development services by

Providing an open forum for members to discuss and collaborate on development in the

implementation of the PIMS 2012-2021 as well as other issues related to the advancement of

NMHSs in the Pacific Islands.