Role of the Philippine Meteorological Society in Coping with Climate Change Risks in the Philippines Susan R. Espinueva President, PMS First Global Meeting of the International Forum of Meteorological Societies (IFMS – GM 1) hosted by the American Meteorological Society, January 2009, Omni Hotel at CNN Center Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Background: PMS before 2009 Activities in and beyond

PMS before 2009 Founded in 1951 – by a group of dedicated meteorologists from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical & Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA); Registered with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – 18 July 1952 – as a non-stock, non-profit corporation; Goal – promote the advancement of atmospheric sciences & other related disciplines in the Philippines. After 3 symposia on Tropical Cyclones and 1 conference, the PMS became inactive for about 10 years Reorganized in st Nat’l Symposium on the Application of Weather & Climate Info – Annual National Met-Hydro Convention – 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Membership : more than 300 meteorologists, professionals and technical and non-technical staff from the academe, government & private institutions, students & weather enthusiasts

Activities in Meetings/conferences/conventions/visits - Planning meeting of IFMS – paved for the major re-structuring of the Society: membership, outreach programs, research activities - 4 th Met-hydro convention in 2008 facilitated collaboration with private institutions: a. SMART Telecommunication - PMS provides technical assistance through training of High School teachers in “Project Raingauge”; Project Rain Gauge is an initiative of Smart Communications Inc. under its Smart Schools Program (SSP). Its goal is to create a network of ground stations across the country that would provide supplementary data on local rainfall measurement in specific areas.

Activities in th Met-hydro convention in PMS assisted the PAGASA in the MOA signing for “Project STARS” of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) STARS - Storm Tracking, Alert and Relay System History of Structure Design of NGCP Transmission Towers

Activities in Meetings/conferences/conventions/visits - 5 th Met-hydro convention in IEC for the youth “Synergizing the Asian Youth” - Experiences from the July 2008 Asian Youth climate Summit “we don’t know what to do about it” because it is not our “personal problem” (Creech, et al., 1999) “our government can do something about it” (AYCS, 2008) It is beyond our “bubble” that mere thought of it we “can longer breathe” (Basconcillo, 2007) It is “too much for us to handle” (Basconcillo, 2007) One identified area of heeding the call: - educate the people on scientific and social aspects of climate change through theoretical and practical education Joseph Basconcillo is a Graduate Student of the Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology, University of the Philippines - Diliman

Activities in Meetings/conferences/conventions/visits - 5 th Met-hydro convention in Preliminary talks for a collaborative research between PAGASA, PMS, NCAR and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), and the Korean Meteorological Society (KMS) - Site visit of JAMSTEC – initial talks on extreme rainfall research 2. UNISDR Project Strengthening National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS) in Southeast Asia – covering Indonesia, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Philippines and Vietnam

3. Participation in the celebration of: a. Typhoon & Flood Awareness Week: 3rd week of June – Essay Writing Contest Activities in 2009 b. National Disaster Consciousness Month – July 2009 – Poster Making Contest Theme: “Pag Alerto, Malayo sa Peligro” Participants: Elementary and High School students Partners: PAGASA, Department of Education (DepEd) and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) First Prize winner (High School Level) Roy Gallardo of New Era High School QC with his coach The Winners in the Elementary Level with their coaches and the Board of Judges, PAGASA & PMS officials First Prize Winner (Elementary Level) Gerrika C. Shi of Saint Jude Catholic School with her Coach

Drivers: climate change and variability issues -Increased manifestation of climate change impacts (floods/flash floods, rainfall induced landslides, extreme temperature, strong winds from TCs, storm surges, etc.) -Increasing demand for more accurate and reliable weather and climate forecasts and information -Proliferation of non-technical organizations doing climate change V&A (a lot of NGOs – working on CCA – need to educate NGOs) Focus: Research and information services through partnership and data sharing 2010 and beyond

1.Provide technical support to PAGASA through IEC, research and the implementation of various projects; 2.Forge partnership with LGUs and private institutions to share their resources, especially in putting up weather monitoring facilities; 3.Conduct research activities in collaboration with the private sectors (SMART, NGCP), international organizations (ADPC, JAMSTEC) and the academe (University of the Philippines); 4.Pursue partnerships with other meteorological societies (Korea and Taiwan); 5.Outreach programs for the youth, etc.; and 6.Publication of Journals

Thank you for your attention.