Oman at the forefront of climate action

Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), marked World Meteorological Day on Saturday to commemorate the formation of the World Meteorological Organization Convention in 1950.

This year's theme is 'At the Forefront of Climate Action,' to reduce the negative effects of climate change, which has become more intense and severe in many parts of the world, which could result in an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme natural phenomena such as tropical cyclones, floods and drought.

It can lead to changes in the pattern of heavy rains and heatwaves, which affect weather forecasts and make them more complex.

This year’s slogan is directed towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adopting clean and sustainable technologies, in addition to increasing political and societal awareness, to reduce the effects of climate change.

Climate action also includes developing environmental policies, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting the ozone layer, encouraging innovation in the field of renewable energy, improving the efficiency of resource use and increasing investments to contain the climate crisis on a global scale.

Since it acceded to membership in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1975, the Sultanate of Oman is among the active countries that strive for continuous and fruitful cooperation with the organisation and its regional centres in terms of exchanging information and embarking on developing its forecasting and monitoring equipment.

It joined various international organisations, agreements and treaties related to oceans, weather and climate, including the Tropical Cyclone Committee for the countries bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal in 1997.

Numerical forecasting systems were also developed in cooperation with the German Meteorological Center in 1999, where two models for general forecasts and a model specialised in marine forecasts were developed, in addition to the opening of the Center of Excellence for satellite applications in the field of meteorology for West Asian countries in 2006.

In 2015, the National Centre for Early Warning of Multiple Hazards was launched, which is the first national centre to provide alerts and warnings of several natural hazards in the region, such as the dangers of tsunamis resulting from marine earthquakes, the dangers of hurricanes and tropical conditions and flash floods resulting from extreme weather conditions.

It may be noted that the World Meteorological Organization recently announced the appointment of the Director-General of Meteorology at the Civil Aviation Authority as President of the Asian Federation of the World Meteorological Organization and a member of the Executive Council of the World Meteorological Organization for the year 2024.

The presidency of the Asian Federation is an important achievement for the Sultanate of Oman and in turn contributes to strengthening the presence of Omani national competencies in global organisations and international work and strengthening international relations. It also contributes to developing the work of the organisation, implementing its strategic goals and exchanging experiences between member states, whether on the continent of Asia or in all countries of the world.

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