MetService part of PM’s Pacific Mission

Our Chief Executive Rob Harrison recently had the honour of being part of the Prime Minister’s Pacific Mission delegation to strengthen partnerships in Samoa and Tonga and advance cooperation on shared priorities.

During the action-packed schedule, Rob spent time with Laitia Fifita, the Director of Tonga Meteorological Service who we’ve worked with closely to install Tonga’s first weather radar and co-design and delivery of a severe weather forecasting enhancement training programme.

It was also a great opportunity to better get to know the new Chief Executive of Earth Sciences New Zealand James Palmer, also on the trip, and to discuss the ways in which together we can further support our Pacific neighbours.

MetService is a committed partner to the Pacific and currently active across 13 Pacific nations supporting capability development of National Meteorological Services and as a technical partner of the Weather Ready Pacific Programme. This support aims to strengthen the region’s ability to plan for and respond to high impact and extreme weather events which are intensifying in severity and frequency through climate change.

Photo left: Rob with Laitia Fifita in Tonga. Photo right: Rob and James in Samoa