The meteorological services of Portugal, mainland China and Macao agreed on their co-operation priorities for 2027–2028 at the 12th Technical Conference on Meteorology, held last week in Beijing. The priorities include climate change, extreme weather events and ocean forecasting.

The meeting was jointly organised by the Portuguese Institute for the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) and the Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG). Ricardo Tavares, Director of IPMA’s Madeira Regional Delegation, was among the members of the Portuguese delegation.

During the conference, the three institutions shared the latest developments in their meteorological services and discussed new areas of co-operation. The discussions covered aviation meteorology, meteorological observation, satellite applications, numerical weather prediction and artificial intelligence. They also addressed the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative, which aims to strengthen early warning systems for extreme weather events.

The three institutions also agreed to explore the possibility of creating a joint co-operation platform for training, technical assistance and knowledge sharing. The initiative is expected to pay particular attention to strengthening the capacity of meteorological and climate services in Portuguese-speaking African countries.

(Source: Diário de Notícias da Madeira, 5 November)