Kingdom of Tonga confirmed to host Eighth Pacific Meteorological Council Meeting and Fourth Pacific Ministerial Meeting on Meteorology

25 March 2026, Nuku’alofa – After ten years, the Pacific Meteorological Council is heading back to Tonga. The Kingdom of Tonga has graciously put its hand up to host the eighth sitting of the Pacific Meteorological Council Meeting (PMC-8) and the fourth convening of the Pacific Ministerial Meeting on Meteorology (PMMM-4) from 21 – 25 September this year.

The bi-annual gathering of the PMC brings together the region’s National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) Directors, partners, donors, and private sector representatives who work in the weather, climate, and hydrology space. 

The PMC is a subsidiary body of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), which aims to strengthen the capacity of Pacific NMHSs, which in turn contributes to the safety, well-being, and development aspirations of the people of the Pacific through the provision of weather, climate, and related services. 

According to the Director of SPREP’s Climate Science and Information programme which provides technical support to Pacific NMHSs, the hosting of the meetings in Tonga comes at an opportune time, with the Honourable Prime Minister of Tonga, Lord Fakafanua, having recently taken on the role of Weather Ready Pacific Champion. 

“We are grateful to the Honourable Prime Minister of Tonga and his government for stepping up and heeding the call to host these important gatherings for the Pacific meteorological community,” Mr. Nihmei said. 

“This reaffirms the Honourable Prime Minister’s commitment to his role as Champion of the Weather Ready Pacific Programme, and also the Tongan government’s recognition of the important, and often-times lifesaving role that Pacific NMHSs play.”

The meeting will provide an open forum for Directors to identify, discuss, and collaborate on issues and priorities related to meteorological and climate services in the Pacific. These priorities will then be elevated to the Ministerial Meeting on Meteorology for endorsement. 

This year’s meeting will also report on the progress of the implementation of the Pacific Islands Meteorological Strategy 2017 – 2026, which has been the guiding document for all work done in this space for the past ten years. The Council meeting will reflect on the achievements under the current strategy and review the proposed new strategy that will guide the work of the Pacific meteorological community into the next ten years. 

A team from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme’s (SPREP) Climate Science and Information team are in Nuku’alofa this week, led by Director Salesa Nihmei, where they met with, and briefed, Lord Fakafanua on the plans for the September meetings, and to work closely with, and support, the Tonga Meteorological Service with planning, logistics, and aligning the necessary support needed for the September meetings. 

The team also had the opportunity to meet with the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communications (MEIDECC), Mr. Sione Akauola. 

The Director of the Tonga Meteorological Service, who is also serving as the President of WMO RA-V, Mr. Laitia Fifita, acknowledged the mammoth task that lies ahead as Tonga prepares to host both the PMC meeting and the Ministerial, but he is confident that Tonga will be ready come September.

“We are excited to welcome the Pacific meteorological community back to Tonga, eleven years after the last PMC and Ministerial meetings were hosted in Nuku’alofa in 2015,” said Mr. Fifita, who is also the incoming Chair of PMC. 

“The Ministry, as well as the Tonga Met Service, look forward to the challenge ahead and we welcome the support from SPREP and the CSI programme, led by Director Salesa, to ensure we host a successful PMC-8 and PMMM-4,” he added. 

The previous PMC meeting was held in Port Vila, Vanuatu in 2024, and Mr. Levu Antfalo, Director of the Vanuatu Meteorological and Geohazards Department has been serving as the PMC Chair for the past two years. He will officially handover Chairmanship to Tonga in September.