Pacific Meteorological Week kicks off in the Kingdom of Tonga

8 September, 2026, Nuku’alofa – The Pacific Meteorological Week is officially underway in the Kingdom of Tonga. 

Guided by the theme, Weather Ready for a Secured and Sustainable Pacific, the eighth meeting of the Pacific Meteorological Council (PMC-8) will be held from 10 – 14 September, followed by the fourth Pacific Ministerial Meeting on Meteorology (PMMM-4) on 16 September. 

The Pacific Meteorological Council is a specialised subsidiary body of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), established to facilitate and coordinate the scientific and technical programmes and activities of Pacific National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs).

According to Mr. Salesa Nihmei, Director of SPREP’s Climate Science and Information programme, which also serves as the Secretariat of the PMC, this year’s meetings mark a special milestone for the Pacific meteorological community, as they gather to reflect on the progress and achievements of the past ten years under the Pacific Islands Meteorological Strategy (PIMS) 2017 – 2026. 

“We have come a long way since 2017 and have had many triumphs as well as challenges over the years. This week we gather together as a community to reflect on the path which has brought us to where we are today, and to chart the course for where we want to go in the next ten years,” Mr. Nihmei said. 

The PMC-8 is hosted by the Kingdom of Tonga, and Mr. Laitia Fifita, Director of Tonga Meteorological Services, recognises that pulling off a meeting of this magnitude, with close to 300 participants from Pacific NMHSs, regional CROP agencies, development partners, tertiary institutions, and the private sector, is no small feat. 

“We are grateful for the partnership between the Government of Tonga and SPREP which has enabled us to organise this series of meetings. The last time the PMC was in Tonga was in 2015, and we are proud to welcome the Pacific meteorological community back to our shores once again,” he said. 

A series of pre-meetings began today at the Tanoa Dateline Hotel, with the One Pacific Programme discussions between SPREP and Pacific NMHS Directors, followed by the meetings of the seven PMC Expert Panels. These panels were established to provide technical advice to the Council on matters concerning the development of meteorological services in the region under each thematic area of the PIMS 2017 – 2026. 

The panels met to finalise their recommendations that will go before the PMC proper on Thursday. This includes the Pacific Islands Communications and Infrastructure (PICI) panel, Pacific Islands Climate Services (PICS) panel, Pacific Islands Marine and Oceans (PIMOS) panel,  Pacific Islands Education, Training and Research (PIETR) panel, Pacific Islands Aviation Weather Services (PIAWS) panel, Pacific Hydrological Services (PHS) panel, and Multi-Hazard Early Warning Services (MHEWS) panel. 

A Pacific Media Mana Class will follow on Tuesday and Wednesday 8 and 9 September 2026 at the Tanoa Hotel, bringing together nine Pacific island journalists for a capacity-building workshop and training to help them better understand emerging issues and Pacific priorities on weather and climate. The two-day training is a partnership between SPREP and the Pacific Community (SPC) through the Climate and Oceans Support Program in the Pacific (COSPPac). 

The participants of the media training will then make up the Pacific Media team which will provide coverage of the PMC-8 and PMMM-4 to a range of newspaper, television, radio and online media around the region. 

The Weather Ready Pacific (WRP) Liaison Platform will also be running concurrently on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Fa’onelua Convention Centre. The Liaison Platform is a biennial face-to-face meeting held in conjunction with the PMC to strengthen coordination between WRP and the wider MHEWS community. The platform provides a forum for dialogue, collaboration, information sharing, and strategic advice to the WRP Steering Committee.

The PMC proper will convene from 10 to 14 September 1and will be followed by the PMMM-4 on 16 September 2026.

The Pacific Meteorological Council is a specialised subsidiary body of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) established to facilitate and coordinate the scientific and technical programme and activities of Pacific National Meteorological and Hydrological Services.

The eighth meeting of the Pacific Meteorological Council (PMC-8) is held from 10 – 14 September 2026 in Nuku’alofa, Tonga. It follows a series of pre-meetings which starts on 7 September 2026 and will conclude with the convening of the fourth Pacific Ministerial Meeting on Meteorology (PMMM-4) on 16 September 2026.

The PMC-8 and PMMM-4 are made possible through the partnership and collaboration between the Government of Tonga, SPREP, World Meteorological Organization-Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (WMO-CREWS) project, United Kingdom-Weather and Climate Information Systems (UK-WISER), Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), Weather Ready Pacific Programme (WRPP), European Union-funded Intra-ACP Climate Services and Applications programme (ClimSA), Climate and Oceans Support Program in the Pacific (COSPPac), Republic of Korea-Pacific Islands Climate Prediction Services Phase 3 project (ROK-PI CliPS 3), Apec Climate Centre (APCC), and the Pacific Community (SPC).