Climate Sense

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Danish alliances with the developing world

on climate change and adaptation

Dr Wilhelm May, Senior Scientist, Danish Meteorological Institute

he Danish Ministry of Climate and Energy was estab-

lished in 2007 as a part of the government’s increased

efforts to promote a greener and more sustainable society.

One of its main tasks is the preparation of the United Nations

COP15 climate conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.

The ministry consists of several agencies conducting climate

research projects in developing countries in close partnership

with both Danish and local agencies in the target nations. The

following examples are centred around the experiences of the

Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI).

From 2009 to 2012, DMI will collaborate with the Sokone University

of Agriculture in Tanzania and the Tanzania Meteorological Agency

in a research project on the availability of water resources for agri-

culture under future climate conditions in northern Tanzania. The

aim of connecting these three institutions is to give Tanzania the

ability to prepare for future climate change.

During the same period DMI will be part of a ‘twinning-project’

with the Zambia Meteorological Department (ZMD). The aim of

this project, which has been initiated by the Royal

Danish Embassy in Lusaka, is to improve ZMD’s capac-

ity in climate monitoring and modelling as well as in

the dissemination of weather and climate products.

As a result, ZMD will be better prepared for providing

weather and climate-related information and services

to the public, as well as to various stakeholders, both

governmental and private.

In particular, ZMD will be better qualified to

provide important information and advice to

governmental bodies on the issue of climate change

in Zambia. It is envisaged, for example, that ZMD

will be more able to provide detailed data on both

present-day Zambian climate variability and future

climate conditions, which is the basis for the National

Adaptation Programme of Action on Climate Change

(NAPA), formulated by the Ministry of Tourism,

Environment and Natural Resources. Moreover,

it is envisaged that ZMD will be better positioned

Meteorological station, Lusaka International Airport, Zambia

Image: John Cappelen