APEC climate symposium 2013

Drought is primarily a climate phenomenon wherein a region experiences less than normal precipitation over an extended period of time. Prolonged occurrences of drought can present significant challenges to agriculture, forestry, water resources management, urban planning, and food security. Climate change will increase the frequency, duration, and intensity of drought events and, to face these mounting challenges, economies and societies must develop systems to better prepare for and manage droughts and other natural disasters. Reliable drought prediction and monitoring enable decision-makers to make well-reasoned management decisions, coordinate responses of government agencies, direct emergency relief, and reduce vulnerability to drought-related hazards.

This international symposium will explore the importance of advance climate information for supporting drought preparedness and disaster management. This event will be the first of its kind to specifically examine drought in the Asia-Pacific region. Over three days, the event will examine topics such as the latest innovative techniques in drought and seasonal climate prediction, the development of Early Warning Systems (EWS), drought response and risk management planning, regional cooperation on drought response, and information transfer and communication networks.

The capacities of APEC economies to predict drought and future climate events vary greatly across the region. As part of the project activities, a structured training exercise will be conducted to educate participants from developing economies on computing and using various drought indices along with spatial modeling techniques to quantify and assess drought vulnerability in their economy. This training exercise will enhance the ability of these participants to create evidence-based strategies to develop drought resilience. The APEC Climate Center (APCC) will draw upon its expertise in conducting regional capacity building workshops to lead this training exercise.