Denmark partners with GMet to improve meteorological capabilities

The Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) and Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) have signed a Strategic Sector Cooperation on Meteorology and Climate to promote green transition in agriculture, renewable energy, environmental protection, and urban development.

Held on Tuesday, January 30, at the Denmark Embassy in Accra, the event had representation of key personalities in Ghana and Denmark, including the Danish Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Tom Norring, Director-General of the Denmark Meteorological Institute, Marianne Thyrring, Acting Director-General of the Ghana Meteorological Agency, Eric Asuman, and Deputy Minister for Communication and Digitalization, Ama Pomaa Boateng.

The collaboration is one of four such partnerships between Ghana and Denmark, the other three being in the areas of maritime, water, and statistics.

Denmark’s Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Tom Norring, asserted that, with sectoral collaboration, Denmark will support Ghana in adapting to climate change “with the aid of the sector counsellor in charge of meteorology and climate at the Embassy, the Danish Meteorological Institute, and other Danish institutions.”

For his part, the Acting Director-General of the GMet, Eric Asuman, stated that climate change is no longer a distant threat but a pressing reality that affects every corner of the planet, including Ghana.

According to him, the partnership seeks to improve Ghana’s early warning systems and planning for climate adaptation by making better use of meteorological and climate data while improving people’s standard of living.

“The overall focus of the collaboration is to strengthen the use of climate and meteorological information in climate adaptation planning and Ghana’s early warning systems.”

“This partnership will enhance livelihoods and resilience, economic growth and investment, and strengthen diplomatic relations,” Mr. Asuman said.

On the effectiveness and realisation of the visions in the partnership, Deputy Minister for Communication and Digitalization Hon. Ama Pomaa Boateng expressed confidence that the partnership will enhance the operations of GMet.

“Recognizing the limitations faced by GMet, like most meteorological and hydroelectric institutions in Africa, we are of the firm belief that the cooperation with DMI will strengthen and enhance the operations of GMet.”.

She added that her ministry has aligned itself with key priority areas in the partnership, which include capacity building, data management, communication and technology, and climate modelling, among others, to facilitate the growth of GMet.

Hon. Pomaa Boateng further disclosed that the government is working to allocate some $5.5 million under the Ghana Digital Acceleration Project to automate and digitalize the operations of GMet to ultimately enhance their efficiency.

Director-General of the Denmark Meteorological Institute, Marianne Thyrring, explained that the collaboration will focus on developing a Climate Atlas plan that will project physical changes in climate parameters such as precipitation, temperature, sea level rise, and greenhouse emissions, which will project the climate change down to a district level.

Ms. Thyrring added that the Atlas plan will aid in decision-making and preparations in the future and facilitate the retraining of GMet staff on weather forecasting.