The Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service (TTMS) in collaboration with the Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) held the National Climate Outlook Forum, on November 19^th 2015, at the Division of Infrastructure and Public Utilities’ conference room.

 

The National Climate Outlook Forum (NCOF) is an operational activity which links climate information being generated by the TTMS with stakeholder institutions, and their decision-making processes in order to improve application of climate information, particularly the seasonal climate outlooks.

The Forum was used to investigate pathways to integrate the seasonal outlook into sector planning based on its applicability. The presentations focused on the objectives of NCOF, a presentation of the Dry Season Outlook, and there were nine (9) short presentations entailing user perspectives on seasonal outlook, experiences and benefits, highlighting the use of climate outlook in decision-making. These presentations were:

 

• Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management- Benefits and preparation methods used after the 2015 wet season climate outlook was issued.

 

• Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA)- Feedback on the use of rainfall outlook into planning and decision making the Water Resource Management and resulting added value

 

• The Hotel Sector: Use of seasonal climate variables in decision making and planning on the tourism sector

 

• Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA): Climate services to mitigate the risks posed by dry spells and droughts in the agriculture production and planning in Trinidad and Tobago

 

• Cocoa Research Unit (UWI): Climate impacts and resilience in Caribbean cocoa with focus on Trinidad and Tobago.

 

The forum ended in groups meeting in breakout sessions to discuss the usefulness and interpretation of the Seasonal Climate Outlook information and preparedness measures for the upcoming day season.