Eleventh Session of South Asian Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF-11) commenced today at Hotel Jen. The opening ceremony of this forum was inaugurated by Minister of State for Environment and Energy, Mr. Abdullahi Majeed. The objective of the forum is to prepare consensus seasonal climate information on regional scale that provides a consistent basis for preparing national level outlooks. Such platforms also serve to interact with user sector to understand and enhance the use of climate information as envisaged by Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS).

Rainfall and temperatures during the months from October to February are of crucial importance to key sectors like agriculture, water, energy and health in the South Asian Region. Winter SASCOF’s were started in 2015 keeping in view of the importance of winter seasonal climate to these key user factors.

This forum is held from 25-27 September 2017. Regional Integrated Multi-hazard Early-warning System for Asia and Africa (RIMES) will be supporting SASCOF-11 through funds available from the Government of Canada. SASCOF-11 will produce a consensus climate outlook for the winter season for South Asia.

The forum will also review requirements of the user sectors and difficulties faced during translation of the seasonal climate information.