KIT and ICPAC Join Forces to Spotlight Early Warning Systems and Introduce SPS Blue Nile at COP28

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) – a regional organisation focusing on increasing climate resilience in 11 East African countries  – unite their expertise to address the crucial issue of early warning systems in the side event “Early Warning, Income Diversification & Food System Transformation for Resilience Building in Africa” at the UN Climate Conference (COP28) in Dubai from November 30 to December 12, 2023, with a focus on introducing the project SPS Blue Nile. Chatham House, an International Affairs think tank, and UK’s national meteorological service, co-host this event.

The two project partners in SPS Blue Nile will provide insights into the project aimed at developing an advanced meteorological-hydrological forecasting system for the Blue Nile Basin spanning across Ethiopia and Sudan. The innovative system adopts a seamless approach, integrating forecast horizons from days to months.  The participation at COP28 comes just after the project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) kicked off with a well-attended, in-person meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from November 6th to 10th, 2023.

In SPS Blue Nile, German and African colleagues aspire to leverage cutting-edge methods, including AI-driven forecasts and cloud-based services. In regions like the Horn of Africa, the combination of high vulnerability to climate change and underdeveloped early warning infrastructure underscore the urgency of advancing these systems. The provided forecasts can be crucial in mitigating the impact of growing extreme weather events, particularly on vulnerable populations, contributing to climate justice.