Climate Classroom @ COP29 – Climate Services for Climate Action

Veronica is a civil engineer with more than 20 years' experience in disaster risk reduction and adaptation both at national and international levels. She holds a Ph.D. on early warning systems from the University of Naples, in collaboration with the University of California at Berkeley and the California Institute of Technology. She is author of more than 40 scientific publications. As Scientific and Programme Officer at the World Meteorological Organization, she lead a new multi-agency flagship publication, coordinated by WMO: the "State of Climate Services" report series. Before joining WMO, she worked as Programme Specialist in the Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery Team at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), providing technical support to UNDP country offices on disaster risk reduction. She also worked as project and portfolio manager at the United Nations Environment Programme, the Group on Earth Observations at WMO, and United Nations Volunteers.

Nakiete is a dedicated data enthusiast with over five years of experience in data analysis and management, with a growing passion for data visualization. Her career is marked by a commitment to transforming complex datasets into actionable insights that support global decision-making. She holds a master’s degree in business administration from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, China, which complements her expertise in data, project management, and strategic problem-solving.<br /> Currently, Nakiete serves as an Assistant Scientific Officer within the Technical Coordination and Global Framework for Climate Services division at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). In this role, she focuses on analyzing climate services capacities data and climate policy documents—turning complex information related to weather, water, and climate into meaningful insights. Her work contributes to key WMO publications, such as the State of Climate Services Report and Regional State of Climate Reports. These reports play a pivotal role in shaping international climate adaptation strategies, identifying gaps, and providing recommendations on where climate finance should be directed to maximize impact. By helping inform policies and guiding climate investment, her efforts contribute to strengthening the resilience of communities facing growing climate challenges.

Since 2016, Vincent Amelie is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Seychelles Meteorological Authority (SMA) and the Permanent Representative (PR) of Seychelles with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). As of 2023, Mr Amelie is also the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Focal Point for Seychelles. Mr Amelie holds a Master’s degree in Applied Meteorology and Climate with Management from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom through a Chevening Scholarship Award, as well as a Bachelor's degree in Meteorology from the University of Nairobi.<br /> <br /> Mr Amelie has 33 years' working experience in the Seychelles meteorological services, whose mandate is to provide early warnings on weather and climate phenomena and tsunami in Seychelles and to provide meteorological services for international air and sea navigation. In his role as SMA CEO, he is also responsible to advise the government and other agencies on meteorological matters and provide supportive roles and responsibilities to disaster management authorities in relation to disaster management, response and risk reduction. As the PR of Seychelles with WMO, Mr Amelie is leading the strategic thinking for strengthening National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in the Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO).<br /> <br /> Mr Amelie has published a number of technical and scientific articles related to global ensemble predict of tropical cyclones.