The meeting is jointly organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the Coordination Action on Carbon Observation Systems (COCOS) of the European Commission. The meeting aims to: present the latest scientific developments in understanding the global carbon cycle; present an overview of the building and implementation of a Global Carbon Observing System for land, oceans and atmosphere; and identify progress and gaps in obtaining politically meaningful estimates of regional carbon budgets on land and ocean. Sessions will address: progress in observing techniques and methodology for land, ocean and atmosphere, including network design, space borne techniques and in situ observations; progress in data model fusion; development of regional carbon budgets for land and ocean; verification requirements in a post-Cancun world; and interfacing carbon cycle knowledge with society, needs, uncertainties and challenges.  

dates: 24-26 October 2011   venue: FAO headquarters   location: Rome, Italy   contact: Paola Cardenas   phone: +39 06-570 5351   e-mail: Paola.Cardenas@fao.org   www: http://dwms.fao.org/geo-carbon/