9 October 2008: European countries met from 9-10 October
2008, in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova, to discuss practical ways to reduce the
impacts of natural hazards through strengthened collaboration among the World
Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) National Meteorological and Hydrological
Services and disaster risk management institutions.

The meeting was hosted by
the Republic of Moldova and organized by the WMO, with the support of the UN
International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UN/ISDR), the World Bank
through the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, and the Group
on Earth Observations. The regional conference brought together senior
government officials and representatives of intergovernmental and
non-governmental organizations as well as private entities. WMO President
Alexander Bedritsky underlined the critical role of National Meteorological and
Hydrological Services in addressing challenges related to natural hazards
caused by climate variability and change, “since accurate and timely weather-,
climate- and water-related products and services are prerequisites for the
successful formulation and implementation of adaptive response policies and
measures, especially to climate extremes.”
Salvano Briceño, Director of the
UN/ISDR Secretariat, sees the conference as “a concrete regional effort to
improve the capacity of European countries to better protect their populations
against climate disasters which will be more severe and frequent in the
future.” The meeting is expected to contribute to international deliberations
on disaster risk reduction, notably the third World Climate Conference, to be
held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 31 August to 4 September 2009. [WMO
Press Release]