11 July 2008: In a speech delivered during the conference
The European
Union (EU) and its Overseas Entities: Strategies to Counter Climate Change and
Biodiversity Loss,” which was hosted on Reunion Island,
Mauritius, from 7-11 July 2008, under the auspices of the French Presidency of
the Council of the EU, Michel Jarraud,
Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), provided
an overview of the Organization’s history and work in tackling climate change.
He outlined the repercussions of
climate variability and climate change on human activity and ecosystems, as
described in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment
Report, and underscored the importance of multidisciplinary partnerships among
all stakeholders. Jarraud listed possible
key priorities for the EU Outermost Regions and the Overseas Countries and
Territories, some African, Caribbean and Pacific signatories of the Lomé
Convention and Cotonou Agreement, and for Small Island Developing States to
address the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and the consequent
biodiversity loss, including: improving monitoring to assess the impact of
future climate change on ecosystems; increasing the efficient use of natural
resources; strengthening capacity building for effective management of
biodiversity-related issues; improving science and technology to minimize
losses and damages by extreme weather events; and establishing regional climate
change and biodiversity monitoring networks. He recalled the WMO’s support to
the Convention on Biological Diversity; its pledge to contribute to the
implementation of the Nairobi Work Programme on Impacts, Vulnerability and
Adaptation; and its role in the provision of a knowledge base for adaptation in
the context of the UN System-wide coordination of climate activities. He closed
by noting that the WMO will organize the third World Climate Conference from 31
August to 4 September 2009, in Geneva, Switzerland, under the theme “climate prediction for decision-making.” [WMO Secretary-General’s speech]