30 June 2008: The Executive Council of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), during its annual session held in Geneva from 18-27 June 2008, agreed on ways of improving climate, weather, water and environmental predictions and further advancing global observing systems.
The Council endorsed the concept of seamless climate, weather, water and environmental prediction research to […]
30
June 2008: The Executive Council of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO),
during its annual session held in Geneva from 18-27 June 2008, agreed on ways
of improving climate, weather, water and environmental predictions and further
advancing global observing systems.
The
Council endorsed the concept of seamless climate, weather, water and
environmental prediction research to enable improved and new products,
information and services for managing risks associated with climate change and
variability, and for developing adaptation and mitigation plans worldwide. A
major focus will be on delivery of these new information and services for
region-specific decisions and solutions for food production, water resources
management, environment, health, transportation and energy. In particular, the
Council called on the WMO co-sponsored World Climate Research Programme to
focus on the development of regional downscaling techniques for seasonal and
interannual climate models. In addition, the Council endorsed the plan to
establish the first WMO designated Regional Climate Centres (RCCs) in 2009.
They will provide a crucial link between global and national scale climate
information, and help develop improved climate predictions and assessments to support
adaptation to climate variability and change. The Council also welcomed the
development of a WMO initiative to support adaptation to climate variability
and change. The purpose of this initiative will be to “to strengthen
coordination and enhance the provision of user-oriented climate information,
products, advisories and services and to thereby support national and regional
climate risk assessment, climate adaptation planning and implementation
practices for sustainable development.” Further, the Council strongly endorsed
WMO activities for disaster risk reduction and agreed on actions towards
further improvements in the generation, exchange and availability of data and
information for climate monitoring and prediction, particularly through the
Global Climate Observing System. The next session of the Executive Council will
be held from 3-12 June 2009. [WMO Press
Release]