22 February 2010: The World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Commission for Climatology (CCI) is holding its 15th session in Antalya, Turkey, from 19-24 February 2010, to discuss an action plan for providing improved climate services to the global community.

The meeting has gathered around 150 experts from 84 countries, including representatives from the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, as well as experts from academia and international organizations. The action plan is expected to include the establishment of an Open Panel of Experts that will focus on the following thematic areas: climate data management; global and regional climate monitoring and assessment; climate products and services; and climate information for adaptation and risk management.
Opening the CCI session, Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the WMO, highlighted the contributions made by CCI experts who demonstrated the reality of the climate change challenge and that every social, economic and environmental sector is critically susceptible to climate variability and change. Jarraud pointed out that the WMO, through the CCl, has been improving climate system monitoring on various timescales, in particular by incorporating knowledge access and tools for climate change index analysis.
The President of the CCI Pierre Bessemoulin (France) underlined a number of developments, including implementation activities under the UNFCCC Nairobi Work Programme on Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation, and input into the development of the Global Framework for Climate Services, which was the major outcome of the third World Climate Conference held in 2009. [WMO Press Release] [Meeting website]