Geneva, 30 June 2009 (WMO)
- Key tools to help countries adapt to climate
change will be developed at the World Climate
Conference-3 (WCC-3),
which will take place in Geneva from 31
August to 4 September. The meeting will
bring together high-level decision-makers,
scientists, policy-makers, and business
leaders to initiate a Global Framework for
Climate Services to boost climate adaptation.
The Framework will be
especially relevant to Africa, a region
that is already highly vulnerable to climate
change due to water scarcity, strong dependence
on agricultural production and high population
concentration along the coastal regions.
Through the crucial adaptation angle, WCC-3
will feed into the ongoing work on climate
change as intensive negotiations continue
on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and
mitigating climate change.
The African continent
is greatly impacted by climate variability
and change, and the impacts are growing,
according to a 2006 report on impacts, vulnerability
and adaptation in Africa, released by the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) and based on data from bodies
including the World Meteorological Organization
(WMO) and the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP).
Changes in the frequency
of droughts, heatwaves, floods, storms,
frost-freezes and locusts require that the
agriculture, water, transport, tourism and
health sectors, among others, take adaptation
measures to cope with the impacts of climate
change. Such actions require improvements
in climate and weather monitoring capabilities
and better links between climate research
and policy-making.
"By enhancing climate
services for all communities, the World
Climate Conference (WCC-3) will support
poverty alleviation through strengthening
provision of climate information for food,
health and water management decisions, as
well as disaster risk reduction. It will
therefore contribute to the achievement
of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
and the Hyogo Framework for Action on Disaster
Risk Reduction," said Kenyan Prime
Minister Raila Odinga.
"The Conference
should result in improved observational
networks especially in developing countries;
enhanced ability of governments, societies,
and institutions to access and use climate
prediction and information for adaptation
to climate change; and strengthened scientific
and technical capabilities to provide more
credible and user-oriented climate information
and predictions by reinforcing international,
national and regional scientific mechanisms,"
the Prime Minister added.
Accurate and timely
climate information helps communities to
both identify the risks and to develop strategies
for planning ahead. In Botswana, for example,
climate models showing the distribution
of precipitation in the region are provide
early warning of malaria epidemics, aiding
public health workers allocate resources.
"National Meteorological
and Hydrological Services provide time-critical
information that is crucial in key sectors
that drive the economy, and in decision-making,
to assist vulnerable communities to build
resilience to the vagaries of weather and
climate," said Joseph R. Mukabana,
Director of the Kenya Meteorological Department
and Permanent Representative of Kenya to
WMO.
The WCC-3 Global Framework
for Climate Services will enhance access
to user-friendly climate predictions and
information to better manage such climate-related
risks. It will integrate climate observations,
research, assessments and predictions in
order to generate information and services
required for factoring climate variability
and change into socio-economic decision-making.
In so doing, the Framework will help efforts
to alleviate poverty and hunger in Africa
by providing actionable information to boost
food security and to help communities prepare
for natural hazards.
WCC-3 is organized by
the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
with United Nations partners and other international
organizations, as well as regional and national
partners, and is hosted by Switzerland.
It will promote the exchange of practical
solutions to address the impacts of climate
now and will consider a blueprint for the
Global Framework for Climate Services. Currently
under consultation by stakeholders at the
international and national levels, the Framework
is intended to bridge the gap between climate
information providers and users.
The Global Framework
consists of four main components: a renewed
commitment to climate observations and the
free and open availability of data; strengthened
focus on climate modelling and prediction
research; a new Climate Services Information
System; and a new Climate Services Application
Programme. Through these components, the
Framework aims to build capacity in developing
countries and to support the application
of climate services for climate-resilient
development.
The focus on capacity
building is especially crucial in Africa,
where estimates from the 2006 UNFCCC report
indicate that about 25 per cent out of the
Global Climate Observing System surface
stations in east and southern Africa are
not working and most of the remaining stations
are functioning in a less than desirable
manner.
While the Framework
will work to shore up this baseline monitoring,
it will also develop an effective interface
between the providers and users of climate
services, applying existing scientific capabilities
to rising challenges for the global society.
The move to establish this Framework comes
in the wake of the Nairobi Declaration,
adopted by 30 African countries, which urges
the international community to base increased
support for Africa on the priorities for
the continent, which include adaptation,
capacity-building, financing and technology
development and transfer.
WMO has been at the
forefront of the climate agenda for the
past four decades. The first two World Climate
Conferences, in 1979 and 11000, were groundbreaking
in their impacts, heralding awareness of
climate change and new observational and
research capacities to monitor and understand
the climate.
"WCC-3 has a transformational
ability - enabling society to take full
advantage of climate science and meteorological
and hydrological information for building
green and sustainable socio-economic progress,"
said Mr Michel Jarraud, WMO Secretary-General.
"Now, there is
an urgent need for a major injection of
resources into existing international climate
programmes and the application of climate
predictions and information through the
national research and service communities,"
said Mr John Zillman, Chair of the WCC-3
International Organizing Committee. "As
a mechanism to help that happen, WCC-3 is
a decade overdue."
WCC-3 will bring together
high-level policy-makers, scientists, business
leaders and decision-makers at the Geneva
International Conference Centre. The Expert
Segment from 31 August to 2 September will
engage multidisciplinary scientists and
experts the world-over in discussions over
the current needs and capabilities for climate
services. The High-Level Segment from 3
to 4 September is attracting Heads of State
and Government, ministers and other senior
policy-makers. The High-Level Segment will
culminate in the adoption of a declaration,
which is expected to endorse the Global
Framework for Climate Services.
The Conference is made
possible through extra-budgetary contributions
to a Trust Fund and in-kind services from
sponsors. Contributions and commitments
have been received from the Governments
of Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland,
Italy, Japan, Kenya, Namibia, Norway, Pakistan,
Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Spain,
Switzerland and the United States of America,
as well as the European Commission, the
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
and the United Nations Environment Programme.
WCC-3 will mark a critical
point in global efforts toward climate adaptation
as the necessary complement to international
negotiations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Notes to Editors:
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climate and water.
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