Sponsor Guidance for GCOS

Keith AlversonIOC/UNESCO

Ocean Observations and Services

GCOS Steering Committee Meeting, 28 Sep – 1 Oct 2010, Geneva

XXV IOC Assembly 2009 urged Member States to

• designate a GCOS National Coordinator, representing all national agencies involved in ocean, atmospheric, and terrestrial climate observations;

• speed up the implementation of agreed actions that were reported as showing slow progress in the GCOS Progress Report;

• support the OceanObs’09 Conference, through the involvement of national scientific experts and representatives of relevant national agencies.

XLIII Executive Council 2010

• highlighted the necessity of sustained observations for both climate research and services, and for national climate adaptation strategies in the coastal zone.

• commended Member States for their efforts in implementation

• expressed concern with the slowing of progress and with the fragility of the arrangements that support sustained observations.

XLIII Executive Council 2010•noted the importance of GO-SHIP for climate monitoring and prediction, encouraged OOPC to ensure this was part of a comprehensive strategy for deep-ocean observations and supported the GO-SHIP initiative.

•welcomed OOPC efforts to improve its real-time ocean climate indices in the framework of regional climate impacts and called on Member States to provide the IOC Secretariat with examples of the use of ocean climate indices in national or local decision making for inclusion in the OOPC State of the Ocean website.

•urged Member States to address identified priorities and gaps, and to ensure the sustained long-term operation of essential in situ and space-based ocean observing networks;

Executive Secretary 2010

• Supports GCOS as an important co-sponsored program delivering on IOC High Level Objective 2: Mitigation of the impacts of and adaptation to climate change and variability

• Strongly encourages actions be taken to improve the gender balance on the GCOS SC and the OOPC

• Suggests bringing expertise in climate change adaptation, specifically sealevel rise adaptation, onto the GCOS SC