World Meteorological Organization Working together in weather, climate and water

1. WMO World Meteorological OrganizationWorking together in weather, climate and water WMO RA VI Sub-regional Workshop on Establishing a Marine Meteorological Centre for the Adriatic Sea Area Zagreb, Croatia, 16-17 May 2012 Sub-regional Initiative on Marine Services for Adriatic Sea Area – relevance to WMO Strategic and Operating Plan D. Ivanov, WMO Regional Office for Europe WMO www.wmo.int

2. Outline WMO • Briefly about WMO • WMO Strategic and Operating Plan 2012-2015 • Regional Association VI Collaboration Scenario • Sub-regional approach • Zagreb Initiative 2

3. About WMO WMO • The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It is the UN system's authoritative voice on the state and behaviour of the Earth's atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, the climate it produces and the resulting distribution of water resources. • WMO promotes cooperation in the establishment of networks for making meteorological, climatological, hydrological and geophysical observations, as well as the exchange, processing and standardization of related data, and assists technology transfer, training and research. • It also fosters collaboration between the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services of its Members and furthers the application of meteorology to public weather services, agriculture, aviation, shipping, the environment, water issues and the mitigation of the impacts of natural disasters. • More on www.wmo.int 3

4. About WMO WMO • The international cooperation in meteorology has a long history. Interestingly for this meeting, the major driver for such cooperation was the need of the maritime transport. • In 1853, the Brussels Convention on naval meteorology had created a widely used standard meteorological logbook for ships at sea. These logs constitute the oldest continuous quasi-global meteorological record. • In 1873 the national weather services throughout Europe and the United States founded the International Meteorological Organization (IMO). • In October 1947 the World Meteorological Convention was signed by 31 governments. It entered into force in 1950 and in 1951 the IMO officially became the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). • Today, WMO has 189 Member States. 4

5. About WMO WMO • WMO Convention: • Members need to work together to coordinate, standardize, improve and encourage efficiencies in the exchange of meteorological, climatological, hydrological and related information between them, in the aid of human activities. • WMO, as a specialized agency of UN on weather, climate and water, establishes international regulations in the form of standards and recommended practices, which its Members should “do their utmost” to implement. This is critical for the operation of a seamless multipurpose global monitoring system. 5

6. WMO Planning&Implementation Process WMO • All WMO activities are governed by a 4-year Strategic Plan adopted by Congress. Currently, WMO Strategic Plan (2012-2015) is being implemented • The Strategic Plan is implemented through an action-oriented Operating Plan (OP) composed of Operating Plans of the Technical Commissions, Regional Associations and Secretariat • Geopolitically, the implementation process is mostly 3-dimensional: • Global • Regional • National 6

7. WMO Strategic Plan 2012-2015 WMO 7

8. WMO Strategic Plan 2012-2015 WMO 8

9. WMO Strategic Plan 2012-2015 WMO 9

10. WMO Strategic Priorities 2012-2015 WMO A B C D E 10

11. Regional Association VI Operating Plan WMO • Cg-XVI decided that there will be one Strategic Plan. WMO Secretariat, the RAs and TCs will develop Operating Plans, which will form the WMO-wide OP. • The OPs are action-oriented and include specific Key Outcomes (KO) and Key Performance Indicators (KPI). • RA VI OP 2012-2015 has been developed (approval by President of RA VI expected in July 2012). It accords high priority to the WIS and WIGOS implementation by RA VI Members. • Sub-regional initiatives and establishment of collaborative facilities for enhancing Member’s capacity in service provision are among the best working methods used in the regional implementation effort. 11

12. RA VI Collaboration Scenario WMO • Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres (RSMC) • RSMCs with Geographical Specialization (6) • RSMC for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (1 – ECMWF) • RSMCs for the provision of transport model procedures for environmental emergency responses (5) • Regional Climate Centres • in RA VI a Network of RCCs has been established as the major regional component of the GFCS. The network consists of 3 nodes and 10 contributing centres (NMHSs) • Regional Instrument Centres (3) • Regional Training Centres (4) • Other collaborative formats / partnerships • Regional Climate Outlook Forums (SEECOF, NEACOF) • Drought Management Centre for SE Europe • Virtual Climate Change Centre for South-East Europe (VCCCSEE) • Met Alliance (aeronautical meteorological service providers from seven West-European countries) 12

13. Sub-regional approach WMO • Sub-regional – a pragmatic approach (win-win) • Characteristics: • Based on commonalities: • Requirements • Geography, climate • Capacity, resources • Language, culture • Etc. • UN promotes the regionalism and multilateral approach • WMO promotes establishment of regional facilities, e.g., Regional Centres (in-practice, many of them are sub-regional by nature with defined area of responsibility and scope) 13

14. Sub-regional approach WMO • Sub-regional – a pragmatic approach (win-win) • Characteristics: • Advantages of multilateral cooperation: • Sharing of resources – brings efficiency • Common approach and technology – brings harmonization • Users receive the same level of services – brings seamlessness • Combined resources for technological development – brings potential for continuous improvement • Increases cross-border exchange of information and knowledge – brings mutual understanding, cooperation and partnership • Disadvantages: • If the rules of mutual understanding and fair-play apply, it is difficult to find any disadvantages 14

15. Zagreb Initiative WMO • Regional Collaborative Initiative for Enhancing Marine Services in Adriatic Sea Area (the Zagreb Initiative) • Fully in line with: • WMO Strategic Plan, RA VI Operating Plan • WMO Technical Regulations • [C.1.] 3.2 Regional cooperation • [C.1.] 3.2.1 In servicing coastal or off-shore activities which are of interest to more than one country bordering the same sea basin, Members should arrange for mutual exchange of marine meteorological information including observational data, warnings and forecasts which might contribute in any way to the safety of human life and preservation of the marine environment. 15

16. Zagreb Initiative WMO • Regional Collaborative Initiative for Enhancing Marine Services in Adriatic Sea Area (the Zagreb Initiative) • Fully in line with: • WMO Strategy on Service Delivery • WMO Strategy on Capacity Development • Expected Results: • Will demonstrate a “win-win” approach in the implementation of WMO WIS and WIGOS Strategic Area • Will evolve in establishment of regional facility (centre) for marine services for the benefit of all stakeholders • Will serve as a showcase and a demonstration project for the WIS and WIGOS Implementation 16

17. Way Ahead WMO • Practicalities: • Scope • Requirements • Users (e.g., service to NMHSs or to end-users) • Products • Technology (e.g., a common web service portal) • Focal Points • Working mechanisms • How non-NMHSs stakeholders will be engaged • Funding • All these need to be addressed through in a Roadmap document developed in cooperation with all stakeholders • Important! – Keep the momentum of this kick-off meeting and proceed in a good speed to the operational phase. WMO Secretariat will be happy to assist. 17

18. WMO THANK YOU! 18