Scientists and climate service providers, high-level policy-makers, global business leaders and decision-makers from the public and private sectors will gather in Geneva, Switzerland, at the beginning of September for the third World Climate Conference, the WCC-3.
"We invite media to be a major participant in the conference. We will hold, for example, a roundtable on how to communicate climate information to the general public, a session where weather presenters from all over the world have been invited", Christophe Jacob, Director for the World Meteorological Organization told reporters in Brussels earlier this week.
The overarching theme of the Conference is "Climate prediction and information for decision-making: focusing on scientific advances in seasonal to interannual timescales, taking into account multi-decadal prediction". The two previous conferences, held in 1979 and 1990 played an important role in enhancing capabilities to observe and assess the climate, and they also led to the establishment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The WCC-3 is expected to lead to a Global Framework for Climate Services that would help all sectors adapt to a changing climate by incorporating climate prediction and information services into decision-making.
"This conference is a milestone on the road to Copenhagen", said Elisabeth Lipiatou from
the Climate and Natural Hazards Unit at the Research Directorate at European Commission, adding that while the United Nations climate summit taking place in Copenhagen in December will be a political meeting, the WCC-3 will set the research agenda and provide a scientific framework.
As the focus of the conference will be on the integration of climate prediction and information in decision-making in relation to user needs, there will be parallel sessions for sectors that contribute to sustainable socio-economic development such as agriculture and food security, energy, water, health, tourism, disaster management and transport.
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