Presentation made by Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the WMO, GWP Consulting Partners Meeting, 26. August 2012, Stockholm, Sweden

1. Beyond Rio+20: Water Security as a Catalyst for
Climate-Resilient Development
A GLOBAL FRAMEWORK
FOR CLIMATE SERVICES
by M. Jarraud
WMO Secretary-General
Presented at the
Global Water Partnership's
Annual Consulting Partners
Meeting
(Stockholm, 26 August 2012)

2. The climate system
2
(IPCC 2007)

3. Global, regional & local effects affect
different societies in different ways
3
(From WMO Pub No. 952)

4. El Niño forecasting:
a successful
example

5. Climate change introduces additional
complexity and uncertainty
 The past is no longer a trustworthy indicator of the future
 New paradigms required to support decision-making

6. Key anticipated
impacts on water
 Altered precipitation regimes at different
latitudes
 Regional variations in flooding and
drought
 Water stored in glaciers and snow cover
projected to decline
 Induced changes in soil moisture &
vapotranspiration
 Mounting salinity intrusion through sea-
level rise Peru's Quelccaya ice cap
(National Geographic
Society )

7. Billions of USD per decade Geological
495
500
450 Hydrometeorological
400 345
350
300
Economic losses 250
200 160
related to disasters 150
88
103
are increasing 100
50 4 11 14
24
47
0
56-65 66-75 76-85 86-95 96-05
decade
Millions of casualties per decade Geological
But we are 3
2.66
Hydrometeorological
saving lives 2.5
2 1.73
1.5
Source: EM-DAT: The
OFDA/CRED 1 0.65 0.67
International Disaster
0.39
Database 0.5 0.22 0.25 0.22
0.17
0.05
0 7
56-65 66-75 76-85 86-95 96-05
decade

8. WMO and UN-Water at
Rio + 20
8

9. Climate information
for decision-making
Identifying the potential users
 Agriculture and food security
 Disaster risk reduction
 Energy production, transport and usage
 Finance and insurance
 Health
 Water quality and water
resources management
 Trade and commerce
 Transport
 Tourism
 Urban development/management
 Recreation and sports
 ...and many more... 9

10. 10

11. 11

12. 4 initial GFCS priority sectors
 Water
 Food security
 Health
 Disaster risk reduction
12

13. GFCS structure
13

14. 3 key challenges: 1) Bridging global observational gaps
2) Incorporating non-traditional data
3) Data exchange issues
14

15. Research, Modeling and Prediction: towards a
seamless transition

16. Climate Services
Information System
16

17. User Interface Platform
17

18. Examples of initial
GFCS elements
31st Greater Horn of Africa Climate
Outlook Forum; Djibouti, May 2012
Capacity Development to
extend GFCS benefits to the IGAD Pilot RCC: Greater Horn of
developing world Africa consensus-driven climate
18
outlook; July - September 2011

19. Other examples

20. Possible initial implementation
activities & projects
 Establish Framework leadership & management
 Define national mandates in climate services provision
 Strengthen capabilities in disaster risk reduction
 Improve communication between climate, agriculture
and food security communities
 Enhance partnerships between climate services and
water resources management
 Develop national working groups in climate and health
 Improve decision-making on climate-related risks
 Strengthen climate information regional infrastructure
 Advance in data recovery and digitizing
 Launch pilot projects

21. Summing-up
 3 closely-related issues:
 Adaptation to climate
variability and change
 Disaster risk reduction
 Sustainable development &
societal benefits
 Requirements:
 Reinforcing developing
countries' adaptive
capabilities
 Multidisciplinary partnerships
across all sectors
 Capacity building to be seen
as an investment, not an
expenditure
A key opportunity:
 A Global Framework for
Climate Services

22. Thank you
22