Declaration: Global Framework on Climate Services

The African Union Commission (AUC), African regional economic communities and Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) have declared their support for the Global Framework on Climate Services (GFCS), a UN initiative spearheaded by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) which aims to strengthen and expand the provision of climate services.

The Addis Ababa Declaration of Support for the Global Framework on Climate (GFCS) recognizes that the GFCS will, among other things:
- enable better management of the risks of climate variability and change;
- help African institutions gain better access to knowledge and technologies for climate monitoring, prediction and projection; and
- facilitate synergies and harmonization between existing and upcoming climate-related projects in Africa.

New Chair of UN-Water

During UN-Water's 15th meeting in Stockholm (Sweden), the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Michel Jarraud, was elected as Chair for a two year term . UN-Water coordinates the work of 28 UN agencies on issues relating to fresh water and was established in 2003 to maximize coordination and integration across the UN.
WMO Press Release

International Polar Year Outputs

The World Meteorological Association (WMO) and the International Council for Science presented the findings from the International Polar Year titled "Understanding Earth's Polar Challenges," at the Arctic Science Summit Week in Seoul (ROK). The findings represent research efforts by approximately 50,000 participants between 2007 and 2009. The summary was compiled by 300 authors and reviewers to reveal how the research established baseline data sets for predicting future climate change. The work was also important for advancing coordinated satellite observations of polar ice sheets and developing new measurement systems for permafrost and polar atmosphere.

Arctic: Expansion of World-Wide Navigational Warning System

The World-Wide Navigational Warning System has been expanded to the Arctic regions through the joint efforts of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), The IMO delineated five new Arctic navigational areas, and the WMO delineated five new meteorological areas in June 2010. The responsibility for the navigational and meteorological areas will be divided between Canada, Norway and the Russian Federation. Press Release