SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN MESSAGE TO GENEVA MEETING, URGES WORLD METEOROLOGICAL BODY TO CONTINUE VITAL WORK ON WEATHER, CLIMATE, WATER

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the fifteenth World Meteorological Congress, to be held in Geneva on 7 May:

It is a great pleasure to send greetings to all the participants of the fifteenth World Meteorological Congress.

Your session takes place at a time of unprecedented public awareness of the importance of weather, climate and water and their relation to sustainable development.

Through its exceptional global observation and telecommunication networks, WMO [World Meteorological Organization] facilitates the international exchange of essential and timely information related to weather, climate and water.  This capability is vital, in particular, to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.  WMO’s efforts support agriculture and contribute to food security.  They improve health through water-quality management and through the prediction of conditions that facilitate the propagation of vector-borne disease.  And through the operation of early warning systems, WMO helps with the prevention and mitigation of natural hazards.

WMO also plays an important role in promoting scientific understanding of the global climate at a time when climate change is rising on the international agenda.  According to the most recent assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which your Organization sponsors together with the United Nations Environment Programme, warming of the planet is now unequivocal, its impact is clearly noticeable, and it is beyond doubt that human activities have been contributing considerably to it.  WMO and national meteorological and hydrological services can greatly assist societies in adapting.

At no other time in history have there been so many expectations from the sciences of meteorology and hydrology.  I urge you to continue your efforts to promote enhanced applications of science and technology, including the use of climate and weather information, and to improve predictions and early warnings on impending weather and climate hazards.  Governments and the public are also placing greater demands on national meteorological and hydrological services in key areas such as tourism, energy and transport.  I call on all relevant officials to give these services the budgetary and other support they need.

As a valued member of the UN system, WMO is also involved in important undertakings such as the International Flood Initiative under UN Water, and the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.  I look forward to many further contributions from WMO, and welcome your commitment to making our system more coherent and effective.  Please accept my best wishes for a successful Congress.

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