ICSU and GCOS Howard Moore, Senior Advisor, ICSU GCOS Steering Committee, XVIII Session Geneva, 28 September – 1 October 2010

ICSU interdisciplinary research programmes World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) DIVERSITAS International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS)

Earth system research visioning process – 3 steps 3 Goal: to engage the scientific community to explore options and to propose implementation steps for a holistic strategy on the Earth system research. This strategy will both encourage scientific innovation and address policy needs.

Grand Challenges 1.Improve the usefulness of forecasts of future environmental conditions and their consequences for people 2.Develop the observation systems needed to manage global and regional environmental change 3.Determine how to anticipate, recognize, avoid and adapt to abrupt global environmental change 4.Determine what institutional, economic and behavioural changes can enable effective steps towards global sustainability 5.Encourage innovation (coupled with sound mechanisms for evaluation) in developing technological, policy and social responses to achieve global sustainability 4

Earth system Visioning process - Step 2 Sponsors Meeting on Visioning institutional frameworks for global sustainability research (Paris, June 2010), preceded by Open Forum Sponsors Meeting participants: sponsors’ representatives and Chairs of GEC research programmes, plus Chair GCOS-SC (on behalf of the three observing systems co-sponsored by ICSU) Participants agreed that visioning of the institutional architecture of the global environmental observing systems was outside the scope of the Visioning process 5

Outcome Sponsors Meeting, June 2010 Need for a new structure - a transformed and strengthened ESSP? Overarching governance/steering committee to be set up to guide the transformation and provide scientific leadership for a new integrated research programme Reference to GCOS: “A more systematic SWOT (Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat) and gap analysis of the current programmes, joint projects and other international initiatives, e.g. GCOS and GEOSS, relative to the Grand Challenges would help in defining redundancies and unmet needs.” 6

Belmont Forum Regional Environmental Change: Human Action and Adaptation What does it take to meet the Belmont Challenge? Preliminary report of an ad hoc ICSU panel August

World Data System Enable Interdisciplinary research International Polar Year (IPY) Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) Global Observing Systems - GEO/GEOSS … Serve discipline-based research

World Data System (WDS) Mission (vision) statement Constitution and bylaws Review and adopt data policy Preliminary architecture Criteria for WDS membership Request for proposals (review + populate WDS) WDS online portal prototype (on ocean data)

Rio+20 Summit United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development Rio de Janeiro, 2012 ICSU official role as organizing partner of the S&T Community Group Strong presence at PrepComs, 5 Regional Prep. Mtgs, and Summit itself