WMO Climate Summit 2014 Deon Terblanche WMO; CAS MG9

WMO Background  As part of a global effort to mobilize action and ambition on climate change, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is inviting Heads of State and Government along with business, finance, civil society and local leaders to a Climate Summit in September 2014, New York.  The Summit will come one year before countries aim to conclude a global climate agreement in 2015 through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Although the 2014 Climate Summit is not part of the negotiating process, countries have recognized the value of the Summit.  By catalyzing action on climate change prior to the UNFCCC Climate Change Conference in 2015, the Secretary-General intends to build a solid foundation to support successful negotiations and sustained progress on the road to reducing emissions and strengthening adaptation strategies. 

WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin Issued since 2004 Based on harmonized observational data provided by WMO Member countries (“observational evidence of impact”) Concise, short enough to be read Issued before CoP meeting (strict deadline) Considered as a background information during negations at CoP Represents authoritative opinion of the specialized UN agency (public value) Accompanied by press conference with WMO Secretary General Has impressive press coverage and coverage in the social media Includes a map of stations, which helps Members in negotiations for the national observations support

"Snapshot" of some of the media coverage (2013) The levels of gases in the atmosphere that drive global warming increased to a record high in According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), atmospheric CO2 grew more rapidly last year than its average rise over the past decade. Concentrations of methane and nitrous oxide also broke previous records Thanks to carbon dioxide and these other gases, the WMO says the warming effect on our climate has increased by almost a third since The WMO's annual greenhouse gas bulletin measures concentrations in the atmosphere, not emissions on the ground. Carbon dioxide is the most important of the gases that they track, but only about half of the CO2 that's emitted by human activities remains in the atmosphere New greenhouse gas record set Another year, another record level for greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, according to the World Meteorological Organization. The organization reported this week that the level of greenhouse gases detected in the air around the world in 2012 topped the previous record, set the year before. It continues "an upward and accelerating trend," it said. Greenhouse gases haven't been this high in at least 800,000 years and will continue climbing unless something is done soon to curb emissions from burning fossil fuels, the agency said Wednesday. Report: Climate change may pose threat to economic growth. Despite worldwide attention to the issue of global climate change, the pace at which carbon dioxide is being added to the atmosphere appeared to increase in 2012 and is now 141% of the pre-industrial level, the group said. "The observations from WMO's extensive Global Atmosphere Watch network highlight yet again how heat-trapping gases from human activities have upset the natural balance of our atmosphere and are a major contribution to climate change," WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said in a prepared statement. Greenhouse gas volumes reached new high in 2012: WMO (Reuters, wide international pickup, and used by Reuters French, Arabic and Spanish) Atmospheric volumes of greenhouse gases blamed for climate change hit a new record in 2012, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Wednesday. "For all these major greenhouse gases the concentrations are reaching once again record levels," WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud told a news conference in Geneva at which he presented the U.N. climate agency's annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin. Jarraud said the accelerating trend was driving climate change, making it harder to keep global warming to within 2 degrees Celsius, a target agreed at a Copenhagen summit in "This year is worse than last year, was worse than 2010," he said. "Every passing year makes the situation somewhat more difficult to handle, it makes it more challenging to stay under this symbolic 2 degree global average." UN: CO2 pollution levels at annual record high (AP - very wide use in North America) World carbon dioxide pollution levels in the atmosphere are accelerating and reached a record high in 2012, the U.N. weather agency said Wednesday. The heat-trapping gas, pumped into the air by cars and smokestacks, was measured at parts per million last year, up 2.2 ppm from the previous year, said the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organization in its annual greenhouse gas inventory. That is far beyond the 350 ppm that some scientists and environmental groups promote as the absolute upper limit for a safe level. As the chief gas blamed for global warming, carbon dioxide's 2012 increase outpaced the past decade's average annual increase of 2.02 ppm

WMO GHG Bulletin at the Climate Summit  For 2014 special arrangements have been made to provide more comprehensive scientific information:  Earlier compilation and release of the GHG Bulletin to coincide with the Climate Summit in September  Expansion of the Bulletin as the current format has become limiting to accommodate sufficiently the information in all six languages  Inclusion of a summary on ocean acidification jointly produced by the International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project (IOCCP) of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC- UNESCO) and Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), the Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre (OA-ICC) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), acknowledging the contribution of data suppliers

WMO Support for earlier data submission and analyses  CAS MG members are requested to promote the earlier submission of data, the analyses and the compilation of the GHG Bulletin to be available for the Climate Summit  CAS MG views the WMO GHG Bulletin as an excellent reflection of the quality and value of work done by GAW from an user perspective

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