1. © GEO Secretariat Opportunities for GEO & GCOS Rob Koopman GEO Secretariat 6 th GCOS Cooperation Mechanism Board WMO – 27/09/2010

2. © GEO Secretariat U.S. Department of State, Washington DC July 31, 2003 GEO, the Group on Earth Observations An Intergovernmental Organization with 82 Members and 58 Participating Organizations

3. © GEO Secretariat … to answer Societys need for informed decision making Coordinate and Sustain Observation Systems Provide Easier & More Open Data Access Foster Use through Science, Applications and Capacity Building GEOSS - Global Earth Observation System of Systems…

4. © GEO Secretariat 4 A Global, Coordinated, Comprehensive and Sustained System of Observing Systems GEOSS

5. © GEO Secretariat GEO Strategic Target on Climate: Achieve effective and sustained operation of the global climate observing system and reliable delivery of climate information of a quality needed for predicting, mitigating and adapting to climate variability and change, including for better understanding of the global carbon cycle. the full implementation of the Global Climate Observing System as the climate observing component of GEOSS, …., including closure of critical gaps, to ensure the availability of all the climate and climate-related observations needed to support GEOSS; promotion of data sharing as well as coordination of data management and exchange systems; contributions to major advances in the monitoring and prediction of climate on seasonal, interannual and decadal time scales, including the occurrence of extreme events; strengthened GCOS support for the assessment role of the IPCC and the policy development role of the UNFCCC; enhanced efforts for data rescue and digitization.

6. © GEO Secretariat GEO & GCOS: a consistent message GCOS, WMO, IOC, ICSU and UNEP are GEO Participating Organisations Large overlap between GEO Members (81 countries + European Union), WMO Members (183), ISCU National Members (121), UN Member States (192), IOC Member States (138) Consistency of the messages broadcast by these initiatives is not nice to have, …… it is MANDATORY for credibility

7. © GEO Secretariat GEO & GCOS: a consistent message (2) The GEO 10-Year Plan represents the consensus of its Members and Participating Organisations on the way forward in Global Earth Observations GEOSS is effectively built from in-kind contributions from its Members and Participating Organisations, which are aligned towards the common objectives 10-Year Plan. The alignment is facilitated by a matrix of concerted actions (SBA and cross-cutting tasks) and associated targets to focus international collaboration and harmonisation: the GEO Work Plan. Increasingly, the objectives of the 10-year plan and the Tasks in the Work Plan are used as requirements for funded government tenders (European Commissions 7 th Framework Programme) A Consistent message pays off, literally

8. © GEO Secretariat GEO advantage GEO as a group is modelled on a lean and flat governance model: a Ministerial Summit, and a Plenary (supported by its Executive Committee). Short path to decision making Very high political leverage GEO, A tool worth using!

9. © GEO Secretariat Dual use of this tool to convince to implement

10. © GEO Secretariat Convince The IGOS – P themes have been integrated into GEOSS (Communities of Practice) because the access to high-level governance was considered an opportunity. In the run up to Beijing 2010, the Data Sharing Task Force (DSTF) formulated an Action Plan for Governments, Participating Organisations and GEOSS as a whole. DSTF: Example of success in applying the political leverage Post IGOS-P gap closing: needs further work

11. © GEO Secretariat Convince (2) The road to Data Sharing success cannot easily be copied as is: the DSTF acted on a specific mandate from Plenary, in response to the Cape Town Summit Declaration, and the task force has broad participation. Nevertheless it can be worthwhile to work along a similar path. For example: sustaining observation systems is also explicitly mentioned in Cape Town declaration. The equivalent of the DSFT Action Plan could be a priorities and actions statement (including indirect actions) for sustaining networks at risk. GCOS (and GTOS, GOOS) already have related objectives in their individual terms of reference. Could a broad, concerted action within the flat GEO environment achieve more than the individual programmes?

12. © GEO Secretariat Implement: The GEO Work Plan (1) The Final update of the 2009-2011 GEO Work Plan has been submitted for endorsement at the GEO-VII Plenary in Beijing The next GEO Work Plan will cover 2012-2015. Ministerial Summits are scheduled for (2010,) 2013 and 2015. The end of this Work Plan period also marks the due date for achieving the GEOSS Strategic Targets. Drafting starts now For GCOS (and WMO, ICSU, UNEP, IOC, but also WCRP, GOOS, GTOS, and other POs and Members and the wider Climate community) -> The GEO 2012-2015 Work Plan -> Communicating the Consistent Message on the way forward

13. © GEO Secretariat GEO Work Plan (2) Apart from Political Leverage, working within (the) GEO (Work Plan) also provides benefits in terms of: cross-cutting support functions: –Vast momentum for Data Sharing –Data Management & Architecture, Quality Assurance, Harmonisation, Integration broad platforms: –Integration of Carbon Observations –Carbon Community of Practice –Forest Carbon Tracking Initiative Use GEOSS to optimise Efforts/Benefits Ratio

14. © GEO Secretariat Conclusions 1) Optimise the 2012-2015 Work Plan to achieve GEOSS benefit: –Revisit task deliverables in the light of the Strategic Target(s) –Revisit tasks and interaction with communities to ensure consistency throughout the climate domain, –Revisit task descriptions with new contributors in mind 2) lead/initiate new actions within GEOSS, extracting further benefits, e.g.: –Seek allies for a concerted high-level action on sustaining (endangered) networks, starting with the GxOSses and their sponsors –Promote independent peer review as fundamental component of GEOSS data management 3) Connect to the cross-cutting functions and other initiatives –E.g. use GEOSS architecture and data sharing initiatives to work towards thepromotion of data sharing as well as coordination of data management and exchange systems –Capacity Building and programmes involving trainings in Africa

15. © GEO Secretariat Thank you!

16. © GEO Secretariat

17. GEOSS for AFRICA: examples GEONETCast, CBERS, SERVIR, Sand and Dust Storm Warning System, AEGOS, Wildland Fire Early Warning System, Puma, AMESD and GMES Africa, BIOTA, TIGER, SoDa, MERIT, African Protected Areas, ClimDev Africa, ChlorOGIN, etc etc.

18. © GEO Secretariat Data and Products at Minimum Time delay and Minimum Cost Free of Charge or minimal Cost for Research and Education GEO Data Sharing Principles Full and Open Exchange of Data, recognizing Relevant International Instruments and National Policies

19. © GEO Secretariat GEO Model Contributed Activities Contributed Activities Contributed Activities Contributed Activities Contributed Activities GEOSS Common Infrastructure Standards and Interoperability Data Sharing Guidelines Transverse activities High-level visibility Harmonisation Collaboration 10yr Plan Voluntary Consensus-based