WMO Activities at COP26

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is supporting the United Nations Climate Change conference (COP26) with scientific information about the state of the climate and greenhouse gas concentrations. During COP26 it will also launch major initiatives to support climate change adaptation.

Stay up to date with our latest activities at our dedicated website and visit us either in person or virtually at the Science Pavilion, co-hosted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the UK Met Office and WMO.

Sunday 31 October 2021

Provisional report on the State of the Climate in 2021

Press Conference with WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas and WMO Director of Climate, Maxx Dilley

1500 BST/GMT
Press Conference Room 1, Giant's Causeway, COP26, Glasgow

This is a multi-agency report with information and data until the end of September 2021. It has information on key climate indicators like temperatures, extreme weather, ocean heat and acidification, sea level rise, sea ice and glaciers. It also highlights socio-economic impacts, including on food security, displacement and ecosystems.

Tuesday 2 November 2021

Water and Climate Leaders event “Committing to an Integrated Global Water and Climate Agenda

1100 to 1200 BST/GMT
Meeting Room 15 (84/42) Area F Ground Floor

The event will be streamed virtually and will also be available on the WMO YouTube channel and via UN WebTV.

Climate change is dramatically affecting the water cycle, making droughts and floods more extreme and frequent and decreasing the natural water storage in ice and snow. Rising temperature and variability in flow patterns of water bodies also strongly affect water quality both in surface and groundwater.

Changing precipitation patterns are already impacting agriculture, food systems, and livelihoods are becoming increasingly vulnerable, as well as ecosystems, and biodiversity. Rising sea levels threaten communities, infrastructure, coastal environments and aquifers. ”

Speakers include:

H.E. Mr. János Áder, President, Hungary
H.E. Mr. Emomali Rahmon, President, Republic of Tajikistan (video message)
H.E. Mr. Petteri Taalas, Secretary General, World Meteorological Organization
Ms. Mari Pangestu, Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnerships, World Bank Group
H.E. Ms. Barbara Visser, Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Kingdom of the Netherlands
H.E. Mr. Usmonali Usmonzoda, the Minister of the Energy and Water Recourses of the Republic of Tajikistan
Mr. Matthias Berninger, SVP Public Affairs & Sustainability, BAYER
Ms. Lindsey Blodgétt, Former President, World Youth Parliament for Water
H.E. Mr. Gilbert Houngbo, Chair, UN-Water; and President, IFAD (video message)

Other Water and Climate Coalition activities at COP26 are available here.

Wednesday 3 November 2021

Climate Science Information for Climate Action

1630-1730 BST/GMT
IPCC/WMO/UKMO Science Pavilion – COP26, Glasgow

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have partnered to provide the international community with access to new climate information, methods and tools to obtain and present the climate science data which show how climate actions will address current and projected climate impacts.

These resources include:

A Climate Information Platform providing access to information on past, present and projected-future climate worldwide;
An online version of Climpact, for calculation of climate indices associated with impacts in climate sensitive sectors;
A guidance document that explains how these tools can be used to recognize climatic factors contributing to socio-economic and environmental impacts, to guide the identification of effective climate actions.

Speakers:

Prof. Petteri Taalas, WMO Secretary General
Javier Manzanares, GCF Deputy Executive Director

Creation of the Systematic Observation Financing Facility

1815 to 1900 BST/ GMT
Nordic Pavilion

WMO, UNEP, and UNDP will announce the creation of the Systematic Observations Finance Facility (SOFF) as a UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund. SOFF provides the foundations for an effective international response to climate change. It will fill critical data gaps in basic weather and climate observations from the most vulnerable countries that undermine efforts to build climate resilience across the globe.

The event will start with an opening video from the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

It will include live interventions from the Prime Ministers of beneficiary countries, Ministers and senior representative of funding partners as well as representatives of the Alliance for Hydromet Development.

These include WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas, Inger Andersen, UNEP Executive Director, Usha Rao-Monari, Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of UNDP.

It will end with closing remarks by Selwin Hart, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Climate Action and Assistant Secretary-General for the Climate Action Team.

This event will be livestreamed on the Alliance for Hydromet Development website
Further information is here.