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About GCOS

Created: 1992

President/Chairman: Dr. Adrian Simmons GCOS logo

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 9 April 1992 by WMO, IOC of UNESCO, UNEP and ICSU to establish a Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) and revised on 29 September 1998. The GCOS is based upon the coordination of existing and planned operational observing systems and research programmes for observing global climate. The GCOS also promotes further developments of these systems and programmes to ensure the required scope and continuity of observations for climate analysis and prediction.
The objective of the GCOS is to provide the data required to meet the needs for:

  • climate system monitoring, climate change detection and response monitoring especially in terrestrial ecosystems, and mean sea-level;
  • application to national economic development;
  • research toward improved understanding, modelling and prediction of the climate system.

The GCOS calls upon other international organizations and relevant national agencies and institutions, in addition to WMO, IOC, UNEP and ICSU, to participate in the implementation of GCOS projects.
The Memorandum has established a GCOS Steering Committee (SC) to provide scientific and technical guidance for the further organization and development of GCOS. The Conference of Parties (COP) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted decisions in 1998 and 1999 that urge Parties to the Convention to support the implementation of global observing systems for climate and the participation of developing countries in these observing systems. The COP also has invited the GCOS Secretariat to take actions that advance the needs of the UNFCCC for systematic obvservations. In response to this, a Regional Workshops Programme was undertaken in 2000 in consultation with relevant regional and international bodies to identify priority capacity-building needs related to participation in systematic observation.

The GCOS SC is called upon:

  1. to identify observational requirements, define design objectives and recommend coordinated actions by sponsoring and participating organizations and agencies, in order to optimize the system’s performance and coherence, taking cognizance of the responsibilities, working arrangements and recommendations of established scientific and technical bodies of such organizations and agencies;
  2. to review and assess the development and implementation of the components of the GCOS, and report to the sponsoring organizations, and to participating agencies as required;
  3. to facilitate the exchanges of information among sponsoring and participating organizations and agencies, and in general make the objectives, resource requirements, capabilities and outputs of GCOS known to relevant national and international bodies.

The GCOS SC consists of up to sixteen scientific and technical experts, selected on the basis of their personal expertise and geographical location. The experts are appointed by mutual agreement between the sponsoring organizations.
The SC is supported by a small GCOS Secretariat, located in the WMO Secretariat in Geneva.

GCOS website


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