UNESCO and its IOC are members of the International Organizing Committee of World Climate Conference-3 (WCC-3), which has its theme "Climate prediction and information for decision-making: focusing on scientific advances in seasonal to interannual timescales, taking into account multi-decadal prediction". WCC-3 follows the first two World Climate Conferences; WCC-1 led to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the World Climate Programme and the World Climate Research Programme, while WCC-2 led to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Global Climate Observing System. UNESCO has long been involved in supporting all of these. WCC-3 is the largest gathering of scientists interested in climate change prior to UNFCCC’s COP 15 to be held December 2009.

UNESCO’s Director-General will speak at the High-level Segment of the Programme and UNESCO will also make a formal statement in the Opening Session.

The IOC is chairing the important Working Session on the Climate of Oceans and Coasts. The user-focused Session will address the special vulnerability of coastal regions to climate change and risk, by reviewing the coastal ocean information needs, and will discuss the capabilities of global ocean programmes to inform climate services, by making recommendations on how the ocean observing systems ought to be enhanced to best contribute to the urgent questions posed by science and policy. 

WCC-3 will propose a strategy for developing climate services through establishing a Global Framework for Climate Services. One component of the Framework will be a new World Climate Services System (WCSS), which would be expected to develop and deliver sector- and user-targeted services, build capacity in developing countries and develop policies to support application of climate services for economic and societal benefit. It is on this outcome that UNESCO aims to focus. To this end, UNESCO has organized two fora and a side event which address aspects of the WCSS as well as the Framework, in addition to the working session previously mentioned. 

UNESCO’s Natural Sciences Sector has organized, in collaboration with the International START Secretariat, a Capacity-building, Education and Training Forum.  This Forum aims to elucidate the scope of a WCSS, lessons learned from previous and current efforts at developing capacity in meteorology, climate science, disaster risk reduction and for policy-makers and user-groups of climate information, and action points going forward. 

UNESCO’s Division for Gender Equality in the Bureau of Strategic Planning has organized, in collaboration with partners FAO, GGCA, IUCN, UNDP, UNEP and WMO, a Forum on Gender and Climate Change. In order to be effective and meaningful, the new Framework needs to be closely linked to the needs and expectations of communities and societies at every level. This implies the need to understand the gender dimensions of climate change. The Forum will explore linkages between gender and climate issues, particularly in relation to the role of women as effective agents of change, and enhancing women’s capacities to address climate change.

Finally, the Water Sciences Division in the Natural Sciences Sector has organized a side event, Groundwater and Climate.  It will contribute directly to the conference sub-themes of Climate impacts and adaptive strategies, and Advancing climate prediction and information science.  Groundwater is not well represented in global climate models due to the difficulty of measurements and scarcity of data.  Yet groundwater will play a major role in society’s ability to adapt to future change.  It is imperative that dialogue between groundwater and climate scientists be improved at the global level.

Related links:
::  WCC-3 Website (More)