Executive Council - Abridged Final Report of the Seventieth Session

1058 Pages·2017·11.65 MB·English

PROGRESS ACTIVITY REPORT OF THE
SEVENTIETH SESSION OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
(EC-70)
(unedited and in official WMO languages when available)
World Meteorological Organization EC-70/INF. 1(1)
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Submitted by:
Seventieth Session Secretary-General
Geneva, 20 to 29 June 2018 4.VI.2018

MATERIAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE SESSION

Venue

The seventieth session of the WMO Executive Council (EC-70) will be held in Geneva from
20 to 29 June 2018, at the WMO headquarters building, 7 bis, avenue de la Paix. The opening
of the session will take place on Wednesday, 20 June 2018 at 9.30 a.m. Detailed arrangements
concerning the meetings and allocation of the rooms can be found in the EC-70 Tentative Work
Plan, available on the main web page of EC-70.

Working languages

Simultaneous interpretation into the six WMO official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English,
French, Russian and Spanish will be provided during plenary meetings in Salle Obasi. Side
meetings will be held in English or with interpretation, when possible. Documents will be issued
in the six WMO official languages.

Documents

EC members and observers who wish to submit documents before the session are invited to
send them to the WMO Secretariat as early as possible, to allow time for their translation and
distribution. According to Regulation 152(b) of the WMO General Regulations, session
documents should be distributed as soon as possible and preferably no later than 45 days
before the opening of the session.

The documents will be in the form of resolutions and/or decisions requiring EC action.

Resolutions will contain formal decisions on budgetary, regulatory and other matters requiring
implementation by Members and delegated to EC by Congress; establishment of subsidiary
bodies and their terms of reference. Other decisions will be recorded in the form of structured
and numbered decisions.

Decisions will be used to place on record instructions/directives to the Secretary-General, the
President, and constituent bodies in accordance with Congress resolutions/decisions; EC
subsidiary bodies and other bodies reporting to EC, EC opinion/observations on a specific topic,
procedural decisions and other decisions pertaining to the internal matters of EC. Information
documents (INFs) will only be provided if it supports the draft resolution/decision.

Progress reports will be submitted as a separate INF document (numbered by agenda item).
After the session, all INFs will be consolidated in a single volume as Part II of the EC-70
abridged final report and used for production of the WMO annual report.

Processes and document workflow

Both the presentation of the session documents and the organization of work during the
session will be streamlined to meet the desire expressed by WMO Members to improve the
effectiveness of documents and discussions. Therefore, EC-70 will focus on strategic issues
where EC decisions and guidance are essential, while reporting will be reduced.

To provide an opportunity to comment on pre-session documents, session documents will be
posted on the EC-70 website before the opening of the session. EC members who wish to have
EC-70/INF. 1(1), p. 2
comments included in a posted document are invited to send them to the session e-mail
mailbox: [email protected] with the subject line containing the document number and name of
the EC member sending the comments. Comments sent before the 15 May deadline will be
duly reflected in a Draft 2 version, which will clearly indicate the source of comments. Draft 2
versions will be published on the EC-70 website, replacing the initially posted Draft 1.

Please note that INF documents will not be formally presented during plenary discussions.

Proceedings of the sessions will be recorded. Detailed minutes of plenary meetings will not be
taken unless specifically requested by the plenary for particular deliberations.

Distribution of documents

Documents will be posted before and during the session on the EC-70 website, in line with
WMO greening efforts to promote paper-smart meetings. Therefore, participants are kindly
invited to bring internet-enabled portable computers capable of handling Microsoft Word 2010
and Adobe pdf formats so that they can work in paper-smart mode during the session.

Provisional abridged report

The provisional abridged report of the session will consist of the resolutions and decisions
contained in the documents approved during the session. Approved documents showing
amendments in all languages will be posted on the EC-70 website as soon as possible after the
session. Approved files of documents discussed during the session will be placed in the folder
“Provisional Final Report” that will appear on the same website. The overall structure of the
Provisional Agenda can be found in EC-70/Doc. 1.

Registration of participants

Online pre-registration is required for all participants to the EC-70. In view of their official
status with WMO, EC members and all Permanent Representatives (PRs) of WMO Members
have been given access to an online Event Registration system.

EC members are kindly invited to act as focal points for their online pre-registration as well as
that of their Alternate(s) and, or Advisor(s) as relevant. Permanent Representatives of WMO
Members are kindly invited to act as focal points for representatives of WMO Members or
Permanent Missions in Geneva wishing to attend as Observer.

Alternates and/or advisors to EC members should be identified by EC members.
Representatives of WMO Members who wish to attend as observers must provide official proof
of representation, such as a letter from the relevant Member. Representatives of international
organizations invited as observers to the session should provide in advance, or bring to the
session, a letter of representation signed by the appropriate authority from their organization.

More information concerning online pre-registration will be provided in due course on the
EC-70 website.

A Conference Information and Registration Desk will be set up on the ground floor of the WMO
building, close to the meeting rooms, to facilitate the registration of participants and provision
of general information. Registration will open on Tuesday 19 June from 2 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.
and continue throughout the session.

Participants will receive identification badges at the time of registration, which should be worn
throughout the session. As longer lines are to be expected on the first day of the meeting,
early registration and badge pick-up on Tuesday 19 June are strongly encouraged.
EC-70/INF. 1(1), p. 3
List of participants
A provisional list of participants will be uploaded on the session website shortly after the
beginning of the meeting. This list will be updated on a daily basis.

Internet facilities, computing and communications

Wireless Internet connection (Wi-Fi) will be available in the main conference room and at the
WMO Conference Centre. The access is free and does not require a password. The conference
room is equipped with power sockets for laptop computers. Participants are advised to bring
their own plug adapters to plug into Swiss power sockets. Information on the appropriate plugs
may be found on the Internet (for example, at: http://www.iec.ch/worldplugs/typeJ.htm). A
limited number of adapters are available on loan from the Conference Information Desk.

Transportation

Hotels in Geneva provide all guests, upon demand, with a free ticket for public transport. In
addition, upon arrival at Geneva airport, free tickets are available from the machine in the
baggage conveyor Hall before passing customs.
General information on how to get to WMO from the airport and how to get to the City centre
can be found on the WMO website.

Currency

The local currency is the Swiss Franc (CHF).
The average exchange rate is as follows:

1 Euro = 1.17 CHF
1 US$ = 0.95 CHF

Health requirements/medical services

Up-to-date information on international travel and health requirements are provided by the
World Health Organization (WHO) at the following websites:
http://www.who.int/ith/en/ and http://www.who.int/countries/che/en/.

It is strongly recommended that you take out personal medical insurance for the duration of
the trip.

Electricity and mobile phone connection

Power systems are generally 230 volts and 50 Hz. An adaptor may be necessary.

Local climate in June

Climate data during June in Geneva are listed below:

Mean temperature 17°C
Mean maximum temperature 22°C
Mean minimum temperature 11°C
Mean relative humidity 65%
Mean precipitation 100mm
Mean duration of sunshine 9 h/day

Updated weather information can be found on the MeteoSuisse website
(http://www.meteosuisse.admin.ch).
EC-70/INF. 1(1), p. 4
Hotel reservations

Participants are advised that hotel accommodation in Geneva and the surrounding area may be
scarce. They should inquire with the hotels to see if it is possible to have special UN rates for
the dates of their stay. Please find below the list of some of the hotels located in the vicinity of
WMO.

1. Hotel Ibis Genève Centre Lac
Rue De Berne 26, Pâquis, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland

2. Hotel Drake-Longchamp
Rue Butini 7, Pâquis, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland

3. Hotel Ibis Genève Centre Nations
Rue du Grand Pré 33-35, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland

4. Hotel Les Nations
Rue du Grand Pré 62, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland

5. Hotel Eden
Rue de Lausanne 135, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland

6. Hotel Mon Repos
Rue de Lausanne 131, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland

For more information, you can also consult the Geneva Tourism official website.

Use of mobile telephones

Participants are kindly reminded that, as a courtesy to their colleagues, their mobile
telephones should be muted on entry to the conference room. Participants are requested to
hold telephone conversations outside of the conference rooms.

Office accommodation

A limited number of offices will be made available in the WMO building for rental during EC-70.
WMO Members wishing to rent these offices should send a request specifying their needs to
the Conference Services Division ([email protected]). These requests will be processed on a “first
come, first served” basis.

Contact details

Mailing address

Mail for participants attending the session may be sent to the following address:

Ms/Mr ................
Participant to WMO Executive Council
WMO Secretariat
7 bis, avenue de la Paix
P.O. 2300
CH-1211 GENÈVE 2

If you expect mails to be sent to the WMO Secretariat, please inform the Conference
Information and Registration Desk.
EC-70/INF. 1(1), p. 5
Telephone – Fax

Telephone: [phone]
WMO Secretariat Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Conference Telephone: [phone]
Information &
Registration Desk E-mail: [email protected]
[phone]
Telephone:
IT Helpdesk (or *07 from a WMO phone)
E-mail: [email protected]

____________
World Meteorological Organization EC-70/INF. 2.1
Submitted by:
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
President
Seventieth Session
18.VI.2018
Geneva, 20 to 29 June 2018
REPORT BY THE PRESIDENT OF WMO
1. This report, provided in compliance with Regulation 158 (2011) of the General
Regulations, covers the period from the close of the sixty-ninth session of the Executive
Council (EC-69) on 17 May 2017 until 29 June 2018. The report provides a brief résumé of the
activities of the Organization and its Constituent Bodies, matters which are required to be
reported to the Executive Council under the provision of Regulation 9(7), and other matters
affecting the Organization or its Constituent Bodies.

This period saw considerable progress in many areas that underpin WMO’s work to guide
global efforts to advance research, improve observations and data exchange, as well as to
enhance the delivery of services to global citizens. Detailed reports on WMO activities are
provided under specific agenda items.

Highlights of the activities of the Organization and the subsidiary bodies of the Executive
Council since the sixty-ninth session of EC include:

(a) Continued advances in shaping the relationship between the public and private
stakeholders in the global weather enterprise. During the World Bank-hosted seminar on
the Global Weather Enterprise, the WMO President proposed the establishment of a small
working group of individuals representing the interests of various sectors, including the
WMO, World Bank, private sector and academia to focus on this task.

(b) The President chaired two sessions of the Executive Council Working Group on Strategic
and Operational Planning, as well as overseeing the work of smaller teams, to articulate
the long term vision and to draft the 2020-2023 Strategic Plan for WMO. This was
supported by proposals to reform the governance of key Constituent Bodies to better
deliver on the strategic priorities of WMO.

(c) The EC Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) made considerable progress in
the implementation of the DRR Roadmap, which will coordinate DRR activities across
WMO in order to strengthen national multi-hazard early warning systems and better
enable effective response to the threats and risks from the hazards caused by weather,
water and climate extremes.

(d) The decisions and recommendations made during the 8th meeting of the EC Panel of
Experts on Polar and High Mountains Observations, Research and Services, set key
directions for the Polar and High Mountain agenda of WMO, with a growing recognition of
the importance of the mountain cryosphere (glaciers, snow, permafrost) and its
cascading effects on downstream water supplies, climate impacts, natural hazards and
risks, ecosystems and other areas.

(e) It was an important year for WMO Education and Training activities, with outcomes of the
WMO Symposium on Education and Training, Meeting of Directors of WMO Regional
Training Centres and the EC Panel of Experts on Education and Training all contributing
to WMO’s priority of closing the capacity gaps in the WMO community and beyond.
EC-70/INF. 2.1, p. 2
(f) There was a growing recognition of WMO’s key role in ensuring sustainable water
resources, on a national, regional and global scale. The WMO-hosted Global Conference
“Prosperity Through Hydrological Services”, provided valuable insights to inform the
development of WMO’s future Water Strategy, which will define WMO Members’ critical
contributions in terms of hydrological services and to the broader climate, sustainable
development and disaster risk reduction agenda.

2. The Membership of the Organization remains at 191 comprising 185 States and
6 Territories.

3. The President continued to direct the conduct of elections by correspondence to fill the
vacant WMO Vice-President positions.

As per the Regulations, an election by correspondence of Member States (Second Ballot)
for the position of the First Vice President resulted in the election of Mr Robert Varley, Chief
Executive of the Met Office of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as First
Vice-President of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on 24 November 2017. Following
the official notification of the departure of Mr Varley as Head of the National Meteorological
Service on 10 April 2018, the position of First Vice-President was once again vacant. The
President noted with appreciation Mr Varley’s willingness to serve the Organization as First Vice-
President, as well as expressing his thanks for Mr Varley’s many contributions to WMO as an
active member of the Executive Council and associated Working Groups.

The process to fill the position of Second Vice-President was initiated in December 2017,
with an election by correspondence conducted between February and March 2018. On 20 April
2018, Ms A. Celeste Saulo, Director of the Argentinean National Meteorological Service (SMN),
became the first woman to be elected as Second Vice-President of the WMO. In accordance
with the General Regulations, Professor Saulo will also serve as acting First Vice-President until
the end of the Eighteenth session of Congress, which is the remainder of the term of office of
the First Vice-President whom she replaces.

A number of factors were considered by the President with respect to the process to fill
the vacant position of Third Vice-President through an election by Member States, including
the length of time required to conduct an election by correspondence, the potential difficulties
in obtaining quorum on the first ballot, and the timing of the Congress in June 2019. Since
WMO General Regulations 84 and 86 give precedence to filling the Vice-President seats before
those of regular EC members, an election to fill the Third Vice-President position in 2018 would
result in leaving the Executive Council short of five of its 37 members at EC-70, and during the
busy period leading up to the Congress in June 2019. Moreover, Regions I, II and VI would not
be fully represented at EC-70 due to those WMO General Regulations.

Consequently, on May 18, 2018, the President consulted with the Members of the WMO
Executive Council on his recommendation that it was in the best interest of the Organization to
proceed with the filling of all EC vacant seats at the seventieth session of the Executive Council
(EC-70), and to suspend further elections for Vice-President until Congress. This would result
in replacing all nine EC member vacancies in accordance with the regional distribution called
for in Regulation 17. This consultation resulted in a decision to proceed with filling all vacant
EC positions during the Council’s seventieth session.

4. The President noted with appreciation the important leadership and contributions to the
Organization of the outgoing Presidents of Regions I, Mr Amos Makarau (Zimbabwe), RA III,
Mr Julián Báez (Paraguay) and RA VI, Mr Ivan Cacic (Croatia). The President further welcomed
the newly designated acting president of RA I, Mr Daouda Konate (Côte d’Ivoire), the elected
president of RA III, Mr Guillermo Navarro (Chile) and the elected president of RA VI, Mr
Michael Staudinger (Austria).
EC-70/INF. 2.1, p. 3
5. In addition, the following EC members vacated their respective positions as the
Heads/Directors of the NMS.

Name Vacancy date
Ms Linda Makuleni
24/08/2017
(South Africa)
Mr KO Yunhwa
07/2017
(Republic of Korea)
Mr Alexander Frolov
10/2017
(Russian Federation)
Mr Robert Varley
(United Kingdom of Great 10/4/2018
Britain and Northern Ireland)

The President recognized with appreciation the strong contributions of departing EC Members
to the Council and to the Organization.

6. Actions taken by the President on behalf of the Executive Council under the provisions of
Regulation 9 (7), included the approval of the following extensions of the appointments of staff
beyond the statutory age of separation:

Name and WMO
Title, grade and organizational unit Effective date
Nationality Region
NYAKWADA, Mr W. I Strategic Planning and Risk 8 months
(Kenya) Management Officer (P.5) to 30 April 2018
(Reassignment from the Strategic
Planning Office to the Education and
Training Office, Development and
Regional Activities Department)
Post located in Nairobi

7. Actions taken by the President on behalf of the Executive Council:

In accordance with Resolution 12 (EC-69) – Fast Track procedures for amendments to
Manuals and Guides managed by the Commission for Basic Systems, the President
approved:
 Amendments to the WMO-No. 306 The Manual on Codes, Volume 1.2 to take effect
on 2 May 2018
 Amendments to the WMO-No. 306 The Manual on Codes, MM51/MM54, Volume 1.3
to take effect on 15 May 2017
 Amendments to the WMO-No. 1061 The Guide to the WMO Information System
 Amendments to the WMO-No. 306 The Manual on codes, Volume 1.2 to take effect
on 3 May 2017
 Amendments to the WMO-No. 306 The Manual on codes, Volume 1.2 to take effect
on 8 November 17

8. The President chaired the following meetings:
(a) EC Working Group on WMO Strategic and Operational Planning (WG SOP), Geneva,
16-17 October 2017
(b) Meeting of the Presidents of Technical Commissions, Geneva, 10-11 January 2018
(c) Joint World Meteorological Organization - Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission (WMO-IOC) Officers Meeting, Geneva, 17 January 2018 (the report is
provided in the Annex)
EC-70/INF. 2.1, p. 4
(d) Joint Presidents of Regional Associations and Technical Commissions (PRA-PTC-
2018), Geneva, 20 January 2018
(e) WMO Bureau, Geneva, 6 February 2018
(f) EC Expert Panel on Polar and High Mountain Observations, Research and Services
(EC-PHORS 8), Finland, 21-23 March 2018
(g) EC Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction (EC WG DRR), Geneva, 9-10 April
2018
(h) EC Working Group on WMO Strategic and Operational Planning (WG SOP), Geneva,
11-13 April 2018

9. Other official missions by the President:
(a) Presentation at NOAA Satellite Conference (via remote connection), 17 July 2017
(b) Keynote address and participation in the Third Pole Summit, Kunming, China, 10-12
July 2017
(c) Opening and closing keynote speeches, and participation in side meetings with
senior officials during the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
(AMOS) Anniversary Symposium, Melbourne, Australia, 22-23 August 2017
(d) Opening Remarks and meetings with senior officials at the 3rd Regional Integrated
Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES) Conference, Papua New Guinea, 25
August 2017
(e) Welcoming Remarks at Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),
Montreal, Canada, 9-12 September 2017
(f) Address provided at Opening Ceremony of the Summit “Water and Climate -
Meeting of the great rivers of the world”, Rome, 23 October 2017
(g) Participation at the Global Weather Enterprise seminar on Developing International
Co-operation, organised by the World Bank Group in collaboration with the WMO,
Washington D.C., 28 November 2017
(h) Observing the RA VI Regional Conference RECO (5-6 February 2018) and Session
(7-9 February 2018), Geneva
(i) Opening Remarks at Arctic Council Meteorology Summit, Finland, 20 March 2018
and meetings with Senior Arctic Officials 21 – 23 March, 2018
(j) Presentation at Arctic Council Contaminants Action Program (ACAP) Working Group
on enhanced Arctic Council-WMO collaboration, Toronto, Canada, 19 April 2018
(k) Chairing of High Level Segment of WMO Global Conference: Prosperity Through
Hydrological Services, Geneva, 9 May 2018
(l) Opening remarks at Pan-Arctic Regional Climate Outlook Forum (PARCOF), Ottawa,
15 May 2018
(m) Preparation of article on “WMO, Climate Change and Children: a View” published in
the All India Disaster Mitigation Institute Southasiadisasters.net publication, Issue
No. 165, January 2018

Other meetings of WMO Executive Council subsidiary bodies which were held since the 69th
session of the Executive Council:
(a) Thirteenth WMO Symposium on Education and Training (SYMET-XIII) and Meeting
of Directors of WMO Regional Training Centres (RTCs), Bridgetown, Barbados, 30
October – 2 November 2017