Regional Workshop Programme

One of the major thrusts of the Global Climate Observing System Secretariat was the realization of its Regional Workshop Programme. This Programme, launched in 2000 following an invitation from the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in November 1999, comprised workshops and follow-up meetings in ten developing regions. The central goal of the GCOS Regional Workshop Programme was to initiate processes in developing regions that would lead to real, substantial, and lasting improvements in global climate observing systems. The specific objectives for each workshop were:

to assess the contribution of each region to GCOS baseline networks;
to help participants understand guidelines for reporting on systematic observations to the UNFCCC;
to identify national and regional needs and deficiencies for climate data, including needs for assessing climate impacts, conducting vulnerability analyses, and undertaking adaptation studies; and
to initiate the development of a Regional Action Plan for improving climate observing systems.

GCOS has now completed all ten regional workshops in the Programme and all associated Action Plan development meetings.

Completed workshops

Final Report of the GCOS Regional Workshop Programme: GCOS-111B

Pacific Islands - August 2000

Eastern and Southern Africa - October 2001

Central America and the Caribbean - March 2002

East and Southeast Asia - September 2002

Western and Central Africa - March 2003

South America - October 2003

Central Asia - May 2004

South and Southwest Asia - October 2004

Eastern and Central Europe - April 2005

Mediteranean Basin - 4th quarter 2005

Further information:

Last modified on Tue, 17 May 2011