Global Humanitarian Forum, Kofi Annan, 23 June 2009, Geneva
Update 2 13:01 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – “This conference must provide a powerful voice for the victims of climate change,” Kofi Annan said in opening remarks at the second annual Global Humanitarian Forum, Tuesday morning 23 June in Geneva. The forum is focusing on the impact on humans of climate change during the two day conference that brings together leaders from government, industry and academia.
“We have the knowledge, resources and the technology to reduce the pace of climate change,” said Annan. “What is needed is the vision, the courage” to act. He cited as an example of a good private and public partnership a weather information project recently launched in Africa by the Global Humanitarian Forum, Ericsson, World Meterological Organization and mobile phone operators. “Collecting accurate information about weather and climate across Africa will give farmers better guidance about when to plant and harvest crops as well as helping alert communities about severe storms.”
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – (update) Air France flight 447, which was lost in stormy weather over the Atlantic ocean 1 June, may have benefited from the aircraft meteorological data relay (Amdar) programme, coordinated by the Geneva-based World Meterological Organization (WMO). The WMO told GenevaLunch that two Lufthansa flights in the area at the time were reporting Amdar data, but were not reporting turbulence. The Air France A330 was not equipped to relay the data, the WMO says.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – More than two million poeple have died in the past 30 years from 75 natural disasters. Three-quarters of the disasters were caused by weather, says the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The mortality rate could be halved by 2019 if national and regional governments make a strong commitment to early warning systems and climate services as basic tools for reducing risks, says Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the WMO. The mortality rate he refers to is a 10-year average fatality for the period 1994-2003 for weather-, climate- and water-related natural disasters.
World climate conference to be held in Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The World Climate Conference, to be held in Geneva in August, has received an important pledge of financial support from the US, however, the Associated Press reports that a formal submission presented by the US to the United Nations offers no specifics for achieving a low-carbon strategy for long-term net emissions reductions by 2050.
