World Meteorological Organization chief to address IMO environment meeting

Source: IMO

Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) - 56th session: 9 - 13 July 2007

Mr. Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is scheduled to address the opening session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), when it meets for its 56th session from 9 to13 July, at the Horticultural Halls, London.

Mr. Jarraud's participation in the MEPC, on the invitation of IMO Secretary-General Mr. Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, comes as part of a series of events focusing on environmental issues, leading up to the celebration of World Maritime Day on Thursday, 27 September 2007, under the theme "IMO's response to current environmental challenges". The theme was chosen to give IMO the opportunity to focus on its environmental work (both past and present) and thus intensify its efforts to add the Organization's contribution to that of the international community to protect and preserve the environment.

There are close links between IMO and WMO, given the need for meteorological data, including forecasts and warnings to mariners, in order to support the safety of life at sea. Data on ocean currents and winds are also of relevance if there is an oil slick or other form of pollution.

Through the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) of its 188 Members, WMO has played a crucial role in detecting, and alerting humanity to, climate change and is now at the forefront of responding to this challenge. Its work in this area has included: the publication of the first authoritative statement on the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the potential impact that this process might have on the earth's climate (1976); the establishment of the World Climate Research Programme (1979) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (1988); and the development and adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992).

Mr. Jarraud is expected to highlight, to the MEPC, the latest findings and projections from the IPCC, including progress made in understanding human and natural drivers of climate change, observed change, climate processes and attribution, as well as estimates of future change. He is also expected to welcome the work of the IMO, through the MEPC, in addressing air pollution from ships, in particular the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships.

The MEPC has a packed agenda, which includes the further consideration of options to reduce air pollution from ships; the current draft of a proposed ship recycling convention; issues relating to the implementation of the 2004 Ballast Water Management Convention; and the proposed adoption of a number of amendments to the MARPOL Convention for the prevention of pollution from ships.



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WMO - the World Meteorological Organization - is a specialized agency of the United Nations concerned with the state and behaviour of the Earth's atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, the climate it produces and the resulting distribution of water resources.
Web site: http://www.wmo.ch/

Mr. Michel Jarraud was appointed Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization by the Fourteenth World Meteorological Congress and took up his post on 1 January 2004. He was re-appointed by the Fifteenth World Meteorological Congress for a second four-year term, starting 1 January 2008.

Before joining the WMO Secretariat as Deputy Secretary-General in January 1995, Mr Jarraud devoted part of his career to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). He was appointed Deputy Director of the Centre in 1991, having been Director of the Operational Department since 1990. From June 1978 to December 1985, he was a researcher in numerical weather prediction at ECMWF. Mr Jarraud started his career with the French National Meteorological Service, Météo-France, as a researcher (September 1976-May 1978). He joined Météo-France again in January 1986 as Director of the Weather Forecasting Department, until December 1989.

Mr Jarraud is a scientist and a meteorologist with degrees from the prestigious French Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole de la Météorologie Nationale. He is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society (USA), a member of the Société Météorologique de France, the Royal Meteorological Society (United Kingdom) and the African Meteorological Society, as well as an Honorary Member of the Chinese Meteorological Society and the Cuban Meteorological Society.