 Archives of the
Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999
FROM VOLUME 10, NUMBER 4, APRIL 1997GCC ONLINE...
THE INTERNATIONAL SETTING
My last column listed domestic (U.S.) Internet sites related to the U.S.
Global Change Research Program. This column begins a parallel exploration of
resources of the major world programs.
The web sites below are presented in a sequence which corresponds to the
following summary of their interrelationships. All but two organizations are
part of the United Nations. Of the U.N. agencies, most familiar are the U.N.
Environment Program (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). In
1998, they jointly established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), which provides research assessments for the Framework Convention on
Climate Change (FCCC).
The climate activities of WMO are carried out under its World Climate
Program, with input from three bodies: UNEP; the U.N. Intergovernmental
Oceanographic Commission (IOC); and a non-U.N. group, the International Council
of Scientific Unions (ICSU). A major component of the World Climate Program is
the World Climate Research Program, which focuses on the physical nature
of climate. A counterpart which emphasizes the biogeochemical factors in
climate and global change is the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program
(IGBP), created by ICSU in 1986. The World Climate Program also has three other
components, which are listed below.
INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE WEB SITES
United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Established as a
program of the U.N. General Assembly following the 1972 Stockholm Conference on
the Human Environment. (WWW: http://www.unep.ch/)
World Meteorological Organization (WMO). A special agency of the
U.N. providing data and information and coordinating research concerning
weather, climate, ozone depletion and other forms of air pollution. (WWW:
http://www.wmo.ch/)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Established in
1988 by UNEP and WMO to assess scientific, technical and socio-economic research
related to climate change. (WWW: http://www.ipcc.ch/)
Information Unit on Climate Change. Created by UNEP and WMO to
encourage broad dissemination of information on the topic. The Web address
given here is an index of over 130 fact sheets that provide answers to the most
commonly asked questions. The index is organized into three series: Causes;
Impacts; and International Response. (WWW: http://www.unep.ch/iuc/index.html)
Information Unit for Conventions. Provides information to the public
and media services on a number of environmental conventions. Established by UNEP
in 1991 as the Information Unit on Climate Change, then transformed into the IUC
with an expanded mandate in 1996. (WWW: http://www.unep.ch/iuc.html)
Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC). Contains public
information, prepared by UNEP's Information Unit for Conventions, on the
framework convention signed at Rio in 1992. (WWW: http://www.unep.ch/iucc.html.)
A separate site covers the specific climate change commitments now being
negotiated. (WWW: http://www.unfccc.de/index.html)
World Climate Program (of the WMO). Provides an institutional
framework for research, applications, and data collection for understanding
climate and its impacts, under the four component programs that follow. (WWW: http://www.wmo.ch/)
World Climate Research Program (of the WMO). A component of the
World Climate Program. Cooperates with the U.N. Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission and the International Council of Scientific Unions to develop
scientific understanding of the climate system necessary for predicting climate
and human influences on climate. (WWW: http://www.wmo.ch/)
World Climate Data and Monitoring Program. A component of the World
Climate Program. Ensures that WMO member countries have access to reliable
climate data and data products derived from available observations, in formats
suitable for their use. (WWW: http://www.wmo.ch/
World Climate Application and Services Program. A component of the
World Climate Program. Assists member countries collect, analyze and apply
climate information to various economic sectors. (WWW:
http://www.wmo.ch/web/wcp/wcphtml/wcasp.html)
World Climate Impact Assessment and Response Program. A component of
the World Climate Program. Coordinates study of the socioeconomic impacts of
climate fluctuations and change. (Included here for completeness; no WWW address
could be located.)
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). A U.N. body that
collaborates in the World Climate Program. Founded in 1960 to foster scientific
investigation of the ocean through the collaboration of many countries. (WWW:
http://www.unesco.org/ioc/)
International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU). Composed of
national (nongovernmental) scientific organizations, the ICSU was established in
1931 to promote scientific and technological activities for the benefit of
humanity. (WWW: http://www.lmcp.jussieu.fr/icsu/; or
http://www.nikhefk.nikhef.nl/~ed/icsu.html)
International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP). The ICSU
launched this program in 1986 to "describe and understand the interactive
physical, chemical and biological processes that regulate the total Earth
system, the unique environment it provides for life, the changes that are
occurring, and the manner in which changes are influenced by human actions."
(WWW: http://www.igbp.kva.se/index.html; available in English, French and
German)
Fred Stoss encourages Global Climate Change Digest readers to share their Internet
resources. To have your favorite Web site considered for this column, contact
him at fstoss@acsu.buffalo.edu.
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