Recognizing:
(1) That Pacific Island Countries are considered among the most vulnerable to the consequences of human-induced climate change, in particular, global warming and the potential threats associated with extreme weather events and sea level rise;
(2) That improved observations of climate will enable provision of information and forecasts which will greatly assist the governments and national communities of member countries to prepare for the season to season and year to year variations of climate associated with El Nino and other natural phenomenon, as well as to detect and better prepared for long term human-induced climate change
(3) That Pacific Island Countries currently face significant challenges associated with natural climate variability, including droughts, tropical cyclones, floods, sea level variations, and changes in ocean temperature
(4) That oceanic and atmospheric circulation patterns and ocean-atmosphere interactions in the Pacific play dominant roles in determining global patterns of climate change and climate variability;
(5) That measurements of meteorological/atmospheric, oceanographic, and terrestrial variables in Pacific Island settings provide essential data for detecting and attributing climate change; for monitoring, understanding and predicting climate change and climate variability; for developing strategies to ameliorate the potential harmful effects of climate change and climate variability; and for advancing sustainable development globally;
(6) That the basic observation networks of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) provide the foundation on which the strengthening of GCOS must be built;
Encourage:
(1) The countries of the region to support their NMHSs to prepare national reports on activities related to systematic observation, as invited by the Parties to the UNFCCC in Decision 5/CP.5;
Urge:
(1) That a regional Action Plan be prepared to form the basis for the preparation of proposal(s) for funding improvements in observing systems for climate and in other activities related to climate observing systems in the Pacific region;
(2) That the Action Plan be prepared in accordance with the following program:
a) Within the next 3 to 4 months, SPREP members will develop initial reports on national requirements and priorities for improving observing systems for climate. These reports should be developed through coordination between NMHSs and PICCAP country teams, where appropriate, and could take advantage of the current opportunity associated with the incremental funding recently provided by GEF to continue PICCAP programs in participating countries. All SPREP members should strive to develop these reports in the context of national implementation programmes pursuant to the UNFCCC guidelines and making use of the "elements" paper prepared by the workshop, as well as guidelines contained in the FCCC/CP/1999/L4/Add.1 and submitted them to SPREP.
b) Upon receipt of these reports, SPREP will develop a consolidated report on regional requirements and priorities and for improving observing systems for climate. This report will be submitted to SPREP members for approval.
