World Climate Conference 3 (WCC 3) is held in Geneva from 31 August to 4 September. The conference is organised by the UN body the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and has links with several other bodies within the UN.
WCC 3 is being held shortly before the UN?s major climate summit in Copenhagen in December, where it is hoped a new `Kyoto Agreement´ will be reached with a framework for climate policy after 2012.
"WCC 3 will initiate a process for improving the knowledge base as nations adapt to a changed climate. It will also provide important support for the issues being discussed at the conference in Copenhagen," says Erik Arnberg of the Swedish Ministry of the Environment.
The conference brings together decision-makers from politics, the business community and organisations - in other words those who need climate information - with climate scientists, national institutions like SMHI and networks producing data and services. More than 2,000 participants from around the world will take part.
Sweden's official delegation will be led by State Secretary Åsa-Britt Karlsson. Other delegates include deputy assistant undersecretary at the Ministry for the Environment Erik Arnberg, and from SMHI Director General Lena Häll Eriksson and climate expert Markku Rummukainen.
Greatest need in developing countries
"We will discuss how climate research, climate data and different services should be structured to ensure nations have the best possible decision data for their efforts to adapt different sectors of society to climate change, climate-related risks and extreme weather. There is a need for this in all countries, but it is greatest in developing countries which are already vulnerable," explains Markku Rummukainen.
Sectors under discussion will include agriculture, energy, water, biodiversity, health, transport and infrastructure.
Global co-operation required
There is currently co-operation between climate scientists and meteorological institutes worldwide.
"We have already developed global co-operations on climate research and climate monitoring. At the conference we?ll be discussing future steps and initiating processes for collaboration on climate information and services," says Lena Häll Eriksson, Director General of SMHI.
Regional climate scenarios
Sweden and SMHI will be making a broad contribution at the conference. For example, climate scientist Colin Jones will speak on international downscaling regarding next generation regional studies. Markku Rummukainen and Elin Löwendahl will report on the way specific information services relating to the climate are being structured in Sweden.
Third world conference
This will be the WMO's third World Climate Conference. The previous conferences in 1979 and 1990 contributed to the establishment of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as well as the GCOS global observation system.
WMOs hemsida för WCC-3 (engelsk)
Programme with plenary sessions, parallel sessions round table discussions etc