REPORT OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL OCEANIC COMMISSION ON ITS ACTIVITIES ( ) OUTLINE

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1 37th Session, Paris, 2013 rep Report 37 C/REP/8 14 August 2013 English and French only REPORT OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL OCEANIC COMMISSION ON ITS ACTIVITIES ( ) OUTLINE Source: Article 3.2 of the Statutes of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. Background: The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO was established by the General Conference at its 11th session (1960). At its 24th session (1987) the Conference granted IOC functional autonomy within UNESCO and at its 30th session (1999), approved a modification of the Statutes of the Commission that confirmed the functional autonomy of IOC and the requirement to report directly to the General Conference. Purpose: The programme of IOC is implemented in accordance with the resources made available to it through the mechanisms specified in Article 10 of its Statutes, under the guidance provided by the resolutions, decisions and instructions of the IOC Assembly. The IOC Executive Council may make midterm adjustments. In the United Nations system, IOC acts as the system-wide focal point for ocean science and ocean services. The IOC s report to the 37th General Conference of UNESCO covers the period It focuses on the main achievements in the implementation of the UNESCO Medium-Term Strategy (34 C/4) with respect to Strategic Programme Objective 3, Leveraging scientific knowledge for the benefit of the environment and the management of natural resources, and Strategic Programme Objective 5, Contributing to disaster preparedness and mitigation. 1. The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO is the United Nations body for ocean science, ocean observations, data and information exchange, and ocean services such as tsunami warning systems. Its mission is to promote international cooperation and to

2 37 C/REP/8 page 2 coordinate programmes in research, services and capacity-building to learn more about the nature and resources of the ocean and coastal areas, and to apply this knowledge to improve management, sustainable development, protection of the marine environment and the decision making processes of States. 2. Established in 1960 by Resolution 2.31 adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO, the IOC promotes international cooperation and coordinates programmes in marine scientific research, services, observation systems, hazard mitigation and capacity development of its 145 Member States. 3. The IOC contributes to the UNESCO Medium-Term Strategy (34 C/4) in relation to one Overarching Objective (2), Mobilizing science knowledge and policy for sustainable development, and two Strategic Programme Objectives (SPO), namely SPO 3, Leveraging scientific knowledge for the benefit of the environment and the management of natural resources, and SPO 5, Contributing to disaster preparedness and mitigation. Achievements by 36 C/5 Expected Results Expected result 11: Effective end-to-end early warning systems for tsunamis and other sea level-related hazards, established by Member States at national and regional levels, including disaster preparedness and mitigation measures 4. Since Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS) Regional Tsunami Service Provider (RTSP) operations commenced on 12 October 2011, the Regional Tsunami Service Providers (RTSP) of Australia, India and Indonesia have been providing tsunami advisory services to the National Tsunami Warning Centres of the Indian Ocean region. The Tsunami Information Centre for the Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System in the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected seas (NEAMTIC) produced several tsunami awareness products. 5. The 7th session of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami and Other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (ICG/CARIBE EWS- VII) was held in Curacao in April Significant progress has been achieved in the Caribbean with 38 sea level stations available for tsunami monitoring purposes by April 2012, compared to only 19 in Tsunami monitoring has also improved significantly with over 100 stations delivering real-time data. The 8th session of the ICG/CARIBE-EWS was held in Trinidad and Tobago in April/May Steady progress continues with 85% implementation of the seismic network and 44% of the sea level network established. Thanks to UNESCO Emergency Funding and funding from UNDP the Caribbean Tsunami Information Center was formally established in Barbados to further support education, preparedness and outreach. 6. The Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (PTWS) is focusing on the development of new experimental tsunami forecast products that were introduced as part of the basin-wide exercise PacWave11, which included maps indicating the level of threat for each country. 7. More than 20 brochures and school manuals have been produced by the DIPECHO projects, the International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC) and the Jakarta Tsunami Information Centre (JTIC) in several languages. More than 10 training programmes involving teachers were delivered in Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Nicaragua, Haiti, Indonesia and Philippines. 8. Challenges/lessons learnt: The financial constraints have led to reduced secretariat support for intergovernmental coordination of the four regional tsunami warning systems, technical advice and training. The situation is particularly of concern for the North Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (NEAMTWS) which has no sustained secretariat and coordination support.

3 37 C/REP/8 page 3 Expected result 12: Member States understanding of ocean environment and related processes in the global climate improved, and skills developed for adaptation to climate change impacts 9. IOC continues to raise awareness on ocean acidification. The International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project (IOCCP) organized and co-sponsored the International Workshop to Develop an Ocean Acidification Observing Network of Ship Surveys, Moorings, Floats and Gliders in Washington in June 2012 and the Time series, moving toward Global inter-comparability in a Changing Ocean in Bermuda in November The IOC was also a co-convener of the 2nd International Symposium on the Effects of Climate Change in the World s Oceans (Yeosu, Korea, May 2012). The 3rd international symposium, The Ocean in a High CO 2 World (Monterey, United States of America, September 2012), co-organized by the IOC, SCOR and IGBP was attended by a total of 528 scientists from 34 countries. 10. Benefiting from emergency funds, the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) has been able to maintain progress through two steering committee meetings, regional activities, and the development of an ongoing work plan for approval by the IOC Assembly in July Solutions have been found to distribute activities funded by United States of America extrabudgetary sources to partner organizations maintaining continuity but weakening the influence and role of IOC in sustained ocean observations and services. 11. Challenges/lessons learnt: The financial constraints led to reductions in a number of key partnerships. The International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project (IOCCP) will not be supported by two staff but only one consultant; the International Project Office was relocated (in cooperation with SCOR) from the IOC Secretariat to the Polish Academy of Sciences. Two JCOMMOPS technical coordinators in Toulouse and a technical secretary for OOPC had to be transferred to WMO. This ensures continuity of technical support but reduces IOC involvement and impact on these programmes. 12. GOOS is created and designed as a long-term sustained platform for Member State collaboration. The uncertainty in funding for GOOS beyond 2013 has created a very difficult planning situation, with scientists who are asked to volunteer their time unsure if their contribution now will be lost due to a lack of future funding. Expected result 13: Capacities of Member States and their national agencies improved in ocean sciences and services to monitor, assess and manage marine resources 13. IOC is actively engaged in United Nations Regular Process (now the World Ocean Assessment) through the provision of scientific and technical support to the United Nations Group of Experts, the organization of Regular Process Regional Workshops, and the development of a clearinghouse mechanism, together with UNEP, to fulfill the information and communication needs of the Regular Process. 14. The International Science Programme on the Global Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (GEOHAB) has been in a productive period leading up to a synthesis conference held in April With the support of Republic of Korea, a regional GEOHAB project was launched in May 2012 in South-East Asia with a focus on ciguatera and other toxic benthic HAB events. Capacity development activities remain essential to the work plan of the Intergovernmental Panel on Harmful Algal Blooms (IPHAB) and interventions have been implemented as foreseen as they are based on extrabudgetary funds, in-kind contributions through the IOC Science and Communication Centre on Harmful Algae and cost recovery. 15. During the past 10 years regional Ocean Data and Information Networks (ODINs) have been established in Africa, Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Western Pacific, Pacific Small Islands and Eastern Europe. The substantial support provided by the Government of Flanders (direct to the IOC Project Office for IODE, Ostend, Belgium, and through the Flanders-UNESCO Trust Fund for Science,

4 37 C/REP/8 page 4 FUST) enabled IODE to maintain its expert meeting and training programme through The marine biodiversity component of IODE (Ocean Biogeographic Information System, OBIS) is especially vulnerable now as this activity depended heavily on United States of America support. 16. Challenges/lessons learnt: Due to financial constraints, IOC will not be able to develop a training module on marine assessment, which is supposed to facilitate the participation of developing nations in the Regular Process. No resources are available to support the meetings of the World Ocean Assessment Group of Experts. Further development of regional data and information networks in the IOC regions and grants for developing Member State participation in HAB capacity development activities cannot be ensured. Participation in meetings is done fully or partially by video conferencing. Expected result 14: Capacities of Member States to protect and sustainably use oceans and coastal zones developed 17. IOCAFRICA: The inaugural session of the IOC Sub-Commission for Africa and the Adjacent Island States (IOCAFRICA) was held in May 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya with the kind support of the Government of Republic of Korea. More than 55 participants representing 22 Member States and other organizations and programmes attended the session. The second session of the IOC sub- Commission for Africa and the Adjacent Island States was hosted by South Africa in Cape Town on 3 and 4 April It was attended by more than 60 participants representing 19 Member States and representatives of United Nations agencies, LME projects and NGOs. The session reviewed the Draft Strategic Plan which outlines how the Sub-Commission intends to achieve IOC s objectives, focusing on the priority issues such as climate change adaptation, water quality degradation, coastal erosion, coastal and marine hazards. 18. WESTPAC: The 9th session of IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC) took place in Busan, Republic of Korea, from 9 to 12 May Twelve regional workshops and strategic planning meetings, four regional training programmes and summer schools and two joint cruises have been conducted during the period June 2012-June 2013 across three key thematic areas of ocean processes in the Indo-Pacific region, namely biodiversity, food safety and ecosystem health. The WMO-IOC Regional Marine Instrument Center for the Asia-Pacific Region (RMIC/AP) was launched by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO in May IOCARIBE: The 12th session of the IOC Sub-Commission for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (IOCARIBE) was held in Panama from 9 to 12 April The session was attended by 37 participants from 12 countries of the Caribbean region, United Nations agencies and regional organizations. An IOCARIBE GOOS working group of experts was established for recommending priorities and actions required for the full establishment of an ocean and coastal observing system in the IOCARIBE region. 20. IOC s Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) Initiative: IOC has provided guidance and training to several MSP initiatives and has published the guide Marine Spatial Planning: a step-by-step approach toward ecosystem-based management. Over 5,000 copies have been distributed and downloaded from the IOC MSP website; the guide is available in Chinese, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Russian, and soon Spanish. A new guide is now in preparation and will be published in September South Pacific Information and Data Management (SPINCAM): In the context of the South Pacific Information and Data Management in support of Integrated Coastal Area Management (ICAM), SPINCAM, the first phase of this project was completed in June It has supported the development of a coastal indicator framework in each country of the Southeast Pacific region (Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Peru), focused on environmental and socio-economic conditions.

5 37 C/REP/8 page PEGASO (People for Ecosystem Based Governance in Assessing Sustainable Development of Ocean and Coast): The aim of PEGASO is to build on existing capacities and develop common novel approaches to support integrated policies for the coastal, marine and maritime realms of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Basins in ways that are consistent with and relevant to the implementation of the ICZM Protocol for the Mediterranean. 23. Coastal adaptation: In June 2012, IOC completed the implementation of the Project on Adaptation to Climate Change on the Coasts of West Africa (ACCC). Through this four-year project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), five countries (Senegal, Mauritania, Cape Verde, Gambia, and Guinea Bissau) received financial and technical assistance to develop coastal adaptation measures and to build adaptive capacity of coastal communities. A second phase of the project is planned. 24. Guide on coastal risk reduction for local authorities: A technical working group consisting of natural and social scientists, coastal engineers and coastal zone managers is tasked with preparing a guide on coastal risk reduction for local authorities. The guide will identify best practices related to the identification and formulation of adaptation/mitigations strategies and plans that lower the risk and actual losses from marine related hazards, including climate change impacts. 25. Challenges/lessons learnt: Unless support is received from the Member States of the region, the session of the IOC Regional Committee for the Central Indian Ocean (IOCINDIO) will not take place. Establishment of a steering committee and launch of a new initiative Nutrients and Coastal Impacts Research Programme will not take place. IOC will not be able to fulfill its commitment to co-finance a UNEP-GEF project on the global foundations for reducing nutrient enrichment and oxygen depletion from land based pollution. Printed on recycled paper