Cablegate: International Oceanographic Commission (Ioc/Unesco)

null
Lucia A Keegan 08/02/2006 03:06:57 PM From DB/Inbox: Lucia A Keegan

Cable
Text:

UNCLAS PARIS 05170

SIPDIS
cxparis:
ACTION: UNESCO
INFO: ECON POL AMBU AMB AMBO DCM SCI

DISSEMINATION: UNESCOX
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: AMB: LVOLIVER
DRAFTED: SCI: NCOOPER
CLEARED: POL:DOSTROFF

VZCZCFRI036
PP RUEHC RUEHGV RUCNDT RUEHZN
DE RUEHFR #5170/01 2121454
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 311454Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9953
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 2453
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0835
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 PARIS 005170

SIPDIS

FROM USMISSION UNESCO

STATE FOR IO/T WINNIE ROBERTS, EB PAUL ACETO, OES/STAS ANDREW W.
REYNOLDS, OES/OA LIZ TIRPAK, IO/UNESCO KEVIN PILZ
STATE FOR USAID RICHARD VOLK
STATE FOR NSC GENE WHITNEY
STATE FOR NOAA RICHARD SPINRAD AND ARTHUR PATTERSON
STATE FOR OFFICE OF NAVAL RESEARCH GLOBAL OFFICE, OCEANOGRAPHER OF
THE NAVY
STATE FOR EPA
STATE FOR NSF MARGARET LEINEN AND ROSE GOMBAY
STATE FOR NASA ERIC LINDSTROM

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: UNESCO AORC TSPL EAID SENV KSCI IZ
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC COMMISSION (IOC/UNESCO)
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL ADVANCES U.S. GOALS ON DISASTER RISK MITIGATION,
EARTH OBSERVATION

REFTELS: A. STATE 090815, B. STATE 104969

1. Summary and Key Accomplishments: At the 39th Session of the
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Executive Council
-- which took place June 21-28, 2006 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris
-- the U.S. delegation (USDEL) met all of its objectives. These
included: encouraging fiscal transparency and accountability in IOC
budgets and programs; further integrating the mission of the IOC
with that of UNESCO's science and education sectors through
crosscutting initiatives (paras 7, 9); and enhancing development of
the Global Oceans Observation System (GOOS), particularly tsunami
warning systems (paras 10-19), within the context of the Global
Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS, paras 22-25).

2. USDEL participation in the drafting of IOC's Medium Term
(2008-2013) Strategy ensured consistency with the draft U.S. Oceans
Research Priorities Plan and timely delivery in light of the ongoing
review of UNESCO's Sciences programs. To facilitate the development
of consistent and measurable program performance metrics for these
objectives prior to the 2007 IOC Assembly, the U.S. will explore
means to provide performance management expertise to the Secretariat
(para 8). At the close of the meeting, UNESCO DG Matsuura announced
that IOC Executive Director Dr. Patricio Bernal's term was extended
two years, postponing his retirement until the close of 2009.

3. USDEL, led by U.S. Representative to the IOC and NOAA Assistant
Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, Dr. Richard
Spinrad, was comprised of experts from NOAA (National Marine
Fisheries Service, International Affairs, National Ocean Service,
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National Weather Service) and
State (Secretariat of the U.S. National Commission to UNESCO, U.S.
Mission to UNESCO, OES/Oceans Affairs) (Ref A). The USDEL worked
closely with US Mission's Science and Technology Officer, Nancy
Cooper, who accompanied them at many of their meetings. The Council
of 40 (out of 136) IOC Member States ran in parallel with three
programmatic discussion sessions (GOOS, JCOMM, WESTPAC) and three
intersessional committees (Budget, Resolutions, Medium Term
Strategy). Several sidebar meetings with UNESCO staff and a
reception co-hosted by the US Permanent Delegate to UNESCO,
Ambassador Louise V. Oliver, were conducted to reinforce the goals
of the USDEL.

4. Full text of the report and resolutions can be found at
unesco.ioc.org (or contact Liz Tirpak DOS/OES/OA,
tirpakej@state.gov, 202-647-0238). Major decisions and resolutions
are highlighted in the following paragraphs. End Summary

Strategy, Budget, Management & Performance Audit

5. The Executive Secretary's report underscored that while overall
IOC funding received a substantial increase in the current biennium
(2005-2006) due to monies allocated by UNESCO to the IOTWS Program,
the 2006-2007 agreed budget cuts, coupled with mid-course
corrections, will cause critical short- and medium-term impacts on
IOC Programs. The 2005 Assembly decision forced the IOC to identify
$320,000 in the regular biennial budget in order to fully address
commitments to the World Climate Research Program and a shortfall in
funding for the IODE position in Ostend. Accordingly, Member States
must now take a hard look at IOC priorities in the new biennium and
Medium Term period (2008-2013) and in preparation for budget
decisions at the 2007 Assembly.

6. To enhance budget transparency, the EC agreed to develop a
framework and set of guidelines and principles for budget reporting
that define the scope of the activity/investment; links to the Main
Lines of Action and sub-objectives; the roles, functions and
responsibilities of participants including IOC Secretariat; and
budget details including a profile of the resources. Further, the
IOC was instructed to enhance its budget reporting to reflect
indirect financial and in-kind contributions that do not enter the
budgetary flow of the IOC. Member States were encouraged to suggest
mechanisms to make the funding system of the Commission more
sustainable, prompting some to raise the question of whether the IOC
should follow the World Heritage Convention's model of developing a
convention to increase the contribution of member states to core
programs.

7. Capt. Javier Valladares (Argentina) successfully negotiated
consensus text for the IOC contribution to the UNESCO Medium Term
Strategy (2008-2013). Due to USDEL participation in initial
drafting, the identified "high level objectives" were directly
relevant to priorities identified in the draft USG Oceans Research
Priorities Plan (see
ocean.ceq.gov/about/sup_jsost_prioritiesplan. html) and USG
priorities for UNESCO (Ref B). The IOC high level objectives are:

- Prevention and reduction of the impacts of natural hazards;
- Mitigation of the impacts and adaptation to climate change and
variability;
- Safeguarding healthy oceans ecosystems; and
- Management procedures and policies leading to the sustainability
of coastal and ocean environment and resources.

8. To facilitate the development of consistent and measurable
program performance metrics for these objectives prior to the 2007
Assembly, the U.S. will explore means to provide performance
management expertise to the Secretariat. USDEL met with John
Parsons, Director of the UNESCO Internal Oversight Service, to
discuss UNESCO's practice in performance evaluation. (Note:
Parsons' office trains UNESCO staff to help create a results-based
management culture. End Note.) Parsons indicated that though the
IOC had received an excellent review six years ago, it might benefit
from another review. He welcomed U.S. interest in assisting IOC in
the development of performance metrics and agreed to offer his
Office's support to such an effort. Parsons noted that UNESCO's
strategic planning/management tool (SISTER) is inadequate and
remains a troubled management tool for UNESCO's leadership.

9. US Ambassador Oliver, VADM Lautenbacher and Dr. Spinrad met with
Deputy Director-General, Mr. Marcio Barbosa to underscore U.S.
interest in the UNESCO Medium Term Plan and Science Review Process,
highlighting IOC's contributions - particularly on natural hazards -
to UNESCO's visibility and programs.

Q&A with the DG of UNESCO

10. UNESCO DG Koichiro Matsuura addressed the Council on the final
day of the meeting, during which Member States were provided an
opportunity to explore the status of IOC in UNESCO's next Medium
Term period (2008-2013) and the related documents (Medium Term
Strategy 34/C4, Program and Budget 34/C5). Following his
presentation, which focused mainly on UNESCO's successful leadership
of global/regional tsunami warning coordination, the DG opened the
floor for questions. Belgium, China, Italy and the US pressed for
explanation on the connectivity among visibility, program
prioritization and budget allocations, while the UK pressed the DG
to provide suggestions so as to assure that IOC is appropriately
considered in the current review process. South Africa made an
appeal for more support for the African continent.

11. DG indicated that although IOC is a high-visibility "flagship"
program, it is unlikely that additional resources will be provided
without an increase in the overall UNESCO budget. (Comment: This
was the first indication that the DG would pursue such an approach
at the fall UNESCO Executive Board meeting; this is unfortunate, as
the U.S. has championed a ZNG budget to stimulate the elimination of
many low-impact UNESCO programs. End Comment.) The DG encouraged
Member States to reconsider linkages between IOC programs and other
UN organizations, UNESCO Sectors, and programs within the UNESCO
Science Sector. The DG noted that the UN "Coherence Panel",
established to consider development, humanitarian and environmental
programs within the UN system, could very well impact UNESCO's
future agenda.

Tsunami Warning System (TWS): Global Coordination Group Convenes to

SIPDIS
coordinate regional efforts

12. Delegates from over 20 countries, the IOC Secretariat, the four
existing Tsunami Warning System Intergovernmental Coordination
Groups (ICGs) and other bodies including the GEO, WMO, JCOMM, IGOOS,
IODE, met as an ad hoc Working Group and agreed on the content and
methodology to develop a "Framework Document for a Global
Ocean-related Hazards Warning and Mitigation System." The
background paper tabled by U.S. Delegate Dr. David Green (NOAA
Tsunami Program Manager), which addressed a framework for

SIPDIS
integration building on specific synergies and best practices among
and between the ICGs, received prior concurrence from the IOC and
the WMO and was adopted by the ad hoc Working Group as the
introduction section for the Framework Document. JCOMM proposed an
outline for the Framework Document that was also adopted, consisting
of 7 sections: 1) Harmonization, standardization and best
practices, 2) Outreach, 3) Research requirements and input, 4)
Synergies, 5) Rationalization and streamlining of IOC Secretariat
support requirements and services, 6) Reporting and coordination
mechanisms for ICGs, and 7) Guidelines for a global ocean-related
hazard warning system. The group agreed this would be drafted by
the IOC Secretariat Tsunami Unit with a small steering group (that
will include U.S. representation). The draft document will be
reviewed and revised through the ad hoc Working Group and at
regional ICG Meetings in the January-March 2007 timeframe. The
Group agreed to finalize the framework document for presentation at
the 24th IOC Assembly in June 2007.

13. USDEL held a sidebar meeting with Dr. Badaoui Rouhban, Chief of
the Section for Disaster Reduction, UNESCO Natural Sciences Sector,
to discuss opportunities for greater coordination with IOC
priorities in tsunami and related natural disasters, especially in
the areas of capacity development, hazard assessment, and seismic
research. The delegation was informed of the UNESCO campaign
entitled "Disaster Risk Reduction Begins at School" with two main
objectives: to promote disaster reduction education curricula and
improve related safety standards and resilience in school
construction. This identified opportunities to link with U.S.
efforts in community resilience and follow-up actions including the
exchange of documentation on relevant projects.

14. Indian Ocean: UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura
announced that the "initial" Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System is
operational this July with improvements to more quickly detect, more
precisely locate, confirm the presence of waves, issue regional
watches, and cancel transmitted information as required. Matsuura
acknowledged that the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration National Weather Service (NOAA NWS) Pacific Tsunami
Warning Center (PTWC) is the interim warning center issuing
information bulletins for the IOTWS, with backup provided by NOAA's
West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WC/ATWC), in
cooperation with the Japan Meteorological Agency until a final
decision is made on the location of regional centers in the Indian
Ocean. But Matsuura made it clear that this was just a milestone by
saying "However, this successful work is far from being finished."
He then called for greater coordination, consistent with US policy.
In particular, he called for the testing of new systems,
interoperability of national systems, long-term investment to secure
the flow of information, and capacity building for national
preparedness.

15. The USDEL met with the new IOC Tsunami Unit Head, Dr. Peter
Koltermann (Germany), and Unit members to emphasize that the IOC
should outline a regional design and core architecture for the
Indian Ocean TWS (IOTWS). While assurances were given from the IOC
Secretariat that this was a top priority of the Unit and a draft

SIPDIS
would be circulated soon after the ICG/IOTWS meeting in Bali in
July, the Chair of the ICG provided no such assurance. The IOTWS
Chair (Dr. P.S. Goel, India) did not acknowledge the contribution of
the U.S. to a proposed regional design nor U.S. supporting efforts
in capacity building, monitoring, modeling, and warning services.
Dr. Goel also confused matters by speaking for India and presumably
not the whole ICG, when he declared limits and thresholds on the
availability of real-time observational data for early warnings;
this position is not supported by the US. A request to clarify this
position was raised in the U.S. intervention, but the position was
not clarified by the Chair, Head of Unit, or IOC Secretary.

16. USDEL questioned the utility of a trust fund to maintain DART
and other observational platforms and ensure data availability
during a sidebar with the IOC Tsunami Head of Unit, ITIC Director,
JCOMM Vice Chair, and WMO representatives. Both IOC and WMO agreed
that this was a valuable strategy to be coordinated with JCOMM and
considered by each ICG, not just the IOTWS, but could be addressed
by the Global Coordination working group. The U.S. delegation
recommended that this be discussed at the ICG/IOTWS meeting in Bali,
July 31-August 2, 2006, and a recommendation be forwarded to the
other ICGs as well as to the Data Buoy Coordination Panel of JCOMM
(meeting in October 2006).

17. Pacific Ocean: South Korea confirmed its commitment to working
with the U.S. in the Pacific TWS, specifically towards the operation
and maintenance of the deep ocean monitoring network. Canada
confirmed support for siting a monitoring station in their EZ.
Canada also made an intervention praising the U.S. Tsunami Warning
Centers in Alaska and Hawaii, especially the success of the recent
Pacific-wide system test. However, discussions with Australia did
not advance commitment towards warning center coverage or monitoring
station maintenance for the South Pacific. The IOC passed a
resolution to establish an Intergovernmental Coordination Group for
the Pacific Tsunami Warning System (essentially converting the
former "ITSU" body to an ICG to provide consistency with other
regional ICGs). The resolution also recommended that the
U.S.-hosted International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC) be
formally established as an IOC Program Office.

18. Caribbean Sea/Gulf of Mexico: A final decisions has not been
made by the ICG/CARTWS on the regional requirements and
interoperable design for the early warning and mitigation systems.
In the interim, the regional watch and information bulletins are
being provided from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration National Weather Service (NOAA NWS) - the Pacific
Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Hawaii and the West Coast and

SIPDIS
Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WC/ATWC). The U.S. delegation
encouraged the IOCARIBE Secretary Cesar Toro and the ICG Vice Chairs
(Gustavo Malave, VZ; Israel Matos, US) to accelerate the focus on
the regional design problem by ensuring the action items from the
first ICG meeting (Barbados January 2006) are completed. It was
noted by the IOC Executive Secretary and the IOCARIBE Secretary that
lack of funds in the CARTWS were constraining the ability of working
groups to meet intersessionally to address the actions needed for
hazard detection, modeling, interoperability and community
resilience. Dr. Green, along with Malave, Matos, and Toro, proposed
holding a preparatory meeting of ICG Chairs, Vice Chairs and Working
Group leads to address the status of these actions, funding sources,
and coordination, prior to the next ICG meeting in Venezuela
(January 2007).

19. North Atlantic/Mediterranean: USDEL had brief meetings with
the Chair of the ICG, Stephano Tinto, and the IOC Tsunami Head of
Unit, Peter Koltermann, regarding concerns that the NEATWS ICG needs
to work more closely with the existing IOC warning center (PTWC),
information center (ITIC) and ICSU World Data Center (Boulder),
centers hosted by the U.S., to avoid costly duplication of efforts,
facilitate harmonization of hazard maps, and ensure the
interoperability of warning guidance and sea level standards. Dr.
Koltermann, as well as IOC Secretary Patricio Bernal, provided
assurances that they would follow up on these concerns. Another
topic of discussion was concern for adequate coverage of issues in
the Atlantic and the recommendation to have a joint meeting of the
Caribbean & Adjacent Atlantic group and the North East Atlantic to
evaluate Atlantic-wide hazards. The Chair did not want to support
this recommendation.

Capacity Building Program: IOC progress and growth

20. Since the establishment of the IOC Capacity Building program in
2005, the Secretariat has raised over $1 million from Sweden, France
and the U.S. for related initiatives. As a result, a two-year
series of leadership training/networking and proposal writing
seminars have commenced throughout Africa and the Caribbean. This
immediate success prompted the Secretariat to urge the EC to invite
the Director-General of UNESCO to establish one professional and one
administrative post in the IOC Secretariat to ensure the continuity
of these capacity-building initiatives. However, the USDEL
facilitated an EC resolution requesting the Executive Secretary
provide the 2007 IOC Assembly an assessment of the deployment of
staff resources to meet effectively and efficiently the IOC's
objectives identified in the 2008-2013 Medium Term Strategy, prior
to making such a request to the DG for any additional staffing.

21. In addition, the EC requested the establishment of additional
Chairs under the UNESCO Chairs Program to address IOC-CB related
activities. Since its inception in 1992, the UNESCO Chairs Program
in the Natural Sciences has established almost 200 university Chairs
and networks, to enhance academic solidarity and excellence in both
North-South and South-South relations. These Chairs and networks
are partners for the Natural Sciences Sector of UNESCO in its quest
for promoting Science, environment and sustainable development,
aimed to improve human security through a better management of the
environment. The UNESCO Natural Sciences Chairs from the U.S. are:

UNESCO-Cousteau Ecotechnie Chair in Global Coastal Assessment,
established in 2004 at the University of Rhode Island, Narragansett
(United States of America)

UNESCO-Cousteau Ecotechnie Chair in Coastal Resources, established
in 2004 at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Jersey
(United States of America)

UNITWIN Network for Improving Biological Sciences Education through
the Development and Use of Information Technologies in some Arab
States Universities, established in 1997 at Purdue University
(United States of America)

UNESCO Chair in Bioethics, established in 2005 at the Ethics and
Public Policy Center, Washington D.C. (United States of America)

IOC's GOOS and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems
(GEOSS)

22. Not only is the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) the
largest program of the IOC, but - consistent with U.S. policy - it
has also been recognized as the oceans component of GEOSS. During
the Council meeting, Vice-Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, co-Chair
of GEO and Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere,
presented the latest update from the Group on Earth Observations
(GEO), underscoring IOC's role and highlighting how GEO and GOOS
jointly contribute to marine multihazard warning systems. (Note:
While in Paris, VADM Lautenbacher and Dr. Spinrad also met with Dr.
Thomas Roswall, Executive Director of the International Council for
Science, to discuss ICSU's contributions to the 2006 GEO Work Plan
and other climate research issues.)

23. Early USDEL interventions and sidebars with GOOS leadership and
UNESCO DDG Barbosa resulted in the EC request to the Secretariat to
seek prioritization and reduction of tasks assigned to the IOC in
the GEO Implementation Plan, since the current list of tasks is too
broad in scope and ill defined to tackle with limited resources.
This outcome was consistent with the feedback provided in USDEL
sidebars with Executive Director Patricio Bernal and GOOS Program
Manager, Keith Alverson.

24. The Intergovernmental Committee for GOOS (I-GOOS) established a
joint committee on coastal implementation ("J-PICO") between GOOS
and the Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS). Member states
offered diverse opinions on the establishment of J-PICO, with most
expressing the opinion that they had not had sufficient time to
evaluate the proposal. The EC decided to discuss this program
further at I-GOOS VIII (March-April 2007).

25. The EC supported IOC's participation and coordination of
oceans-related International Polar Year (IPY) research programs.
Although there were a few interventions in support of the formation
of an Arctic GOOS Regional Alliance with EuroGOOS and Canada, there
was not a clear resolution initiating any further action on this
matter, which will likely be discussed in more detail at I-GOOS
VIII.

Advisory Body of Experts on Law of the Sea (ABE-LOS)

26. During the spring 2006 meeting of ABE-LOS, a subsidiary body
created to explore the convergences of the Law of the Sea with the
scientific initiatives of the IOC, a lack of consensus persisted
with regards to the legal framework for the collection of
oceanographic data for GOOS, particularly concerning the deployment
of profiling floats by a nation in international waters that may
later enter into EEZs of another nation. Regardless of IOC
Resolution XX-6, which placed the IOC in charge of notifying coastal
states about deployments, there continue to be differences of
opinion as to the appropriateness of this procedure (e.g. Argentina
feels that notification is the responsibility of the float-deploying
country, not the IOC). Germany and the United Kingdom questioned
the effectiveness of ABE-LOS to resolve this issue; however, due to
the large number of countries who favor ABE-LOS as a venue for
vetting their preferences, the Executive Council adopted a
resolution to continue the discussions at the next meeting of ABELOS
in Gabon next spring. The Chair agreed to inventory other topics
that ABE-LOS could address and present it to the 2007 Assembly.

The Joint IOC-World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Technical
Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM) and the
World Climate Research Program (WCRP)

27. JCOMM Chair Dr. Jean-Louis Fellous (FR) presented the results
of the second session of JCOMM (Halifax, Canada, October 2005); this
session realigned JCOMM's efforts into three program areas:
Observations, Services, and Data Management. Regardless of the
intersessional working group discussion, there remains a need for
substantial, extra-budgetary support to implement the IOC component
of the JCOMM Work Plan (each of the three Program Areas are
developing Plans that are due 1 October, in time for the next JCOMM
Management Committee meeting). Consistent with U.S. objectives, the
resulting EC resolution fully endorsed the conclusions of JCOMM II
and called for JCOMM and Member State contributions to marine
multi-hazard warning systems.

28. (NOTE: In 1993, WMO, IOC and ICSU (International Council of
Scientific Unions) jointly agreed to fund the World Climate Research
Program. The IOC contribution has been small, since the total WCRP
budget dwarfs the entire budget of the IOC Climate program.
However, in response to the 2005 Assembly decision, the EC funded
the WCRP at the level of $125,000 per year through the IOC Budget
"Main Line of Action #3: Governance, Capacity Building and Regional
Bodies", not with extra-budgetary funds. The U.S. is aware that
this decision will impact MLA 3 programs as well as compromise IOC's
ability to fully implement the Medium Term Strategy. Per year the
U.S. provides one-third of the ICSU contribution to WCRP
(approximately $90K) and 22% of the WMO contribution (approximately
$1.3M). It is likely this funding level will be reassessed during
planning for the next Medium Term Strategy, in light of further cuts
in capacity building to support climate research. The U.S. will
reassess its program and budget priorities for the IOC, including
WCRP, prior to the 2007 Assembly. End Note.)

Future of the International Oceanographic Data and Information
Exchange (IODE) Program

29. Dr. Lesley Rickards, Chair of IODE, made a presentation on the
progress made in developing a comprehensive, integrated, ocean data
and information system; standards for data exchange and construction
of a unified discovery metadata system were identified as products
essential to the delivery of data and products to a broad range of
users. Although there is wide appreciation of the work of IODE,
particularly in light of the rapidly expanding volume and types of
data being generated by new technologies and observing systems
(e.g., cabled observatories), the status of financial support for
IODE activities is such that existing activities cannot be
maintained and new activities (e.g., expansion to new data types,
collaboration with JCOMM) cannot be undertaken. Interventions
focused on (1) urging nations to increase their support and (2)
encouraging IODE to focus on regional implementation of its
activities in the hope of gaining additional support through those
activities. Member States (esp. Italy) voiced support for the IOCs
engagement with biological networks, as can be pursued through
established links between Census of Marine Life (CoML) Ocean
Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) and the IOC's Ocean Data and
Information Networks (ODIN). The EC instructed the Executive
Secretary to continue support for the Oostend post through 2006-07

SIPDIS
from the regular budget, within the relevant Main Line of Action.

IOC's Role in the Global Marine Assessment (GMA)

30. The GMA, an initiative of Iceland called for in the Johannesburg
Plan of Implementation resulting from the 2002 World Summit on
Sustainable Development, will be an "Assessment of Assessments" that
is comprehensive in scope (i.e., based on an ecosystem and
science-based approach with the inclusion of living marine
resources) and also supports placing emphasis on the regional nature
of the (global) assessment. The IOC Executive Secretary presented
the report from the July 5th GMA "Regular Process" Ad Hoc Steering
Group, which included budget requirements (for IOC and UNEP), a
tentative work plan and a national profile and criteria for the
Group of Experts. The IOC, along with UNEP, continues to be
centrally involved with GMA planning and intends to hire a P3/P4
consultant to assist. The U.S. and other Executive Council members
are supportive of the IOC's role in the GMA, but expressed concern
with the significant budget and staff requirements. In sidebar
conversations, members of the Secretariat indicated that continued
IOC leadership in the GMA will be contingent on provision of new
extra-budgetary funding. The U.S. extended an offer to financially
support the first meeting of the Group of Experts; USDEL is not
aware of any other national contributions to the IOC for this
initiative.

Ocean Science Section Overview

31. Since the 2005 Assembly, a group of experts convened to rethink
the priorities of the IOC science section. The three U.S.
participants in this review were Dr. Andy Rosenberg (Univ. New
Hampshire), Dr. Biliana Cicin-Sain (Univ. Delaware), and Dr. Michael
Reeve (National Science Foundation). IOC Vice Chair Dr. Neville
Smith (Australia) chaired the effort and provided an overview of the
group's recommended themes of emphasis: 1) impacts of climate on
marine ecosystems; 2) coastal research to support coastal management
and mitigation of coastal hazards; 3) Global Marine Assessment; 4)
marine modeling; and 5) cooperation and integration among these
themes. The EC supported the report and included the
recommendations in the IOC Medium-Term Strategy. The Executive
Secretary, referencing the recently-concluded ecosystems discussions

SIPDIS
at the UN Informal Consultative Process on the Law of the Sea (Ref
A), suggested that the IOC could provide scientific support to the
ecosystem approach through contributions to science programs such as
the Census of Marine Life (CoML), Global Oceans Ecosystems Dynamics
(GLOBEC) and Integrated Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystems Research
(IMBER). The Secretariat will circulate the Advisory Group Report
prior to the 2007 Assembly.

IOC Regional Programs: Improving Coordination and Accountability

32. The EC agreed to continue the Intersessional Working Group on
Regional Programs in light of the dynamic tension in the IOC over
how to harmonize and integrate priorities and funding through global
or regional programs. The WG was encouraged to provide input to the
IOC Medium Term Strategy, assess the efficiency and effectiveness of
regional programs through quantifiable indicators, and assess the
role of the Regional Subsidiary Bodies in the implementation of IOC
programs of work with due consideration of budgetary, staffing and
other requirements.

33. A working group on WESTPAC, the regional coordination body for
IOC programs in the western Pacific area, highlighted decisions made
at the WESTPAC-VI Session in Vietnam in May 2005. Actions were
developed to address membership needs for intersessional groups
including SEAGOOS (the South East Asian GOOS Regional Alliance) and
development of a Scientific Symposium Committee (consisting of
Japan, China, Vietnam, Korea, and the Secretariat) for WESTPAC-VII.
The nomination of U.S. representative, Bill Thomas (Director, NOAA
Pacific Services Center), was welcomed. The group also discussed
the relationship of WESTPAC to the IOC Medium Term Strategy and Main
Lines of Action.
Oliver

© Scoop Media