WMO RA VI Community active in regional policy debates and exchange of good practices on SDG implementation

Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, convened annually by the UNECE, is a key platform at the regional level for policy debates, exchange of good practices and peer learning on Sustainable Development Goals' implementation. 

The 2022 UNECE Regional Forum on Sustainable Development aimed to uncover concrete policy actions to accelerate SDG progress and support efforts to build a resilient and sustainable economic recovery. SDG 4, 5, 14, 15 and 17 were reviewed in depth tis year.   

WMO Regional Office for Europe, being part of the Regional UN Collaborative Platform, as well as the UN Regional Issue -Based Coalitions, supported the UNECE efforts to build a resilient and sustainable economic recovery, by sharing concrete examples of WMO policy actions on weather, water and weather, implemented in the region and passing over key messages to accelerate SDG progress. 

Dr Arni Snorrason, Permanent Representative of Iceland with WMO, had a key message at the peer learning session; Enhancing Ocean literacy and the sustainable development of regional seas, which is related to SDG 14-Life below water. He advocated for ocean observations and WMO Unified data policy, essential for forecasting, stressing out that sustained long-term monitoring, sharing of data, information and knowledge and improved context-specific forecasts – including early warning systems to predict more extreme El Niño/La Niña events, tropical cyclones and marine heatwaves can help manage negative impacts from ocean changes. Click HERE to watch the session.

Mr Nir Stav, Permanent Representative of Israel with WMO, delivered a key message at the session "Navigating the data boom: finding, understanding and using SDG data" contributing to SDG 17 - Partnerships for the goals. He advocated for the WMO Unified data policy, that incorporate also the areas of atmospheric composition, oceans, cryosphere and space weather, covering all WMO-relevant Earth system data. The policy expands from addressing just national meteorological and hydrological services to endorsing relevant data exchange among all partners, including agencies beyond meteorological and hydrological services, the rapidly growing private sector and academia. He stressed out that its implementation is essential for improving early warning systems and weather forecasting capabilities. Click HERE to watch the session.

Dr Umberto Modigliani, ECMWF Deputy Director of Forecasts, advocated for implementation of the WMO Unified Data Policy and called Member States to engage in this joint collaborative effort to form a federation of clouds / data offered by Member States, for the maximum benefit of the society to support the accelerated achievement of the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. Click HERE to watch the peer learning session: Accelerating digital development through multi-stakeholder partnerships. 

The key messages, as part of the final report, will set the scene for the 2022 High-level Political Forum (HLPF).