Elements for Life

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] 196

The Congress,

Noting:

1. Resolution 40 (Cg-XII) –WMO policy and practice for

the exchange of meteorological and related data and

products including guidelines on relationships in

commercial meteorological activities

2. The inclusion of dedicated observations of the climate

system, including hydrological phenomena, as one of

the four main thrusts of The Climate Agenda, which

was endorsed by Twelfth Congress

3. That Technical Regulation [D.1.1] 8.3.1(k), states that,

in general, the routine functions of national Hydrological

Services (NHSs) should include, inter alia, “making the

data accessible to users, when, where and in the form

they require” and that the Technical Regulations also

contain a consolidated list of data and product require-

ments to support all WMO Programmes

4. That the nineteenth Special Session of the United Nations

General Assembly agreed, in its overall review and

appraisal of the implementation of Agenda 21, that there

is an urgent need to “... foster regional and international

cooperation for information dissemination and exchange

through cooperative approaches among United Nations

institutions, …” (A/RES/S-19/2, paragraph 34(f))

5. That the fifty-first session of the United Nations General

Assembly adopted, by resolution 51/229, the

Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses

of International Watercourses, Article 9 of which

provides for “regular exchange of data and information”

6. That the Intergovernmental Council of the

International Hydrological Programme of the United

Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization (UNESCO) adopted at its twelfth session

Resolution XII-4 which dealt with the exchange of

hydrological data and information needed for research

at the regional and international levels.

Considering:

1. The significance attached by the International

Conference on Water and the Environment (ICWE)

(Dublin, 1992) to extending the knowledge base on

water and enhancing the capacity of water sector

specialists to implement all aspects of integrated water

resources management

2. The call of world leaders at the United Nations

Conference on Environment and Development

(UNCED) (Rio de Janeiro, 1992) for a significant

strengthening of, and capacity building in, water

resources assessment, for increasing global commitment

to exchange scientific data and analyses and for promot-

ing access to strengthened systematic observations

3. That the United Nations Commission on Sustainable

Development (CSD) in its Decision 6/1 “Strategic

Approaches to Freshwater Management” has strongly

encouraged States to promote the exchange and

dissemination of water-related data and information,

and has recognized “the need for periodic assessments

… for a global picture of the state of freshwater

resources and potential problems”

4. The call by the nineteenth Special Session of the

United Nations General Assembly “for the highest

priority to be given to the serious freshwater problems

facing many regions, especially in the developing

world” and the “urgent need … to strengthen the capa-

bility of Governments and international institutions to

collect and manage information … and environmental

data, in order to facilitate the integrated assessment

and management of water resources”

5. The requirements for full, open and prompt exchange

of hydrological data and products in support of various

international conventions, such as the Convention on

Biological Diversity, the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change, and the Convention

to Combat Desertification

6. The requirement for the global exchange of hydrolog-

ical information in support of scientific investigations

of world importance such as those on global change

and the global hydrological cycle, and as a contribu-

tion to relevant programmes and projects of WMO,

other United Nations agencies, the International

Council for Science (ICSU) and other organizations of

equivalent status

7. The opportunities for more efficient management of

water resources and the need for cooperation in miti-

gating water-related hazards in transboundary river

basins and their water bodies which depend on the

international exchange of hydrological data and infor-

mation

ESOLUTION

25 (C

XIII

, 1999)

Exchange of hydrological

data and products