Building Bridges to the Future

Thank you, Mr. Chairman – it is a pleasure to be here in Belgrade. We are extremely grateful to the Government of Serbia and the Serbian people for their warm hospitality.

Monitoring and assessment are critical elements for implementing sound environmental policies and making sound decisions for sustainable development. Policy makers, working collaboratively with stakeholders and the public, require access to sophisticated measurement, monitoring, and assessment to support science-based decision making. These monitoring and assessment tools help combine diverse streams of information into a common framework for environmental assessment based on shared data delivery standards, geo-referenced data sources, and standard methodologies.

Although significant progress has already been made, the institutions and capacities for this reporting and assessment network are not yet fully developed for all of the countries of Europe. In the coming years we encourage the UNECE process to continue focusing on capacity building and implementation of environmental regulations on a non-discriminatory basis throughout the pan-European region.

The assessments being done by the European Environment Agency (EEA) have been extremely valuable, but like any analysis, they depend on the quality of the information on which they are based. Likewise, Environmental Program Reviews (EPR) are an important tool for evaluating program effectiveness but, to be useful, also depend on good base information and sound methodologies. It is crucial to strengthen capacity to ensure that the environmental inputs provided by the countries of the region for these assessments are timely, accurate and consistent.

The various earth observation platforms that provide a unique perspective on our planet are an important source of environmental monitoring information. The United States has been a leader in the development of earth observation systems since 1960 with the launch of TIROS-1. The LANDSAT satellite system in 1972 brought widespread availability of low-cost imagery and has been an effective tool for scientists, researchers and policy makers to study the environmental impacts of economic activities, land use change, and urbanization over three decades. Reflecting our partnership approach, these data remain widely available for analyzing changes to the environment over time.

Another example of U.S. partnership at the regional level is the technical cooperation provided by the National Weather Service, with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), to countries of Central Asia for measuring snow pack to predict river flows, potential flood hazards, and water availability for crops. USAID has also cooperated with countries of the Caucasus region on water and hydrological data sharing.

This type of technical cooperation is also taking place at the global level. As you know, the United States hosted the Earth Observation Summit in Washington in July 2003, which launched the Group on Earth Observations (GEO). The United States is proud to be a partner with the European Commission and many Member States of the European Union in the Group on Earth Observations in advancing sustainable, coordinated observation systems capable of transforming the data they collect into vital information for society.

Over the next decade, development of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) will revolutionize our understanding of the earth and how it works. The aim is to support science-based decision making that will make all countries and economies around the globe healthier, safer and better equipped to manage basic daily needs.

We note with appreciation that Europe has launched a user-friendly tool that advances the GEOSS vision. GEONETCast is a satellite-based, environmental information dissemination system. Led by EUMETSAT, China, the World Meteorological Organization, and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with Russia prospectively joining, GEONETCast now provides near global coverage. The United States is proud to be a partner in GEONETCast.

The European contributions to GEOSS and the European Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program should be a focus of UNECE efforts for advanced observational science and information services interoperability. To ensure robust observing networks, we need to remain focused on the operations and sustainability of systems. A continued commitment to quality assurance and global coverage is required if a number of systems are to remain effective, including systems supporting forecasts and climate and environmental trend assessments.

However, we must always keep in mind that the true value of these sophisticated earth observation systems depends on the ability of countries to make effective use of the raw data to support decision-making. This requires that data be made available on a free and open basis. It also requires development of appropriate institutions, human resources, technical capabilities, and procedures for translating data into useful information for environmental monitoring and assessment.

We are aware of interest here in Serbia and in South-Eastern Europe more broadly in a sub-regional virtual climate change-related center in Belgrade to provide a means to develop and implement programs and projects under the sub-regional Climate Change Framework Action Plans (CCFAP) designed for interested countries of South-Eastern Europe, as well as to strengthen international partnerships that foster exchanges of experience and expertise in the fields of climate research and observation, education, public awareness raising and capacity building. We will consider closely how we may be able to contribute to this effort.

In conclusion, accurate information and science-based assessment are critical to good decision-making for sustainable development in order to protect the environment and improve the lives of people in the region. We look forward to continuing to work with our European partners to achieve these goals.