Egeland to co-chair international taskforce

Head of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), Jan Egeland, has been elected to co-chair the High-level Taskforce for the Global Framework for Climate Services. an international taskforce that is to compile and make available climate information. The responsibility of this international taskforce is to compile and make available climate information. Mr Egeland was elected at a meeting in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) today. He is to co-chair a high-level taskforce charged with developing a global framework for climate services. Jan Egeland has also held the post of special UN emergency relief coordinator, and was shortly thereafter appointed to head the new UN secretariat responsible for conflict prevention and facilitation of peace negotiations. “Mr Egeland’s background and expertise make him eminently qualified for this important task. This is particularly important for the poorest countries, which are by far the hardest hit by climate change,” said Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim. Jan Egeland will co-chair the taskforce together with Dr Abu-Zeid, former Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation. Other members of the taskforce include Emil Salim, former State Minister for Population and Environment of Indonesia, and Ricardo Lagos, former President of Chile. In the coming year the taskforce is to prepare a report containing recommendations for proposed elements of the Global Framework for Climate Services. The report is to be presented at the WMO Congress in 2011. “This will make information on current and future weather and climate change more readily accessible, which will benefit all those working on health, agriculture and disaster preparedness in poor countries,” said Mr Solheim.