Retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C.
Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and
administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
and Dr. Harlan L. Watson, senior climate negotiator and special
representative, U.S. Department of State, will discuss U.S. goals and
objectives at the second Group on Earth Observations (GEO2) meeting to be held
November 28-29 in Baveno, Italy and U.S. participation at the ninth session of
the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
(COP-9), December 1-12 in Milan, Italy.

WHAT: Press Briefing on GEO2 and COP-9

WHEN: Monday, November 17, 2003, 1:00-2:00 p.m.

WHERE:

  • National Press Club
  • Holeman Lounge, 13th Floor
  • 529 14th Street, NW
  • Washington, D.C. 20045

WHO:

Vice

  • Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, administrator, NOAA
  • Dr. Harlan L. Watson, Senior Climate Negotiator, U.S. Department of State

BACKGROUND: The ad hoc intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO)
will hold its second meeting, Nov. 28, 29, 2003 in Baveno, Italy to continue
work on a ten-year plan for an Earth Observation System. The first meeting
took place immediately after the first Earth Observation Summit, held on July
31, 2003 in Washington, D.C. The Earth Observation Summit, attended by
ministerial representatives and senior science and technical leaders from 34
countries and 20 international organizations, adopted a declaration that calls
for a commitment to developing a comprehensive, coordinated and sustained
Earth observation system, and established the GEO to prepare a framework for a
ten-year implementation plan.
http://www.earthobservationsummit.gov.
http://earthobservations.org.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will
hold the ninth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP-9) in Milan,
Italy, Dec. 1-12, 2003. http://unfccc.int/cop9/