WMO hosted the first Symposium and User Summit of the Integrated Global Greenhouse Gas Information System (IG3IS), one of the recent initiatives of the WMO Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) Programme, from 13 to 15 November in Geneva. The event brought together technical developers of IG3IS tools and key users from a number of different sectors, including national emission inventory compilers, representatives of city and state agencies, and private sector stakeholders, to engage in dialogue. Stakeholders and users were invited to articulate their needs for data-driven GHG emission information, and the IG3IS service developers presented the existing capabilities that could serve these needs.
A number of actions were identified for the progression of IG3IS after the symposium:
- IG3IS will continue to cultivate active and intimate partnerships between its science team and the user communities it serves. This is essential for the co-development of methods and projects that will yield actionable information.
- IG3IS will focus on promoting new projects with stakeholders in nations, cities and businesses in the developing world, while continuing its successes in the developed world.
- The IG3IS science team will continue to promote technological abilities for creating projects on a wider range of GHG emission information.
- IG3IS will broaden its portfolio within the private sector by offering services in the agricultural, forestry, waste management, and other land use and change sectors.
This symposium was critical in initiating productive discussions between the IG3IS science team and stakeholders from national, urban, and private/industrial sectors. The system intends to use the information gathered from the symposium and follow-up discussions to drive research and development for future products and services for the user community.
