Event: Small Sea Changes: Big Business Decisions – a workshop to explore how enhanced understanding of the oceans improves weather and climate prediction enabling better informed business decisions
Date: 31 October 2007 09.00-17.00 followed by evening reception
Venue: City Conference Centre, London EC2R 5BJ
Further information: www.imarest.org
To register interest in attending: bev.mackenzie [at] imarest [dot] org
Few people would argue that improvements in weather forecasting and climate projections – vital tools in short, medium and long term business and operations planning and strategy – would benefit businesses as varied as insurance and agriculture, retail and manufacturing, transport and tourism, utilities and the financial sector, to name just a few.
What may not be as clearly understood is that achieving improvements relies on a better understanding of the critical role of the oceans in influencing both weather and climate. For this reason business leaders from a wide range of industries and market sectors are being invited to attend ‘Small Sea Changes: Big Business Impacts”, a workshop being held in central London on 31 October, to explore how understanding of the oceans dramatically improves weather and climate predictions enabling better informed business decisions.
“With a panel of superb speakers from home and overseas we will be getting across the vital message that it is imperative that improvements in understanding the key role that the oceans play in business life – even for those many hundreds or even thousands of miles away from the seashore – depends on timely, coordinated and sustained global ocean observations and ocean modelling,” explains conference chair, Dr Ralph Rayner, Vice President of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST).
“Small Sea Changes: Big Business Decisions will be demonstrating how a better understanding of the oceans can lead to vastly improved decisions and have very tangible benefits to key players in such differing sectors as energy, utilities, agriculture, transport, insurance, construction, retail, manufacturing, tourism, leisure, regulatory agencies and the financial sector. We are delighted by the response we have had so far, with over 30 already registering their interest in attending.
The speakers
“With so much in the news about climate change it’s incredibly important to speak to those at the coal face and find out about the impacts of climate change on our oceans and get a handle on the uncertainties,” explains Dr Matt Huddleston of The Met Office who will be providing an introduction to weather and climate to launch the day’s discussions. “For businesses these issues can no longer be ignored, and it’s not just a sustainability debate – it’s about how what we think of as normal weather will change. There are real challenges in separating what is natural from the man-made changes in the oceans. But there is little doubt that changes are indeed happening. Small Sea Changes: Big Business Impacts should prove hugely stimulating. I’m very much looking forward to debating the issues with the panel and attendees.”
He will be followed by Dr Jim Baker, former administrator of NOAA (U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) who will look at global impacts: “ Coastal storms are causing unprecedented damage and loss of life around the world,” he explains. “Global warming is leading to rising sea levels and potential disruption of the climate system as we know it. Oceans are at the heart of understanding and forecasting - and hence mitigating and adapting to - these changes.
“In these times of challenge there are opportunities for businesses to use their resources and talents to create new ways for society and governments to deal with these issues. Timely, accurate, and global ocean information is the fundamental basis for progress. For example, improved weather and climate prediction arising from better ocean information could save as much as US$1 billion per major climate event. Yet, despite slow improvements, the global system of ocean monitoring in place today is inadequate for providing the information necessary to society to deal with these issues in an informed, cost-effective, and timely way.
“The conference on 31 October will provide attendees with the information they need to understand what is currently available for their businesses respond to these opportunities and what needs to be done to improve the systems. The private sector can benefit from what the global observing systems offer, but it will need to understand what is needed and will need to engage in advocacy to improve public investment in ocean observing systems.”
Other speakers during the day are Dr Pierre Bahurel, Mercator Ocean who will speak on regional impacts; Dr Trevor Guymer, Interagency Committee for Marine Science and Technology talking about national impacts; Dr Chris West, UK Climate Impacts Programme whose topic will be weather, climate and business; and Professor Lenny Smith of the London School of Economics who will look at economic impacts of Ocean Observations.
The composition of the day
The day starts with presentations by all the guest speakers who will be setting the scene; introducing the science behind short, medium and long term forecasting; and describing the degree to which improving forecasting and prediction, and reducing uncertainties is reliant on knowledge of the oceans with emphasis on the three themes of extreme winds (and especially hurricanes), European winter/summer temperatures, rainfall distribution, and sea level rise/storm surges.
Session II will look specifically at the impacts of weather and climate on business and will provide case studies relevant to the industry sectors represented. And Session III will consist of parallel workshops evaluating how enhanced weather and climate information better informs short, medium and long term business decisions for each sector and determining how business can help shape national and international investment priorities which improve ability to predict future weather and climate. The day will close with a networking reception.
Further information
The one-day workshop is being organised by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST); the Marine Information Alliance (MIA) and the Interagency Committee for Marine Science and Technology (IACMST). Sponsors include Shell, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Centre for Ocean Forecasting (NCOF), the Met Office, MERSEA and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) - Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC of UNESCO), Joint Commission on Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM).
Attendance at the workshop is free of charge, but places are strictly limited. Expressions of interest in attending should be sent to Dr Bev Mackenzie, Manager, Technical Affairs, IMarEST, 80 Coleman Street, London EC2R 5BJ, UK. Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 2628; Fax: +44 (0)20 7382 2668. Email: bev.mackenzie [at] imarest [dot] org
