Opening the Ministerial Summit on Friday morning, 17 January 2014, Bruno Oberle, State Secretary, Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), welcomed delegates to Geneva and explained the gathering will decide on the continuation of GEO for the next decade. Short films were shown explaining GEO and GEOSS rationale and achievements.

During the introductory session chaired by Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for Environment, each of the four GEO Ministerial Co-Chairs offered brief addresses: Potočnik, European Commission; Jianlin Cao, Vice Minister of Science and Technology, China; Derek Hanekom, Minister of Science and Technology, South Africa; and Patrick Gallagher, Acting Deputy Secretary of Commerce, US. Participants also heard keynote addresses from Achim Steiner, Executive Director, UNEP, delivered by Jacqueline McGlade, Senior Advisor, UNEP, and State Secretary Oberle. Ministers then visited the exhibition

After the exhibition visit, the morning continued with a session on the Geneva Declaration, chaired by Co-Chair Cao, which began with a reading of the draft Declaration by State Secretary Oberle. Twenty-nine Members and 15 Participating Organizations (POs) then offered statements supporting the Declaration. The Declaration was adopted without amendment.

In the afternoon, a session on guidance for the future of GEO was chaired by Co-Chair Hanekom. After a presentation by the Secretariat of the Ministerial Guidance on the Evolution of GEOSS, six Members and three POs offered statements regarding the future of GEO. Hanekom provided a brief summary of the interventions.

The final session, chaired by Co-Chair Gallagher, featured closing remarks by each of the Co-Chairs and by State Secretary Oberle. The Summit was gaveled to a close at 4:51 pm.