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12th Plenary Session of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO-XII)
and GEO 2015 Mexico City Ministerial Summit

9-13 November 2015 | Mexico City, Mexico


Highlights for Wednesday, 11 November 2015

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Daily Web CoverageAbout | 9 Nov | 10 Nov | 11 Nov | 12 Nov | 13 Nov | Summary

Participants receive GEO pins at the start of the plenary

The 12th Plenary Session of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO-XII) opened on Wednesday, 11 November in Mexico City, Mexico, with a welcome from Rolando Ocampo, Vice-President, National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) and GEO Principal for Mexico, and opening statements from the four GEO Co-Chairs, Kathryn Sullivan (US), Jianlin Cao (China), Rudolf Strohmeier (European Commission), and Philemon Mjwara (South Africa). The Plenary also welcomed Ecuador, Kenya, Somalia, Viet Nam and Zimbabwe as new Members, bringing the number to 100 Members.

The Plenary took note of the draft Mexico City Declaration to be adopted at the Ministerial Summit on Friday, 13 November, as well as the proposed summit programme and agenda.

Presentations were made on implementation of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) 2005-2015, including a summary assessment of progress on the targets and tasks, the report of the Sixth and Summary Evaluation of GEOSS Implementation, and a series of lessons learned from GEO's first decade.

The Implementation Plan Working Group (IPWG) presented the ‘GEO Strategic Plan 2016-2025: Implementing GEOSS,’ and after some discussion, delegates sought edits to reflect discussion points raised about climate change and weather.

The Plenary agreed on revised criteria for observers and Participating Organizations (POs), lifting the temporary moratorium on new POs, and accepted the evaluation of applications for new observers and POs, welcoming four observers, including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and five POs, including the World Bank.

The Plenary also discussed the 2015 to 2016 transition, the appointment of the Programme Board, GEO engagement with stakeholders, and the Transitional Work Programme 2016.

IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage and a summary report from the 12th Plenary Session of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO-XII) and GEO 2015 Mexico City Ministerial Summit. Our summary report is available in HTML or PDF format.



Opening Session


Panelists during the opening session


Rolando Ocampo, National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) and GEO Principal for Mexico

GEO Co-Chair Jianlin Cao, Vice-Minister,
Science and Technology, China


GEO Co-Chair Philemon Mjwara, Director-General, Department
of Science and Technology, South Africa

GEO Co-Chair Kathryn Sullivan, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, Department of Commerce, US


Plenary Chair Rudolf Strohmeier, Deputy Director-General, Directorate General for Research and Innovation,
European Commission (EC)

Barbara Ryan, Director, GEO Secretariat



Susan Muzite, Zimbabwe

Leonardo Arízaga, Ecuador


Morning Plenary


Participants during the session


Ivan DeLoatch, GEO Infrastructure Implementation Board (IIB)

José Romero, Switzerland

John Adamec, GEO Monitoring
and Evaluation Working Group


Max Craglia, IIB

Simon Hudson, Committee on Data for
Science and Technology (CODATA)


David Halpern, GEO Data Management
Principles Task Force (DMP-TF)

Jörn Hoffmann, GEO Implementation Plan Working Group


Chuang Liu, China

Mustapha Mokrane, International Council for Science World Data System (ICSU-WDS)

Lars Peter Riishojgaard, World Meteorological Organization (WMO)


Afternoon Plenary


Giovanni Rum, GEO Secretariat, speaks during the afternoon plenary


Douglas Cripe, GEO Secretariat

Ede Jorge Ijjasz-Vasquez, World Bank


Dominique Marbouty, France

Ezio Bussoletti, Italy

Kenneth Crowder, International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE)


Peter Fox, Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP)

David Grimes, Canada



Around the Venue


Participants enjoy a view of the city from the Hilton Hotel


Participants meet informally before the start of plenary



Participants throughout the exhibition area


Representatives from the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Kathryn Sullivan, Administrator and Under Secretary of
Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, US, speaks to
participants in the exhibition space








Daily Web CoverageAbout | 9 Nov | 10 Nov | 11 Nov | 12 Nov | 13 Nov | Summary
Funding for coverage of the GEO-XII Plenary & Mexico City Ministerial Summit
has been provided by the GEO Secretariat
GEO