I am pleased to convey my greetings to all those gathered for this Conference on the Gender Dimensions of Weather and Climate Services.
 
This meeting is particularly timely in light of ongoing efforts to formulate an ambitious sustainable development agenda in 2015.  Next year also marks 20 years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

Extreme weather events are increasing in intensity.  Floods, droughts and cyclones pose ever greater dangers for hundreds of millions of people around the world, and sea-level rise is a threat to the very existence of whole countries and regions.  Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to these risks, but they also have the greatest capacity to become champions of community resilience.

The agenda of this Conference reflects your collective commitment to bring women to the center of climate mitigation and adaptation – and to better tailor climate information.  It further sets out to develop valuable guidance for practical action at international, national and local level.

I appreciate your attention to careers in weather, climate and water for women.  There are important gender gaps to close in education, scientific and technical professions and policymaking.

I also see this Conference as a concrete response to the issues raised and actions agreed at the Climate Summit held in September at United Nations headquarters.  The six UN entities that have organized this Conference under the leadership of WMO are an excellent example of how the United Nations delivers as one, in close partnership with governments and civil society. 

I am confident that the speakers and participants gathered in Geneva have the imagination, creativity and determination to secure a sustainable future for all women and girls, men and boys.