Recommendation 1 of the 16th CCQM (2010)

On monitoring the global climate and collaboration with the WMO

The Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance – Metrology in Chemistry (CCQM),

considering

• the signature of the CIPM MRA by the WMO,
• the recommendations and findings¹ of the workshop held between the WMO and the BIPM on “Measurement Challenges for Global Observation Systems for Climate Change Monitoring: Traceability, Stability and Uncertainty”,

noting

• that enormous scientific value arises from the comparability of data from different stations in global monitoring networks as exemplified by the Integrated Global Atmospheric Chemistry Observation Strategy,
• that the long-term stability and reproducibility of SI traceable reference materials, and explicitly defined calibration scales, are critical to the study of climate change,
• that the global records of GHGs may come under great scrutiny during the preparation of the 5th Assessment Report of the IPCC,
• the importance of high quality data in measurements of environmental sustainability,

recommends that

• the CIPM takes steps to bring the recommendations and findings of the workshop to the attention of the NMIs,
• the CIPM and the BIPM consider the most effective mechanism to take the recommendations forward in collaboration with the WMO community in order to make best use of established national and international infrastructure to meet the requirements for standards for monitoring global climate change,
• the CIPM considers the requirements for metrological traceability of data used in studies of environmental sustainability.

¹The WMO-BIPM Workshop on ‘Measurement Challenges for Global Observation Systems for Climate Change Monitoring: Traceability, Stability and Uncertainty’ was held at the WMO Headquarters, Geneva on 30 March - 1 April 2010. The report of the workshop is available on the BIPM website

DOI : 10.59161/CCQM2010REC1E