OTTAWA, November 19, 2004 - Media representatives are invited to a technical briefing on November 25 to receive background information on the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) initiative, Canada’s participation in this initiative and the Fifth Meeting of the Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO-5). Canada is hosting the GEO-5 meeting on November 29-30 in Ottawa. GEO was created to develop a framework and begin work on a ten-year Global Earth Observing System of Systems Implementation Plan. Senior officials representing over 50 nations and 30 international organizations will be attending the meeting. In response to the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, which identified many demands for an information system for the sustainable management of the Earth, and following the June 2003 G-8 Summit in Evian, the GEO initiative was launched at the first Earth Observation Summit held in Washington on July 31, 2003. At that Summit, Canada, alongside 33 countries and over 21 international organizations, endorsed a declaration for an expanded international effort to improve Earth observations. In these times of significant environmental change, the participants recognized the need for timely, quality, sustained, national, regional, and global information as a basis for sound decision-making. Date: Thursday, November 25, 2004 Time: 1:30 to 2:00 p.m. (EST) Location: Parliamentary Press Gallery 150 Wellington Street Ottawa For more information on the Canadian GEO effort, please see: http://www.cgeo-gcot.gc.ca For media registration please contact: GEO5media@cgeo-gcot.gc.ca For more information on the international GEO effort, please see: http://earthobservations.org/ - 30 - For further information contact: Denis Simard Media Relations Environment Canada (819) 994-7499 denis.simard@ec.gc.ca
