Annex 1

Mission and Strategy of the Coordinating Committee
on Hydrometeorology of the Caspian Sea

1. The public-oriented mission of hydrometeorology is the protection and improvement of human lives, the protection of property and the increase of profits resulting from the economic activities, and the environmental protection by means of providing the community with the information on the past and expected changes of weather, climate and hydrological conditions (hereinafter referred to as hydrometeorological information).

2. The overriding purpose of the Coordinating Committee on Hydrometeorology of the Caspian Sea (hereinafter referred to as CASPCOM) is to ensure the implementation of the public-oriented mission of hydrometeorology on and off the coast of the Caspian Sea by means of uniting and coordinating of activities of hydrometeorological services of the Caspian States (NMHSs) which also pursue this mission.

3. The strategic public-oriented goals of a hydrometeorological institution striving for accomplishing its mission through the improvement of hydrometeorological services for the community are as follows:

to improve forecast accuracy and increase the lead-time of hydrometeorological forecasts and hydrometeorological hazard warnings;
to improve the accuracy and reliability of climatic and hydrological assessments and to ensure their comprehensiveness;
to ensure accounting for hydrometeorological information in decision-taking and to reduce cost-benefit ratio in hydrometeorological activities.

4. The strategic research and development goals of hydrometeorology which facilitate the achievement of public -oriented goals and the accomplishment of its mission are as follows:

to elaborate methods and tools of meteorological, hydrological and other geophysical observations;
to develop the systems for the collection, transmission, storage, processing and distribution of hydrometeorological information;
to develop methods and technologies of hydrometeorological services in compliance with the community needs for hydrometeorological information;
to organize and carry out scientific research in the field of hydrometeorology and related fields and to train staff.

5. The strategic goals of hydrometeorology are mainly achieved at the national level. This is facilitated by the international cooperation in the field of hydrometeorology (hereinafter referred to as international cooperation) at the global level within the framework of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and in the Caspian Region within the framework of CASPCOM. CASPCOM member states are WMO member states as well.

6. The strategic goal of the international cooperation is to facilitate the achievement of research and development strategic goals of hydrometeorology as a public-oriented science by means of uniting and coordinating of activities of the national hydrometeorological services, organizing of data exchange and setting standards for the methods of observation, storage and transmission of hydrometeorological information.

7. The goals of the global and regional (Caspian Sea region) international co-operation determined in Article 2 of the Convention on the World Meteorological Organization and Article 4 of the Agreement on Co-operation in the Field of Hydrometeorology of the Caspian Sea respectively mainly coincide. Therefore another goal of CASPCOM is to facilitate the achievement of WMO goals in the Caspian Sea region.

8. The summarized strategic goal and mission of CASPCOM (in accordance with the Agreement on Co-operation in the Field of Hydrometeorology of the Caspian Sea) is to establish and develop a regional system for obtaining and exchanging of information on the state of the Caspian Sea, in order to ensure safety of lives and facilitate the sustainable development of economic activities in the sea.

9. The main tool aimed to achieve the goals and to accomplish the mission of CASPCOM is the Intergovernmental Integrated Programme on Hydrometeorology of the Caspian Sea, which incorporates the National Action Plans and the Joint Action Plan of NMHSs - CASPCOM members in the field of hydrometeorology of the Caspian Sea.