GCOS, co-sponsored by WMO, UNESCO-IOC, UNEP and ISC, was established in 1992 to address the UNFCCC systematic observation agenda. GCOS works towards a world where climate observations are accurate and sustained, and access to climate data is free and open.

It is governed by a Steering Committee and has three panels of experts: Atmospheric Observation Panel for Climate (AOPC); Ocean Observations Physics and Climate Panel (OOPC); and Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate (TOPC), supported by the GCOS Secretariat.

GCOS specifies 55 Essential Climate Variables of which 19 are oceanic. GCOS regularly reviews the state of global climate observation, published as the GCOS Status Report, and identifies gaps and needs in observing systems and capabilities, published as the GCOS Implementation Plan every 5-6 years.

This information document provides the revised MoU proposed by the GCOS Steering Committee as well as a summary of the main changes between this revision and the previous MoU from 1998 for the information of the IOC Executive Council at its 57^th session (June 2024).

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