Provide an overarching view to help improve understanding by governments of the significance of global monitoring.
 

Provide an overarching strategy for global observations, allowing those involved in their collection to improve their contributions, and to make better decisions in the allocation of their resources to meet their own priorities, by taking advantage of better international collaboration and coordination.
 

Facilitate the most effective use of the resources available for global observations, directing them to the priority needs to upgrade existing or establish new systems.
 

Provide a framework for decisions intended to provide long term continuity and spatial comprehensiveness for key observations needed to improve the understanding of Earth processes.
 

Build upon the strategies of existing international Global observation programmes and focus additional efforts in areas where satisfactory international arrangements and structures do not currently exist.
 

Build on existing international structures that successfully contribute to current global observations rather than create a centralized decision-making organization.
 

Provide Governments with improved understanding of the need for Global observations through the presentation of an overarching view of current system capabilities and limitations.
 

Be helpful in efforts to reduce unnecessary duplication of observations.
 

Provide opportunities for capacity building and assisting countries to obtain maximum benefit from the total set of observations.
 

Stimulate the creation of improved high level products by facilitating the integration of multiple data sets from different agencies and national and international organizations.
 

Identify situations where existing international arrangements for the management and distribution of key global observations and products could be improved.
 

Assist the transition of systems from research to operational status through improved international cooperation.
 

Promote amongst different user groups all aspects of Strategy implementation by national and international agencies, including supporting data policies, enhanced product processing chains, better archiving, improved accessibility to the information products and capacity building for end users.
 

Offer a forum for exchange of information on the Partners' relevant activities and to promote dialogue between space agencies, agencies supporting in-situ observing systems and scientific research programmes.
 

Long term continuity of measurement for key variables.
 

Adequate data archiving and access capability for all data sets.
 

Consistency of data quality where there are disturbances to the record, e.g. due to new technology.
 

Sufficient ancillary data to enable users to judge the data quality.