World Meteorological Organization

World Meteorological Organization
	WMO flag
Abbreviation	WMO; OMM
Formation	23 March 1950
Type	UN agency
Legal status	Active
Headquarters	Geneva, Switzerland
Head	Petteri Taalas (Secretary-General) ; David Grimes (President)
Website	public.wmo.int

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 191 Member States and Territories. Its current Secretary-General is Petteri Taalas^[1] and the President of the World Meteorological Congress, its supreme body, is David Grimes.^[2] The Organization is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

It followed on from the International Meteorological Organization, founded in 1873,^[3] a non-governmental organization. Reforms of status and structure were proposed from the 1930s, culminating in the World Meteorological Convention signed on 11 October 1947 which came into force on 23 March 1950. It formally became the World Meteorological Organization on 17 March 1951, and was designated as a specialized agency of the United Nations.^[4]

The organization

WMO has a membership of 191 Member States and Territories as of February 2014. The Convention of the World Meteorological Organization was signed 11 October 1947 and established upon ratification on 23 March 1950.

The WMO hierarchy:

The World Meteorological Congress, the supreme body of the Organization, determines policy. Each member state and territory is represented by a Permanent Representative with WMO when Congress meets every four years. Congress elects the President and Vice-Presidents of the Organization and members of the Executive Council; and appoints the Secretary-General.
The Executive Council (EC) implements Congress decisions.
The Secretariat is an eight-department organization with a staff of 200 headed by a Secretary-General, who can serve a maximum of two four-year terms.^[5]

The annually published WMO Statements on the status of the World Climate provides details of global, regional and national temperatures and extreme weather events. It also provides information on long-term climate change indicators include atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, sea level rise, and sea ice extent. The year 2016 was the hottest year on record, with many weather and climate extremes, according to the most recent WMO report.^[6]

WMO Strategic Plan

Disaster risk reduction
The Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS)
The WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WIGOS)
Aviation meteorological services
Polar and high mountain regions
Capacity development
Governance

Meteorological codes

In keeping with its mandate to promote the standardization of meteorological observations, the WMO maintains numerous code forms for the representation and exchange of meteorological, oceanographical, and hydrological data. The traditional code forms, such as SYNOP, CLIMAT and TEMP, are character-based and their coding is position-based. Newer WMO code forms are designed for portability, extensibility and universality. These are BUFR, CREX, and, for gridded geo-positioned data, GRIB.

Recognitions received

The WMO and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) jointly created Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about anthropogenic (man-made) climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."^[7]

World Meteorological Day

WMO headquarters in Geneva shared with the IPCC and the Group on Earth Observations

World Meteorological Day is held annually on 23 March.^[8]

Main public outreach materials

The World Meteorological Organization at a Glance
WMO Public website
WMO for Youth
WMO Bulletin (twice annually)
WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin (annually)
WMO Statements on the Status of the World Climate (annually)

WMO awards and prizes

Membership

As of February 2014, WMO Members include a total of 185 Member States and 6 Member Territories.^[14]

Ten United Nations member states are not members of WMO: Andorra, Equatorial Guinea, Grenada, Liechtenstein, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and San Marino. Cook Islands and Niue are WMO Members but non-members of the United Nations. Vatican City and State of Palestine and the states with limited recognition are not members of either organization.

The six WMO Member Territories are the British Caribbean Territories (joint meteorological organisation and membership),^[14] French Polynesia, Hong Kong, Macau, Curaçao and Sint Maarten (joint meteorological service and membership)^[14] and New Caledonia. (List of all members with admission dates.)

Membership by regional associations

The member states of the World Meteorological Organization divided into the six regional associations, shown on a world map

Region I (Africa)

Region I consists of the states of Africa and a few former colonial powers. Region I has 57 member states and no member territories:^[15]

Non-member

Equatorial Guinea

Region II (Asia)

Region II has 33 member states and 2 member territories. The member states are:^[16]

The member territories are:

Hong Kong - China
Macau - China

Region III (South America)

Region III consists of the states of South America, including France as French Guiana is an overseas region of France. It has a total of 13 member states and no member territories:^[17]

Region IV (North America, Central America and the Caribbean)

Region IV consists of the states of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, including three European states with dependencies within the region. It has a total of 25 member states and 2 member territories. The member states are:^[18]

The two member territories are:

Non-members

Region V (South-West Pacific)

Region V consists of 21 member states and 2 member territories. The member states are:^[19]

The Cook Islands and Niue (both are in free association with New Zealand)