The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which originated from the International Meteorological Organization, was established in 1950 with the purpose of coordinating the activities of national meteorological and hydrological services. The WMO, of which 193 member states and territories are members, promotes cooperation in the establishment of networks for making meteorological, climatic, hydrological and geophysical observations, as well as the exchange, processing and standardization of related data. It contributes to the transfer of technology and knowledge, as well as to collaboration between the meteorological and hydrological services of Member Countries, fostering the application of meteorology to climate services, agriculture, aviation, navigation, the environment, protection of water resources and mitigation of the impacts of natural disasters.
Through the WMO, Italy is funding and supporting an initiative in Mali to establish the impact of droughts and floods on agriculture. It should also be noted that Italy is the leading country in the reconstruction of Iraq’s meteorological system.
Italy is the sixth country as a contributor to the WMO, with about 2.5 million Swiss francs, or about 4 percent of contributions.
The Italian contribution is around 2.4 MCHF out of a total budget of about 60 MCHF.
– The Focal Point is General Luca Baione of the Italian Ministry of Defense, Air Force Meteorological Service.
In attendance are 11 Italian officials out of a total of about 200 employees.
The WMO Secretary General since January 2016 has been Finland’s Petteri Taalas, who was re-elected for a second term ending in December 2023.
Web site: www.wmo.int