New Argentine head of WMO wants to empower countries in the face of climate change

The scientist and director of the Meteorological Service of ArgentinaCeleste Saulo, was elected today Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)at the head of which he is committed to working so that the most vulnerable countries become empowered and are capable of facing climate change with their own capacities, he said in an interview with EFE shortly after his appointment.

The WMO Congress, its most important decision-making body that meets every four years, elected Saulo by an unquestionable two-thirds majority of the votes of its 193 member states, at the end of a process in which his main rival was the candidate presented by China.

Her passage into history is assured for being the first woman to lead a 150-year-old organization -if one counts her predecessor (the International Meteorological Organization, founded in 1873)- and which is the most important scientific arm of the United Nations. .

Saulo maintained that the first responsibility of the WMO is to assist countries and their meteorological services to develop their mission in a way that helps populations to adapt to the reality of climate change, reducing risks to both life and economies. .

“All my work, my passion and my enthusiasm will go to work with all the countries, fundamentally with the most vulnerable ones that bear less responsibility for having generated climate change and, nevertheless, are the ones that suffer the most”advancement.

The new head of the WMO has a degree in meteorological sciences, a doctorate in atmospheric sciences and has combined teaching and research throughout her career, reflected in dozens of scientific articles and her participation in studies that have allowed, for For example, understand the South American monsoon system.

On his election – which occurred in a relatively “easy”already in the first round of a secret ballot -, Saulo said that the fact of coming from a developing country surely made many countries of the same status identify with her and her proposals, especially after several days of consultations with their potential voters.

He revealed that during the days prior to the election he spoke with the delegates of the governments of the least developed countries and small island states. “to understand first hand” what do they expect from WMO.

“I think it is important to come from a developing country, where we know that we have limitations to face many things that we must do”he commented.

Of the most urgent that the WMO must do, he mentioned the improvement of cooperation and coordination with the countries, since “Sometimes they receive help, but they do it in an uncoordinated way and this does not end up strengthening their capacities.”

“Secondly, everyone wants to improve their capabilities, but respecting their cultures and priorities, and I think this is a very strong message because it is the only way to empower them and I am really committed to this”declared the Argentine meteorologist.

One of the priorities of his next administration, which will begin on January 1 for a period of four years, will be to make the initiative a reality so that all countries have an early warning system in case of disasters, since currently only the Half have a resource of this type.

The WMO is an organization called to investigate the factors and consequences of climate change (every year it issues reports on the concentration of greenhouse gases, as well as global and regional temperature forecasts, and bulletins on the El Niño phenomenon, among others) , but in recent years -under the leadership of the Finn Petteri Taalas- it has also assumed a role of alerting and raising awareness.

“We do our work based on science and technology. It is necessary to keep decision makers informed, with robust and reliable data”Saul concluded.

Source: EFE