WMO faces the future, with action plan on Artificial Intelligence

Science-based cooperation

“We meet at a time of rising geopolitical complexity. Yet throughout this session, we have seen a clear willingness to focus on what unites us — to build consensus and to uphold WMO as a trusted space for science-based cooperation,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

“This is part of what makes WMO’s model so unique: a model — built on cooperation, shared ownership, and Member-driven expertise — that allows us to achieve so much, even with limited resources,” she told the closing session.  

WMO President Abdalla Al Mandous said the work of WMO is now more important than ever to help every country and every community face weather, climate and hydrological risks.  

WMO celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, with the theme of Science for Action. Its work underpins resilient development, food, transport, energy, security, health, water management and disaster risk reduction.  

Rather than purely looking back on past achievements, the 75th anniversary has a forward-looking approach. This emphasizes the value of WMO services to the global economy and society, and the potential to unlock even more benefits for the global good.  

Nowhere is this more obvious than AI – and its potential to revolutionize all aspects of meteorology and hydrology.  

"I have every confidence that the AI research to operations advancements spearheaded by the USA, China, and Europe will swiftly revolutionize the operations of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) across the globe," said Abdulla Al Mandous.  

A WMO conference, “AI for Weather Prediction – Advances, Challenges & Outlook” will take place 9-11 September 2025, hosted by the National Center of Meteorology headquarters in Abu Dhabi. The goal is to unite public, private, and academic sectors to reduce barriers and improve weather prediction capabilities globally. This will be leading to enrich the discussion on a statement on AI at the Extraordinary World Meteorological Congress in October.

Open Consultative Platform

Discussions at EC were based on the outcomes of an Open Consultative Platform which brought together the WMO community, the private sector and academia. This stressed the need for collaboration with private sector and academic partners to harness innovation and outreach, while reaffirming the unique mandate and responsibilities of NMHSs in issuing forecasts and warnings to save lives.

“In light of the roles played by NMHSs and the WMO’s global infrastructure, it is essential that we continue to deepen our mutual understanding and strengthen our collaboration with the private sector and academia. To get the best out of all this, we need to combine expertise in data science, observing systems, earth-system science - hence working together. We are in this together,” said Michel Jean, President of the WMO Commission for Observation, Infrastructure and Information Systems (INFCOM).

WMO Integrated Processing and Prediction System

The EC resolution has a targeted plan to develop technical guidelines on the use of AI-based Earth System prediction technologies in the WMO Integrated Processing and Prediction System (WIPPS). This is a worldwide network of operational centres operated by WMO Members, which enable scientific and technological advances made in meteorology and related fields to be accessible and exploitable by WMO Members.  

• It recognizes that AI may offer transformative potential for advancing the capabilities of WIPPS Designated Centres and the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs).
• It notes that there remain considerable gaps in the capability of AI systems to support forecasts and warnings of local high-impact weather systems and hydrological processes which must be addressed, tested and demonstrated for operational use.
• It stresses the need to support NMHSs across the entire globe to recognize the possibilities and challenges of the new technology, to access and to make the best use of the innovations.  

A WIPPS pilot study on global riverine flood prediction products will explore how new technologies and data from non-traditional sources can complement existing forecasting capabilities, especially in areas where capacity is limited.

The new Joint Advisory Group on AI will be a joint coordination mechanism among WMO’s INFCOM, Services Commission, Research Board and other bodies. It will include experts from the public, private, and academic sectors.