GENEVA (AN) — Argentine meteorologist and professor Celeste Saulo, who won election as head of the World Meteorological Organization, promises to focus on making more global voices heard while fighting inequality and climate change.
The World Meteorological Organization announced on Thursday its governing body selected Saulo to serve as the agency's next secretary-general. Saulo, who has been serving as WMO's first vice president, received a two-thirds majority of votes from delegates at the quadrennial World Meteorological Congress.
“In these times when inequality and climate change are the greatest global threats, the WMO must contribute to strengthening the meteorological and hydrological services to protect populations and their economies, providing timely and effective services and early warning systems,” said Saulo.
Saulo, who has led Argentina's National Meteorological Service since 2014, is the first woman elected as WMO's chief.
Hearing all voices equally
The congress, which is the top decision-making body of the 193-nation WMO, chose Saulo to succeed Petteri Taalas, a Finnish meteorologist. Taalas is nearing the end of his second four-year term as the head of WMO since the start of 2016.
Saulo won election in a race that included WMO's Deputy Secretary-General Elena Manaenkova of Russia; WMO's Assistant Secretary-General Zhang Wenjian of China; and WMO's Second Vice-President Albert Martis of the Netherlands.
The Geneva-based U.N. agency coordinates international meteorological work that is increasingly focused on fighting the impacts of human-caused climate change.
With a staff of 280 people, 80 doing field work, WMO facilitates a network of Earth observations that provides weather, climate and water-related data and promotes related services, research and training.
“My ambition," she said, "is to lead the WMO towards a scenario in which the voice of all members is heard equally, prioritizing those most vulnerable and in which the actions it undertakes are aligned with the needs and particularities of each one of them."
