Country: World Source: World Meteorological Organization 13 June 2025A reflection on WMO’s efforts in regionalization since its inception from the WMO region V perspectiveAuthor(s):Ms KOH Li-Na, Director-General of the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) and Permanent Representative of Singapore to the WMO“I must repeat the meteorological mantra: weather, climate and water know no borders.” – WMO Secretary-General, Prof. Celeste SauloNational Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) know that the global nature of weather, climate and hydrological system requires international real-time collaboration to gather and exchange data and make forecasts and predictions, and that there are huge benefits to the collective development of meteorological capabilities. Thus, they welcomed the establishment of WMO in 1950 with its mandate to facilitate international coordination among NMHSs – a mandate that has continuously expanded to cover many emerging priorities over the last 75 years.NMHSs can point to many essential WMO frameworks for international meteorological cooperation among its Member States and Territories. WMO’s establishment of highly ambitious programmes during the Cold War – in 1951, the Global Telecommunication System (GTS), which came to underpin the free and unrestricted exchange of meteorological observations and data, and in 1963, the World Weather Watch (WWW) and the Global Observing System (GOS) – is hailed among the most successful examples of multilateral cooperation. The sharing of data, expertise and resources through the WMO permitted the international meteorological community to develop sophisticated Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) systems that are continuously refined to support the provision of ever more accurate forecasts and early warning services down to today. Such advancements would have been impossible for any single nation to attain on its own.Complementary to its global frameworks, WMO has placed great emphasis on regionalization to support NMHSs in developing capacity for the provision of quality weather, climate and hydrological services. Closer regional and sub-regional cooperation improves the operations of many NMHSs by enhancing capacities through technology exchange, the sharing of resources and cost-effective regional services. In celebration of the WMO’s 75th Anniversary, this article reflects on WMO’s efforts in regionalization since its inception, with perspectives on how WMO Region V, the South-West Pacific and the Southeast Asian sub-region, have benefitted.From global frameworks to regional actionFrom the beginning, WMO recognized that global frameworks would be insufficient to enhance the operational capabilities of NMHSs. Given the unique needs and contexts of NMHSs in each region, it would be equally important to establish regional frameworks to support Members with the implementation of global initiatives, while allowing tailored solutions that addressed regional priorities and needs. It was in this spirit that the very first World Meteorological Congress in 1951 established the six WMO Regional Associations (RAs). These RAs became responsible for translating WMO’s strategic priorities and global frameworks into regional action.To this day, the RAs serve their fundamental missions as platforms for Members to coordinate regional meteorological activities and interests. They allow regions to discuss and pool together expertise and resources for tackling region-specific challenges. Through the RAs, Members are also able to elevate regional priorities and concerns to WMO’s global platforms for greater attention.In support of the regional governance frameworks, the WMO Secretariat created “Regional Offices” in the 1960s to support respective RAs with the implementation of the WMO Strategic and Operating Plans. These Offices were later decentralized from WMO headquarters in Geneva to strategic locations worldwide to strengthen WMO’s regional presence and deepen its relationship with regional development partners.Today, WMO operates four Regional Offices1 and several Representative Offices (RROs), each serving a distinct geographical area with a unique hydrometeorological context. As the WMO Secretariat’s “frontline” in the regions, the RROs support the RAs in a variety of ways such as by facilitating regional information-sharing, supporting the development of NMHS capacities, promoting regional cooperation, and translating Members’ needs back to WMO headquarters. With the support of the RROs, RAs are better able to interface with the WMO Technical Commissions to identify regional priorities, access resources and technical expertise, and drive initiatives that address regional needs.Benefiting from WMO’s regionalization effortsRA V covers a vast area as it comprises the countries of Southeast Asia as well as Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. The Region faces a wide array of weather and climate-related hazards, ranging from heatwaves and vegetation fires to tropical cyclones, extreme rainfall and floods. With such diverse challenges, and Members at different levels of development, WMO coordinated regional initiatives in specialized areas have been critical in strengthening the service delivery capacities of the individual NMHSs.Most prominently, WMO Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres (RSMCs), coordinated through the WMO global operational network, have been crucial in strengthening RA V’s operational capabilities for service delivery. These RSMCs form an essential backbone in the RA V operational infrastructure, providing each NMHS with clear, accessible region-specific operational information across a broad spectrum of hazards. The products and services provided by RSMCs empower NMHSs with limited forecasting capacities to deliver quality services to their stakeholders despite resource constraints. Space only permits us to highlight a sample of RSMCs services in the region:RSMC Darwin (Australia) has served the region for over 50 years, providing tropical analysis, prognosis and diagnostics, as well as tropical cyclone and volcanic ash advisory services.The Tropical Cyclone RSMCs in Melbourne (Australia) and Nadi (Fiji), together with the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres in Jakarta (Indonesia) and Wellington (New Zealand), track tropical cyclones within their respective watch areas, and work closely to ensure coordinated warnings where necessary. Given the South-West Pacific’s vulnerability to tropical cyclones, their advisories and warnings have been critical in reducing the loss of lives and livelihoods across in the region.RSMC Wellington issues marine information, advisories and warnings for the South-Pacific and Southern Oceans, including broadscale guidance for expected severe weather over the South-West Pacific.RSMC Singapore, designated in 2024, specializes in vegetation fire and smoke pollution forecasting in Southeast Asia, providing advice that supports decision-making in emergency response, fire management, environmental protection, etc.Other WMO regional centres and mechanisms also serve RA V’s wide-ranging needs:Supporting observing systems and networks: With the support of RROs, RA V is in the process of developing a Regional Basic Observing Network (RBON), a crucial step towards regional WIGOS implementation. In parallel, a Regional WIGOS Centre (RWC) has been established in pilot mode with nodes hosted by Fiji and Indonesia. The RWC will control the quality, and ensure the timely availability, of meteorological observation data collected by Members in the region. It will support follow-up on data compliance issues, ultimately delivering more and improved observations to stakeholders in RA V. To ensure the accuracy of monitoring instruments, and thus the integrity of observational data, Regional Instrument Centres (RICs) in Manila (Philippines) and Melbourne (Australia) provide specialized facilities to assist Members with calibrating instruments.Supporting NMHSs in delivering higherquality climate services: Coordination between RA V subsidiary bodies and WMO Technical Commissions led to the establishment of two WMO Regional Climate Centre (RCC) Networks: one the Southeast Asian, the other for the Pacific Island sub-region. The Networks comprise nodes that collectively provide regional climate products such as climate datasets, climate monitoring tools and long-range forecasts and training. Both are still in the demonstration phase but will soon be fully operationalized and formally designated. The Networks facilitate the organization of Climate Outlook Forums (COF) to review sub-regional climatic conditions and collaboratively generate regional climate outlooks. The inaugural Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Climate Outlook Forum (ASEANCOF) was held in 2013 while the Pacific Island Climate Outlook Forum (PICOF) commenced in 2015.Training and capacity building: The Regional Training Centres (RTCs) in the Philippines and Indonesia provide specialized training – for postgraduate diplomas and degrees in meteorology and for meteorological technicians – to enhance the competencies of NMHS personnel in RA V. RTCs training solutions are cost-effective for smaller NMHSs with limited local training resources.This limited overview of RA V initiatives and mechanisms established under WMO frameworks show how the Organization's regional approach has created an ecosystem of expertise and resources for the region to leverage. They also demonstrate the value of the regional cooperation and coordination that augment individual Members’ capacity to deliver critical weather services, ultimately protecting lives and livelihoods.Pursuing collaborations with other regional platformsBeyond its internal coordination mechanisms, WMO is also known for its success in building enduring partnerships with regional and sub-regional intergovernmental organizations. Within Region V, WMO has used these partnerships to advocate for the visibility and development of the NMHSs. For example, WMO used its longstanding relationship with the Pacific Meteorological Council to support the Weather Ready Pacific Programme, which mobilizes resources for strengthening NMHS capacities in climate resilience.Within Southeast Asia, WMO has also actively engaged with ASEAN for more than three decades to champion the development of the sub-region’s meteorological capabilities. Despite its vast geographic spread, Southeast Asia shares common weather patterns that are influenced by large systems such as the Asian monsoon and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). While the whole region is susceptible to monsoon-related floods and ENSO variability, local geography creates distinct weather-related challenges. Maritime countries such as Malaysia and Singapore frequently encounter sea-breeze induced thunderstorms, while countries at higher latitudes – the Philippines, Myanmar, Viet Nam and parts of Indonesia – are vulnerable to tropical cyclones. Attuned to this vulnerability but with relatively limited meteorological capabilities in the post-colonial era of the 1970s, NMHSs in Southeast Asia embraced collaboration with each other as a bulwark against the common risks of floods, drought and tropical cyclones. This was primarily undertaken through the ASEAN Sub-Committee on Climatology (SCC), which was established in the mid-1970s, and supported by WMO. It was renamed the Sub-Committee on Meteorology and Geophysics (SCMG) in 1989.Further, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, WMO and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) supported the Malaysian Meteorological Department’s pioneering SCC projects: "ASEAN Climatic Atlas" and "ASEAN Compendium of Climate Statistics." Completed in 1982, these initiatives provided five ASEAN Members2 with access to vital regional climate data, a remarkable achievement in an era before Internet.WMO also played a pivotal role when the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) was established in Singapore in 1993. In response to interest from ASEAN Members, WMO had led a feasibility study for a Southeast Asian RSMC, however, when ASMC was instead established under the SCMG framework, WMO provided much-needed financial and technical support to the fledgling Centre. For instance, WMO funded training on NWP models for ASEAN NMHSs experts at the ASMC between 1993 and 1997.Over the last three decades, ASMC and WMO have fostered a close partnership to deliver on a shared vision: the bolstering of NMHS capacities region-wide. The collaborative relationship continues today through joint regional training programmes and capacity building workshops for ASEAN NMHSs and stakeholders.The ASEAN–WMO Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2002 reinforced WMO’s commitment to the region and highlighted its commitment to the pursuit of new opportunities for collaborations and partnerships to benefit its Members. Today, the RRO continues to participate in SCMG meetings, providing insights into technical priorities and advising on possible synergies between SCMG projects and WMO regional initiatives and programmes. This has enabled closer regional coordination that is particularly valuable as ASEAN spans two WMO regions: II and V. WMO also supports technical projects in key areas of interest for SCMG. For example, the WMO Severe Weather Forecasting Programme for Southeast Asia, with its Regional Forecasting Support Centre, hosted by Viet Nam. WMO also supports activities jointly led by SCMG and its Dialogue Partners, such as the ASEAN radar data exchange initiative led by the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD). This experimental radar data exchange initiative aims to demonstrate the benefits of sharing data for specific needs, such as for monitoring rainfall, and contributes towards the WMO Regional Basic Observing Network (RBON) framework.WMO challenges to serve Members in the years aheadWMO's facilitation of cross-border and regional collaboration is more critical than ever as climate change impacts are already being felt in many regions through an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. Emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) present new opportunities for cooperation. AI-driven NWP models could revolutionize weather forecasting, but the accuracy of such forecasts will only be as reliable and accurate as the data they ingest, thus the continued importance of international standards, the calibration of instruments and data-sharing mechanisms – all the work of WMO.It is also more urgent than that WMO pursue regional and international collaboration to advocate for NMHSs at the national, regional and global levels. Engagements between WMO and key regional platforms, such as ASEAN and the Pacific Island Forum, can be enhanced. New areas of synergy can also be found with other regional workstreams, which could benefit WMO’s capacity building efforts and disaster risk reduction activities.Beyond regional frameworks, WMO must continue to work with global frameworks, such as United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), to further strengthen climate action and disaster risk reduction. WMO could extend its reach and amplify its impact on the ground for the benefit of its Members by integrating more closely with global agendas and platforms. Closer links with regional and global frameworks could also unlock additional resources to help to further bridge persistent capacity gaps between Members. WMO should harness the momentum of the Early Warnings for All initiative and the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF) to strengthen its advocacy and resource mobilization efforts. WMO requires more resources to translate global ambitions into tangible improvements in regional and national weather services – ultimately building the climate resilience necessary to protect communities.No Member can be left behind“Looking back, the success of WMO's regional and international approach lies in how it has democratized access to free and unrestricted data, and meteorological expertise, ensuring that all nations can harness the collective scientific power of the global community to protect their citizens.” – Former Permanent Representative of Singapore to the WMO, Ms Wong Chin LingIn an increasingly complex world, NMHSs are facing existential and operational challenges. WMO’s global frameworks and regional coordination mechanisms offer them opportunities to work together to address those challenges and harness emerging opportunities.The WMO regional strategy has been unique in its ability to unite diverse stakeholders who share a common goal: the safeguard of communities, economies and ecosystems from disaster risks through ever better early warnings and the provision of weather, climate and hydrological services. In an increasingly uncertain world, no Member can be left behind. WMO regional cooperation represents the bedrock for resilience through its continuous improvement of forecasting and early warning services and through disaster risk reductions efforts, which ultimately save lives and protect livelihoods around the globe.FootnotesThe Regional Office located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, serves RA I (Africa), the one in Singapore serves both RA II (Asia) and RA V (South-West Pacific, the one in Asuncion serves RA III (South America) and RA IV (North America, Central America and the Caribbean), and one remains at WMO headquarters in Geneva to serve RA VI (Europe)Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand