WMO Member States voted in the election which took place at the 19th World Meteorological Congress in Geneva
Eoin Moran, Director of Ireland’s National Meteorological Service, Met Éireann, has been elected 2nd Vice-President of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), for a four-year term.
WMO Member States made the decision to elect Eoin Moran at the 19th World Meteorological Congress in Geneva on 1st June 2023. The World Meteorological Congress is the supreme body of WMO and the Executive Council implements its decisions.
Eoin Moran has been Ireland’s Permanent Representative to WMO since 2016 when he became Director of Met Éireann, after being a member of the Irish Meteorological Service’s senior management since 2007. He is also the chair of Europe’s Meteorological Satellite Agency (EUMETSAT) Council since 2022, the chair of the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Policy Advisory Committee since 2019, and a member of Ireland’s Climate Change Advisory Council since 2021.
Eoin Moran at WMO Congress 2023
Minister Darragh O’Brien commented “It is a significant honour for Ireland to hold such a senior role within the United Nations system and for the Director of Met Éireann to take up such a position. Assuming this role during this climate emergency enhances the State’s continued influence, relevance and presence on the world stage and demonstrates recognition of Ireland’s leadership in coordinating a critical scientific response to this global crisis.”
Mr Moran’s election comes at a significant time for WMO as the organisation approved the ‘Global Greenhouse Gas Watch’ initiative last week. This UN specialised agency has just made the ‘Early Warnings for All’ initiative its highest strategic priority and recently published the ‘WMO Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update’ report with clear indications on temperatures increasing globally. The WMO will also release the ‘State of the Climate in Europe 2022’ report in the coming weeks, as part of the 6th European Climate Change Adaptation (ECCA) conference in Dublin on 19th June, at which Eoin Moran will participate for the first time in his dual role as the WMO Vice-President and Director of Met Éireann.
“The world’s climate is at a serious juncture, and leadership from WMO is needed now more than ever before in its 150-year history” said Eoin Moran, “I am delighted to have been chosen for this role in WMO and honoured by this opportunity to contribute to the development of global capability where all communities, especially the most vulnerable, are resilient to the impact of extreme weather, climate, floods and drought.”
The World Meteorological Organization has a President and three Vice-Presidents who preside over Congress and the Executive Council. The Secretariat, headquartered in Geneva, is headed by the Secretary-General.
The newly elected President of the WMO, Dr. Abdulla Al Mandous, said: “I look forward to working with Eoin over the next four years in guiding the work of the organisation to address the climate crisis and to continue supporting the development and optimisation of services in the areas of weather, climate and water worldwide.”