Weather and climate monitoring are vitally important to keep citizens safe and informed, and to help understand how Earth’s climate is changing. Environmental observing networks are designed and operated to meet national and international data and service requirements; however, the systems and methods used to monitor weather and climate can have detrimental environmental impacts. These impacts, while acknowledged, are often superseded by the criticality of observations to “public good” prediction services, as well as financial and operational feasibility considerations.

Globally, major organizations are moving toward “greener” operational models. In line with this trend, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has launched an initiative to enhance the environmental sustainability of observing systems and methods, with the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) serving as the international focal point. This initiative will develop and advance recommendations to reduce the environmental impacts of observing technologies and practices, guiding WMO Members to adopt cleaner, sustainable approaches in all areas of their work. The WMO initiative covers meteorological, marine, hydrological, and atmospheric chemistry observational domains, and will inform the future vision for the WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WIGOS), which provides an overarching global framework for designing and operating observing systems.

This session will provide a venue to share information on the WMO initiative on Environmental Sustainability of Observations and its progress to date, including results and recommendations from an international survey and workshop. It will provide a forum to discuss more environmentally sustainable observing technologies and methods, and to share best practices and lessons learned from experience to date. The session will also consider opportunities and implementation challenges from both operational and policy perspectives, with the goal of inspiring a paradigm shift toward more environmentally sustainable approaches to weather and climate monitoring.

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