Development Partnerships
Demand for actionable and tailored weather, water and climate information products and services is growing. However, many countries struggle to deliver such decision-support for holistic disaster risk management and climate change adaptation, in particular, Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States. More resources are therefore needed to fill the growing gap between demand and supply of products and services.
WMO’s regular budget, approved by the World Meteorological Congress, is funded by “assessed contributions” from each Member State. These are a key source of financing for WMO, providing predictable budget to fulfill its mandate as the UN specialized agency responsible for international standards and coordination in the fields of meteorology, hydrology, climatology and related environmental services. Currently, assessed contributions account for about two-thirds of WMO’s total financing.
“Voluntary contributions” from Members, development partners, multilateral climate funds, research organizations, foundations, commercial entities and others supplement WMO’s financing. Voluntary contributions, including project grants, are provided to WMO to deliver development projects, technical assistance, capacity building and thematic programs. These are not only financial, consisting also of provision of expertise, secondment of specialists, and other forms of in-kind support.
WMO also encourages and facilitates support and collaboration between National Meteorological and Hydrological Services through the Voluntary Cooperation Programme (VCP), which focuses on meeting urgent needs of Members through direct financing, small grants and transfer of expertise and technology.
Given WMO’s technical mandate and relatively small size, resource mobilization and partnerships are inseparably linked. WMO deploys resources to mobilize and leverage at-scale support to Members, in partnership with development partners such as operational United Nations agencies, multilateral development banks, climate funds and others.
These efforts are led by WMO’s Resource Mobilization and Development Partnerships (RMDP) Division, which maintains close relationships with donors and partners. RMPD works to identify strategic areas of mutual interest and explores opportunities for partnership, mobilizing and leveraging resources with public and private entities.
Two multi-donor/partner trust funds, CREWS and SOFF, currently serve as priority vehicles for mobilizing resources to fulfil WMO Strategic Priorities. Recognizing the substantial added value CREWS and SOFF bring to WMO, RMDP supports these vehicles in their resource mobilization efforts.
RMDP further serves as WMO’s focal point for engagement with climate financing institutions such as the Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Fund. Similarly, RMDP pursues strategic engagement with key multilateral development banks. Many of these funds, development banks and UN agencies are members of the Alliance for Hydromet Development, for which RMDP serves as the secretariat.
RMDP supports WMO Regional Offices, technical programmes, and National Meteorological and Hydrological Services to prepare proposals for projects, ensuring that objectives are aligned with WMO Member countries’ identified needs and priorities and WMO long-term goals and Strategic Objectives.