WMO-HMEI Code of Ethics Guiding Public-Private Engagement

1. Background

The Working Arrangements¹ between the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Association of the HydroMeteorological and Environmental Industry (HMEI) covers cooperation in the promotion and development of effective engagement and partnerships between the public and private sector (also referred to as the stakeholder/s and defined in footnote 2 of this document), with support from academia, aimed at enhanced sustainability, quality and efficiency of data, information and services provided at national, regional and global levels. It envisages in particular that the WMO and the HMEI will collaborate in the establishment of a Code of Ethics for all stakeholders² and will promote its enactment through their respective memberships.

2. Purpose and scope

2.1 This Code of Ethics is developed jointly by the WMO and the HMEI, in accordance with their Working Arrangements, with the purpose to outline an essential set of ethical principles that stakeholders from both public and private sector should commit to when engaging in activities along the value chain for the delivery of weather, climate, water and related environmental services. Abiding by a common Code of Ethics would help stakeholders to properly manage their relationships, maximize the mutual benefits of an inclusive approach, increase transparency in engagement, policy and practice and enhance the socioeconomic benefits of high-quality services addressing the societal needs globally and in each country. The Code of Ethics is a call to stakeholders from both the public and private sector to align, on a voluntary basis, their strategies, operations and practices to the stated principles and code of behaviour. Furthermore, the common Code of Ethics will contribute to building mutual trust and establishing long-lasting engagement.

2.2 The Code of Ethics is guided by the high-level policy adopted by the eighteenth World Meteorological Congress articulated in the Geneva Declaration – 2019: Building Community for Weather, Climate and Water Actions. It is intended to facilitate multisector actions with strong focus of the global societal agenda on both immediate and long-term challenges related to weather, climate and water, as reflected in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. It supports the vision of inclusive partnerships amongst public, private and academic sectors of the weather and climate enterprise, as well as civil society, at global, regional, national and local levels, as a prerequisite for achieving the sustainable development goals.

2.3 The ethical principles promoted in this Code of Ethics are also derived from the principles and metrics for successful public-private engagement and partnership included in the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact and the Guidelines for Public-Private Engagement (WMO-No. 1258). These documents are seen through the prism of the basic documents of the two organizations: the WMO Convention and the HMEI Articles of Association.

3. Ethical principles

The Code of Ethics promotes the following ethical principles for socially-responsible and mutually beneficial engagement among stakeholders from the public and the private sectors of the weather, water and climate community at all levels – from global to local:

(a) Respect for principles of Human Rights: With respect to the conduct of the public-private engagement all parties shall ensure that all Human Rights are respected, including the following:

(i) Mutual respect, cultural sensitivity and non-discrimination: All parties should respect the human rights of all individuals, regardless of race, colour, gender, language, origin, religion, sexual orientation, etc. as well as maintaining a zero-tolerance policy on racism, racial discrimination and harassment, specifically including sexual harassment;

(ii) Free, Prior and Informed Consent: Before engaging in any public-private initiatives that may impact the human rights communities, their free, prior and informed consent must be obtained;

(iii) Labour Rights: All parties should respect the rights of workers and ensure that their labour rights are protected;

(iv) Right to Information: All individuals have the right to access information about public-private initiatives that may impact their rights or communities;

(v) Environmental Justice: All parties should consider the environmental impacts of public-private initiatives and ensure that they do not negatively impact communities;

(b) Adopting the “people first” principle by recognizing that ‘people’ are the priority and the main beneficiary of any stakeholder decisions. All parties should contribute collectively to improving the safety and quality of life of communities, particularly those that are most vulnerable;

(d) Transparency: ensure that all parties retain open and honest communication, in particular with respect to disclosing financial or other interests that may influence decision-making;

(e) Respecting shared values that create opportunities for innovation and growth based on science, leverage expertise to provide positive outcomes and solutions for all parties, support knowledge and technology transfer and uptake, invest in local research, and develop human capacity;

(f) Promoting sustainability of the global infrastructure and capabilities by seeking opportunities for multisector engagements that improve efficiency and better serve society;

(g) Observing and promoting policies for the free and mutual access of public international data and information exchange and sharing adopted by the World Meteorological Congress;

(h) Enabling all countries to advance together through a coordinated approach for engaging the public and private sectors, as well as academia, civil society and development partners, with a special focus on bridging existing gaps in developing countries, Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS);

(i) Fostering and maintaining fair and transparent arrangements, adhering to quality and service standards, to advance collective objectives in delivering public good, and take into account specific stakeholder needs, such as:

(i) Ensuring effective collaboration in the transfer of knowledge and ensuring that access to commercial data with use conditions is treated equally by and between public and private sector entities;

(ii) Committing to comply with all relevant national and international legislation and policies with respect to both data provision and avoidance of anti-competitive behaviour;

(j) Seeking integrity by engaging in mutually beneficial relationships and partnerships to the benefit of society including:

(i) Disclosing conflicts of interest: All parties should declare any potential or actual conflicts of interest and take appropriate action to avoid them. A “conflict of interest” refers to any current professional, financial or other interest which could: (i) significantly impair the individual’s or Organization’s objectivity in carrying out their duties and responsibilities, or (ii) create an unfair advantage for any person or organization;

(ii) Responsibility: All parties should be held accountable for their actions and decisions and strive to ensure that the public interest is protected;

(iii) Continuous improvements: All parties should continually review and improve their practices to ensure that they are acting in accordance with this Code of Ethics;

(iv) Information Sharing: HMEI and WMO should provide annual updates of relevant initiatives, including any challenges and successes on the occasion of the Annual High-Level Consultative Meeting between HMEI and the WMO Secretariat;

(v) Respect for proprietary Information: the stakeholders will respect each other’s proprietary information and will ensure that all the necessary licenses and permissions are obtained before using such information.

(k) Respecting the sovereign right of WMO Member States and Territories in deciding how weather, climate and water services are organized and provided, including the application of national and regional legislation and policies for making data and products available taking account of the WMO data policy;

(l) Respecting the role of NMHSs as the single authoritative voice for severe weather warnings and their other key national responsibilities related to ensuring public safety.

4. Promoting good practices for engagement between the public and private sectors

4.1 Public and private sector stakeholders should recognize their interdependence and collective responsibility in sustaining the global meteorological and hydrological infrastructure that enables the whole set of operations and services for humankind. The sustainability of this unique infrastructure depends on sound, fair, transparent and stable relations between the respective sectors.

4.2 Stakeholders from both sectors should act as powerful advocates for:

(a) Sustained investment in core public infrastructure and capability;

(b) Institutional arrangements that enable effective cross-sector partnerships and remove barriers to mutually beneficial cooperation and collaboration.

4.3 When operating in a country, private sector stakeholders should observe the need for safeguarding and strengthening the authoritative voice of the designated public agencies, such as NMHS, for the issuing of official warnings and relevant information to support critical decisions related to natural hazards and disaster risks, in collaboration with national disaster management authorities. Both sectors commit to cooperate closely to ensure that critical life-saving information reaches the people in need in a timely manner, particularly in countries with remote and vulnerable communities and poor communications.

4.4 Public and private sector stakeholders should recognize and respect the role of their respective sectors in improving the range, quality and delivery of critical weather, climate and water information and services, thus contributing to the public good.

4.5 Public and private sectors commit to endeavouring to share data and information at national level as far as possible to gain efficiency and support each other’s activities under mutually agreed conditions.

4.6 Both sectors should promote consistency and quality of their services by applying common standards, certification and validation of information and products delivered to the public and users.

4.7 When participating in capacity development activities, private sector stakeholders should endeavour to engage with the responsible public entities, apply co-design and search for optimal technical solutions ensuring long-term sustainability with affordable maintenance costs. In any such activities and especially in the developing countries, building the capacity of the local personnel, as well as the utilisation of indigenous knowledge should be encouraged as an ethical practice.

4.8 Both sectors should endeavour to join their forces in times of crisis, including establishment of ad-hoc temporary arrangements, as necessary to enable free exchange of information, expertise and resources to contribute jointly to reducing and managing the risks of disasters that impact life and property. Special focus should be given to such joint actions that help in reaching remote and vulnerable communities to enable their timely access to critical information and services.

5. Building trust and long-lasting mutually beneficial relationships

5.1 To ensure that the above principles are adopted into the organisational culture and serve as the basis of long-lasting mutually beneficial relationships, structured dialogue between public and private sectors at both national and international levels should be established and maintained. Various forms of dialogues may be utilised to facilitate a common awareness, identification of issues and their successful resolution.

5.2 Stakeholders committing to and systematically applying the ethical principles and promoted practices should be duly recognised by the two organizations. In this regard, WMO and HMEI should endeavour to establish an appropriate system to inform each other of the value arising from implementing the ethical principles highlighted in this Code of Ethics, promote the good practices to the whole community, and collectively address cases of breaches of the Code.

The Code of Ethics was signed on behalf of the Association of the HydroMeteorological and Environmental Industry (HMEI) by Mr. Joshua Campbell, Chair and on behalf of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Prof. Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General.

¹ The Working Arrangements were approved at the seventieth session of the WMO Executive Council (EC-70, Decision 52 refers; Abridged Final Report of the Seventieth Session, (WMO-No. 1218) Geneva, 20–29 June 2018), and on behalf of the HMEI by its Chair on the basis of HMEI Council decision on 9 May 2018.

² In the context of this Annex to WMO-HMEI Code of Ethics Guiding Public-Private Engagement, Resolution 6(2)/1 (EC-78), the word “stakeholder/s” applies specifically to HMEI as the private sector stakeholder, and to WMO as the public stakeholder.