State of Climate Services - Five years progress (2019-2024)
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Introduction
The Challenge
According to WMO’s official State of the Climate report for 2023, global surface temperatures were 1.45°C ± 0.12 °C above the 1850–1900 pre-industrial average.
In the period between 1970 and mid-2024, floods were the most frequently reported disaster, heatwaves caused the highest death toll, and storms resulted in the most significant economic losses.
Climate Policy
The need for climate services has never been higher
The good news is countries are increasingly integrating climate services into their National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
Over 80% of countries that submitted a NAP recognize the critical role of climate information in informing adaptation strategies.
Similarly, around 60% of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) refer to climate services.
Global Status 2019-24
There has been substantial progress towards improving the climate service capacity levels during the last five years.
The past five years have seen significant advancements in climate services across the globe.
National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) providing ‘advanced’ climate services nearly doubled, from 8 in 2019 to 15 in 2024.
While this progress is promising, challenges remain.
In 2024, 33% of NMHSs still operate at an ‘essential’ level, with only one third offering full/advanced services tailored to specific needs.
This indicates that while we’ve made headway, there is still much room for improvement, particularly in less developed countries.
Value chain component progress
There has been notable progress across all components of the climate services value chain over the past five years; however, gaps still remain.
Significant gaps remain in basic systems and observations
In 2024, only 28 countries meet Global Basic Observing Network (GBON) standards, with 91% of weather stations in LDCs and SIDS falling short. Ocean and hydrological data gaps, particularly in the Global South, hinder our understanding and predicting of climate.
Governance
National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS) is a mechanism for coordinating the development, delivery, and use of climate services at the national level to support climate action.
Over the past five years, the number of countries implementing or developing NFCS has surged from 36 to 98, fostering cross-sectoral collaboration and ensuring that climate services are customized to empower decision-makers.
User Engagement and Co-Production of Services through User Interface Platforms
Demand for climate services has increased across all sectors, especially in government, agriculture, emergency response, commercial, and tourism industries.
Capacity Development
In 2024, 143 countries have benefited from WMO’s capacity development efforts, up from 65 in 2019. Increased regional cooperation strengthens training, data sharing, and resource pooling, improving climate service delivery, particularly in LDCs and SIDS.
Research, Modelling, and Prediction
The World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) has provided global coordination to help improve climate models and predictions, with advancements in coordinating climate projections through the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) and regional downscaling (CORDEX) underpinning the IPCC Assessment Reports, essential for supporting mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Significant gaps remains in the Monitoring and Evaluation of Socioeconomic Benefits
Around 20% of NMHSs have conducted socioeconomic benefit assessments in the last decade, with the largest gaps identified in Africa and South America.
Improved tracking is needed to demonstrate the value of climate services and align them with national development goals.
Regional Progress
While progress has been made globally, certain regions are forging ahead.
The most vulnerable regions are making progress.
With the growing global climate challenges, Asia and Africa have made significant strides in enhancing their climate services.
In Africa, the number of NMHS providing climate services at Essential level moved from 8 to 11, and in Asia, the number of NMHS providing services at a Full level moved from 1 to 5.
Regional cooperation and investment in capacity development have been pivotal in the progress in Africa and Asia.
Between 2019 and 2024 (figure on the right), Africa and Asia have received the majority of external funding from Multilateral Development Banks compared to other regions.
Despite progress between 2019-2024, Africa is still the region with the highest percentage of Members at the ‘less-than-basic’ capacity level (15%), followed by North Central, America and Caribbean with a high concentration of Members at the ‘basic’ level (27%).
Investment
“We need to make the necessary investments for a sustainable future. The cost of no action is several times higher than the cost of action. This is why we need to increase support for NMHSs for collecting better knowledge of the Earth’s system and its changes, delivering fit-for-purpose climate services to support decision-making and developing early warning systems to protect communities from unprecedented natural hazards.
Although climate finance nearly doubled, gaps still exists.
Of the $63 billion spent on climate adaptation between 2019/2020 to 2021/2022 , it is estimated that only a fraction—$4 to $5 billion—goes toward climate services and early warning systems.
The Way Forward
The world is facing a climate crisis, with the increasing temperature, and extreme weather intensifying, prioritizing climate action, investing in sustainable observation networks, and fostering regional collaboration are essential to adapt and mitigate these challenges.
Stronger focus on climate action in the context of the EW4All initiative
To effectively adapt to evolving challenges, we need to bridge the gap between short-term weather events and long-term climate impacts.
There is a need to improve network of reliable climate observations all around the world
This requires enhanced collaboration and increased resources to close the gap in the Global Basic Observing Network, especially with the support of the Systematic Observations Financing Facility.
Promoting Regional Cooperation
Regional cooperative approaches can be further promoted by building on the sharing of resources, experiences, and lessons learned that WMO Members are already engaging in.
Ensuring Climate Investments Are Climate-Informed
All climate action investments need to be climate informed so that they can be forward looking bearing in mind that the past climate is no longer indicative of the future climate.
Case Studies

CREWS Southwest Indian Ocean Regional Project - Mauritius, Seychelles, and Comoros
The challenge

Strengthening climate information and early warning systems in Cambodia to support climate resilient development and adaptation
The challenge

Reinforcing the capacities of meteorological and hydrological services and enhancing early warning systems (EWSs) in Cambodia and Lao PDR
The challenge

Closing data gaps and strengthening the foundation for reliable climate services in Maldives
The challenge

Earth observations for high precision drought detection and emergency response
The challenge

Fortifying climate resilience in Ecuador’s coastal cities through empowering national meteorological and hydrological services
The challenge

CREWS Caribbean Regional Project
The challenge

Strengthening marine services in Trinidad & Tobago
The challenge

Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment Methodology focusing on Women and Girls
The challenge

A multi-hazard impact-based forecasting and early warning system for the Philippines
The challenge
Success stories
Since 2019, the State of Climate Services reports have presented 113 case studies showcasing successful approaches to leveraging climate services in five key sectors. This year’s analysis highlights key enablers of progress, including regional cooperation, external investments to supplement national budgets, strong user engagement and demand.
Argentina
In Argentina, there has been a number of concrete actions made, such as the increase in the human resources of the National Meteorological Service of Argentina (SMN) teams and the implementation of an institutional strategic plan 2020-2023.
The main drivers that contributed to the progression of climate services in Argentina are frameworks like the NFCS and SMN institutional strategic plans, Improving user -engagement/understanding users’ needs, and External investments.
Barbados
The Barbados Meteorological Services (BMS) is now a department in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Information. Its activities include monitoring and prediction, data processing, weather services, climate services, hydrological services and international activities.
General feedback from the public was that they were impressed with the work that we have been doing in terms of the early warning system,” said BMS Meteorologist, Cherise Brathwaite. Barbados’ example shows us what can be achieved through dedication, user engagement, and a commitment to progress.
Mauritius
Following the devastating impacts of cyclone Belal and tropical storm Candice in January 2024, Mauritius – commendably - worked quickly to galvanize the institutional and monetary force necessary to improve their existing weather, hydrological and climate services.
The technical and financial resources pledged thus far, if used as intended, have the potential to greatly improve climate service capacities in the near future. The Government will start, with support from CREWS in 2024, a NFCS and a strategic plan for Marine Meteorological Services (MMS), which will assist with enhancing service delivery and institutional strengthening.
Seychelles
In Seychelles, climate services were first developed to cater to the needs of sailors and aviation. Today, the nation has expanded this mandate, with wide-reaching meteorological services provided by SMA.
By leveraging regional collaboration and financial acumen, Seychelles is working towards advancing both theirs and their neighbour’s climate services while building self-sufficiency in the advancement of climate services, securing a future for themselves and others which outlives the lifetime of development aid.
The enhancement of climate services in Seychelles has been buoyed by proactive engagement in regional initiatives.
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago’s progress can first of all be attributed to their effective leadership, which has resulted in increased funding. Following a fellowship in the UK, the TTMS climate section recognized the need for resilience against the effects of climate change in their country. With this newfound awareness and knowledge, they approached the government with a plan for more training and funding.
There is a lot of convergence when you have a lot of conversations from with the people across the Caribbean on what they are using. You know what works well for them, what is not working, and what are some of the issues they face. You know, you're trying to help what you can be done and having a lot of open-source software.
We'd like to close with a big thank you to all the contributing partners of this report.
Feedback Survey
Dear Readers, to help us improve the content of our future reports, we invite you to take a short survey and share your feedback. Your insights are invaluable in shaping the next edition. Thank you for your time and input!
Microsoft Forms