Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Opening remarks at the Opening Ceremony of the
Global ITU/WMO Seminar: Spectrum use for meteorology:
Challenges, opportunities and evolving requirements
[As prepared for delivery]
Secretary-General Saulo,
Distinguished colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning,
Earlier this month, I was at the World Telecommunication/ICT Policy Forum in Nassau (The Bahamas).
One message from Prime Minister Davis stayed with me.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian — the Category 5 hurricane that struck in 2019 — what survivors urgently needed, he recalled, was simply the ability to communicate.
“Not a platform. Not a device.
A signal." A signal that begins with Earth observation.
As we speak, satellites are measuring changes in our oceans and atmosphere.
Radars are tracking storms as they develop. (Including last weekend where nor'easter hit my own hometown in New Jersey)
And every day, more than 1,500 radiosondes rise on weather balloons to read the sky.
Every one of these instruments depends on interference-free radio spectrum.
Not only to make observations, but to transmit the resulting data, quickly and clearly enough, to become life-saving early warnings.
Spectrum holds that data value chain together.
As you know, some frequencies used for meteorology are not determined by choice, but by physics.
Passive sensors, for example, detect the faintest signals naturally emitted by our Earth and its atmosphere.
Those measurements can only be made at specific frequencies by sensors that are also remarkably easy to disrupt.
Contaminate as few as 0.1% of data samples, and forecasts can suffer unacceptable errors.
That's a serious risk a world with a changing climate cannot afford.
Weather, climate and water extremes make up more than half of all reported disasters, the total costs of which now exceed 2.3 trillion USD a year.
On the ground, radars face the same pressure.
In Europe alone, close to 90% of weather radars experience harmful interference every year.
When observations degrade, so do the warnings that responders and communities depend on.
Under Early Warnings for All, ITU leads the work on warning communication and dissemination, making sure alerts reach communities at risk on time.
But that last mile only works if the first mile does.
And the first mile is observation.
Earth observation is also changing fast.
New radars, commercial constellations and cloud platforms are expanding possibilities for data collection and sharing.
Each new generation of weather satellites sends back at least 10 times more data than the last.
That's good news for forecasting, though it makes radio frequency coordination far more complex.
Our collective task is to harness that innovation while protecting the observations every weather forecast depends on.
That's why our partnership matters so much.
WMO (World Meteorological Organization) experts know what must be measured.
ITU (International Telecommunication Union) experts coordinate the frequencies needed for measurement to happen.
Neither can succeed without the other.
Colleagues,
Our cooperation will be even more crucial as we prepare for next year's World Radiocommunication Conference and look ahead to WRC-31.
Today, we are launching a powerful new resource to help us do that: The 2026 edition of the ITU–WMO Handbook on Radio Spectrum for Meteorology.
It sets out the spectrum needs of these systems, creates a common language between our two communities, and gives the world a stronger basis for informed decision-making when it comes to spectrum use for meteorology.
I thank everyone who contributed, especially ITU-R (ITU Radiocommunication Sector) Study Group 7 and Working Party 7C, along with WMO experts and our many partners around the world.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The same spirit of cooperation that resulted in this handbook is here in this room.
Over the next three days, I invite you to seize it. To give every signal the best possible chance to reach those who need it in time.
I wish you a productive seminar.
