While in Washington, D.C., the Secretary-General had high-level meetings with senior U.S. Government officials to discuss the WMO constituent body reform and new WMO Strategic Plan. He met with the new interim administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Dr Neil Jacobs and U.S. Permanent Representative to the WMO, Director of the National Weather service (NWS), Dr Louis Uccellini. They discussed the integrated Earth system approach that drives the WMO reform progress in public private partnership engagement and the WMO budget.
His hosts invited the Secretary-General to visit the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where they met with the Director of the Office, the new science adviser to the US President, Dr Kelvin Droegemeier. Secretary-General Taalas took the opportunity to discuss the WMO constituent body reform cooperation and partnership in science and U.S. Government support to the WMO.
Secretary-General Taalas also met with senior State Department officials from the Bureaus of International Organization Affairs and Scientific and Environmental Affairs to brief on key strategic issues for the 18th Session of World Meteorological Congress in June.
