Climate Observing Networks Face Funding Crisis; COP31 Leaders Call for Urgent Action

Co-sponsored by WMO and partner organizations, the Global Climate Observing System tracks more than 50 essential climate variables across the atmosphere, ocean, ice and land.

The Global Climate Observing System is coming under growing pressure from uncertain funding and missing observations, putting essential information about the changing planet at risk. Breaks in these networks threaten the ability to forecast extreme weather, monitor ocean conditions and predict climate patterns such as El Niño. Sustained financing and international coordination are needed to keep measurements flowing and protect records that scientists have built over decades.

COP31 Co-Presidents Türkiye and Australia issued an unprecedented call to action at a packed high-level event during the UN climate conference on 10 November 2026. Participants expressed unanimous support for protecting the observing networks that help countries understand climate risks and prepare for dangerous weather. WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo stressed the need to keep measuring the planet's vital signs, describing a system whose foundations are becoming increasingly fragile.

Co-sponsored by WMO and partner organizations, the Global Climate Observing System tracks more than 50 essential climate variables across the atmosphere, ocean, ice and land. Its work depends on countries sharing observations and maintaining networks that no single nation can operate on its own. The world spends close to $10 billion annually on climate observations, with advances in satellites and data integration offering progress that depends on reliable underlying measurements.

Funding uncertainty puts decades of observations at risk

Scientific records stretching across generations often depend on short-term grants, individual satellite missions, a handful of specialists or a single copy of the data. Saulo warned that this mismatch between temporary funding and the need for continuous records leaves essential observations exposed to interruption. Governments raised concerns about declining support at COP30 last year, with some measurements already falling and other ground networks and satellite missions facing possible disruption.

GCOS Chair Thelma Krug presented a new video describing how observing capabilities across air, ocean, ice and land are beginning to deteriorate. She highlighted damage to key parts of the Global Ocean Observing System, where losses threaten both historical continuity and worldwide coverage. These weaknesses directly affect the information scientists need to predict and track El Niño and other climate phenomena with consequences far beyond the ocean.

Missing stations and ocean buoys weaken shared forecasts

The basic weather observation network agreed by countries is less than 40 per cent in place, leaving major gaps in the information available for forecasting. Coverage remains uneven across parts of Africa and the deep ocean, with many least developed countries and small island developing States unable to afford enough operating weather stations. Weather systems cross national borders, meaning missing observations in one country can weaken forecasts and preparedness across a much wider region.

No moored buoys are operating near the equator across a large part of the western Pacific, a region that helps shape the El Niño developing now. The Global Ocean Observing System Status Report 2026, released last week, documents progress in marine monitoring alongside gaps and risks that require attention. Maintaining ocean measurements and protecting essential observations in high mountain regions are among the urgent needs identified in a draft GCOS High-Priority Action Plan.

Proposed action plan sets out the cost of protecting observations

The draft plan identifies three connected priorities: protecting essential observing capabilities, closing coverage gaps and safeguarding data, and sustaining international coordination. Initiatives such as the Systematic Observations Financing Facility can help address funding shortages in vulnerable countries, supporting the observations on which shared forecasts depend. Continued financial support for the WMO-hosted GCOS Secretariat would maintain coordination to assess priorities, identify weaknesses and guide collective action.

Saulo put annual coordination costs at about $10 million, equivalent to a tenth of a cent for every dollar already spent worldwide on observations. Protecting observing capabilities and closing gaps would require $500 million annually, sums she described as small given the information and protection these systems provide. The draft action plan and forthcoming GCOS Status Report are open for public review, with publication scheduled for February 2027 to inform the UNFCCC Global Stocktake information process and related Convention activities.