Weather, Law, and Public-Private Engagement April 2024 Weather, Law, and Public- Private Engagement April 2024 © 2024 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433 Telephone: + 1-202-473-1000; Internet: www.worldbank.org Some rights reserved. This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR). The findings, in- terpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or currency of the data included in this work and does not assume responsibility for any errors, omissions, or discrepancies in the information, or liability with respect to the use of or failure to use the information, methods, processes, or conclusions set forth. 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Cover design and layout: ULTRA Designs, Inc.    v Contents Acknowledgments..........................................................................................................................ix Abbreviations and Acronyms.............................................................................................................x Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................1   Key messages................................................................................................................................................... 1   Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................2   International Weather Law................................................................................................................................3   National Weather Laws......................................................................................................................................3   Establishment and Operation of the NMS............................................................................................................3   NMS Governance, Public Tasks, and Commercial Activities..................................................................................4   Weather Laws and the Private Sector.................................................................................................................4   Data, Information, and Intellectual Property Rights............................................................................................4   Weather Laws and Public-Private Engagement ...................................................................................................6 1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................7   1.1 Objectives of This Study.............................................................................................................................. 8   Endnote...........................................................................................................................................................9 2. International Weather Law........................................................................................................10   2.1 World Meteorological Organization ............................................................................................................11 2.1.1 The WMO Convention..................................................................................................................11 2.1.2 Technical Regulations and Other Instruments...............................................................................12   2.2 Other International Agreements..................................................................................................................13 2.2.1 The Chicago Convention..............................................................................................................13 2.2.2 The UN Watercourse Convention................................................................................................. 14 2.2.3 Regional Agreements................................................................................................................ 14   Endnotes........................................................................................................................................................ 15 3. National Weather Legislation....................................................................................................16   3.1 Primary or Secondary Legislation?..............................................................................................................17   3.2 What’s in a Name?...................................................................................................................................... 18   3.3 Legislation in Federal Jurisdictions............................................................................................................ 20   3.4 The Purpose of a Weather Law.................................................................................................................... 20   3.5 Scope of the Legislation..............................................................................................................................21   Endnotes........................................................................................................................................................ 21 vi    Contents 4. Weather Laws and the NMS.......................................................................................................22 4.1 NMS Establishment as an Independent Legal Entity.................................................................................... 23 4.2 NMS Establishment without Independent Legal Personality........................................................................ 24 4.3 NMS Governance Arrangements................................................................................................................. 25 4.3.1 Management Board................................................................................................................... 26 4.3.2 Director................................................................................................................................... 27 4.3.3 Advisory Board........................................................................................................................ 28 4.4 Role of the Minister/Ministry or Government.............................................................................................. 29 4.4.1 Oversight................................................................................................................................ 29 4.4.2 Power to Issue Directions.......................................................................................................... 29 4.5 Financing.................................................................................................................................................. 30 4.6 General or “Housekeeping” Provisions ...................................................................................................... 32 4.6.1 Staff ....................................................................................................................................... 32 4.6.2 Accounting Rules ..................................................................................................................... 32 4.6.3 Opening Offices ...................................................................................................................... 33 4.7 Public Tasks.............................................................................................................................................. 33 4.7.1 Planning and Policy.................................................................................................................. 33 4.7.2 Meteorological Observation and Data Management ..................................................................... 34 4.7.3 Analysis and Forecasting .......................................................................................................... 34 4.7.4 Research ................................................................................................................................. 35 4.7.5 International Aspects ............................................................................................................... 36 4.7.6 Warnings ................................................................................................................................ 37 4.7.7 Emergency Situations/Disaster Response ................................................................................... 38 4.8 Commercial Tasks...................................................................................................................................... 38 Endnotes......................................................................................................................................................... 40 5. Weather Laws and Weather Sector Issues...................................................................................41   5.1 Weather Modification................................................................................................................................. 41   5.2 Liability.................................................................................................................................................... 42   5.3 Weather Observation Networks and Infrastructure..................................................................................... 42   5.4 Importation and Placing on the Market of Meteorological Equipment.......................................................... 44   5.5 Some Idiosyncratic Provisions................................................................................................................... 44   5.6 Offences.................................................................................................................................................... 45   Endnote.........................................................................................................................................................45 6. Weather Legislation and the Private Sector............................................................................... 46   6.1 A Wide Range of Approaches to Private Sector Engagement........................................................................ 47 6.1.1 Silence ................................................................................................................................... 47 6.1.2 Ambiguity or Prohibition .......................................................................................................... 47 6.1.3 Recognition ............................................................................................................................. 47 6.1.4 Active Promotion ..................................................................................................................... 49   6.2 Limits of Weather Laws in Promoting Private Sector Engagement................................................................ 49 Contents    vii 7. Data, Information, and Intellectual Property Rights.................................................................... 51 7.1 Intellectual Property Rights....................................................................................................................... 52 7.1.1 Copyright and Database Rights................................................................................................... 52 7.1.2 Contractual Licenses................................................................................................................. 53 7.1.3 Data Policy............................................................................................................................... 54 7.2 The Move toward Open Data Policies.......................................................................................................... 55 7.2.1 United States............................................................................................................................ 55 7.2.2 European Union........................................................................................................................ 55 7.2.3 World Meteorological Organization............................................................................................. 56 7.3 Provisions on Data and IPRs in Weather Legislation.................................................................................... 57 Endnotes..........................................................................................................................................................58 8. How Weather Laws Support Public-Private Engagement...............................................................59 8.1 How Weather Laws Benefit the National Meteorological Service.................................................................. 59 8.2 Weather, Law, and the Private Sector.........................................................................................................60 8.2.1 Regulation...............................................................................................................................60 8.2.2 Access to Data......................................................................................................................... 61 8.2.3 Competition Issues................................................................................................................... 62 9. Conclusions.............................................................................................................................63 Appendix A. Legal Instruments Cited...............................................................................................65   International Laws.........................................................................................................................................65   Regional Agreements......................................................................................................................................65   European Union..............................................................................................................................................66   National Weather Laws....................................................................................................................................66 Bibliography................................................................................................................................ 69 List of Boxes Box 2.1.  Weather References in the Paris Agreement......................................................................................... 11 Box 2.2.  Functions of the World Meteorological Organization Congress............................................................... 12 Box 3.1.  Laws, Regulations, and Regulatory Frameworks...................................................................................18 Box 3.2.  Examples of Hydrometeorological and Meteorological and Hydrological Legislation...............................19 Box 3.3.  Canada’s Weather Modification Information Act.................................................................................. 20 Box 3.4.  Swiss Weather Law and Federal Funding............................................................................................. 20 Box 4.1.  How Public Law and Private Law Differ................................................................................................23 Box 4.2.  National Meteorological Service Management Board Composition.........................................................26 Box 4.3.  German Weather Service: Balanced Books ..........................................................................................32 viii    Contents Box 4.4.  Functions and Powers of the Mauritius Meteorological Services............................................................35 Box 4.5.  Weather Law and Direct References to the WMO ..................................................................................37 Box 4.6.  Weather Laws and the ICAO................................................................................................................37 Box 4.7.  The Tasks of the Tanzania Meteorological Authority............................................................................. 40 Box 6.1.  Specification of Global Weather Enterprise Participants in Russia’s Weather Law ................................. 46 Box 6.2.  US Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act..........................................................................47 Box 6.3.  Korea’s Weather Industry Promotion Act............................................................................................. 50 Box 7.1.  The Belgian Royal Meteorological Institute’s Specification of Data Use .................................................55 Box 8.1.  Competition Law and the MeteoSwiss Case..........................................................................................62 List of Tables Table 3.1.  Adoption of Weather Laws, by Country and Year................................................................................17 Table 7.1.  Theoretical Weather Data Table........................................................................................................ 53    ix Acknowledgments This report was prepared by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery/World Bank Group on the basis of a desk study. For reviewing and improving on an earlier version of the report, the author would like to thank Vladimir Tsirkunov, David Rogers, Christina Leb, and Alan Thorpe. The following World Bank peer reviewers provided valuable comments and recommendations that were taken into account: Efrem Ferrari (Consultant, World Bank), Guillermo A. Siercke (Disaster Risk Management Specialist, World Bank), and Stephen Zimmermann (Disaster Risk Management Specialist, GFDRR). This report was authored by Stephen Hodgson, Environmental Lawyer, with valuable assistance from Peter van der Velde. Substantive editing: Laura Wallace. Technical editing: Hope Steele. x    Abbreviations and Acronyms ACMAD African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development APIs application programming interfaces EUMETSAT European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites ECMWF European Centre for Medium-Range Weather EU European Union FOIA Freedom of Information Act GAW Global Atmosphere Watch GCOS Global Climate Observing System GWE Global Weather Enterprise hydromet hydrometeorology ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization IMO International Maritime Organization IPCC Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change IPRs intellectual property rights KMA Korea Meteorological Administration NHS national hydrometeorological service NMS national meteorological service NMHS national meteorology and hydrology service PAGASA Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration ROMATSA Romanian Administration of Air Traffic Services SMA Swiss Meteorological Institute SRG Schweizerische Rundfunk Gesellschaft (Swiss Broadcast Company) TRIPS Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change WCT WIPO Copyright Treaty WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization WMO World Meteorological Organization WTO World Trade Organization WWW World Weather Watch    1 Executive KEY MESSAGES Summary ■ Although not required to do so by international law, some 69 countries have adopted specific weather laws—25 of them since 2010. These laws contain the word meteorology or a related term, such as meteo or hydrometeorology, in their title. ■ Weather laws typically address the establishment and operation of a national meteo- rological service (NMS), which is usually granted the exclusive right to issue weather warnings as well as to address issues such as weather modification, liability for in- correct weather forecasts, weather observation, and the importation and placing on the market of meteorological equipment. ■ Moreover, some weather laws go further and establish a legal framework for a range of public and private actors, collectively known as the Global Weather Enterprise (GWE). Besides the NMS, the enterprise includes academia, research funding bod- ies, equipment manufacturers, and a growing number of commercial weather service providers. ■ A big problem for many low- and middle-income countries is the underfunding of the NMS—which, in turn, affects its ability to collect the basic observation data needed for weather service provision. Using a weather law to set up the NMS as an indepen- dent legal entity may enable it to generate additional income from the provision of commercial weather services, although the core public tasks of an NMS will always require public funding. ■ This report breaks new ground by surveying the existing national weather laws and by asking whether the main obstacle to better public-private engagement is the ab- sence or the presence of a national weather law. ■ A key finding is that weather laws alone will usually not be sufficient to promote effective public-private engagement. Just as important are the intellectual property rights (IPRs) in data generated and held by the NMS (usually copyright and database rights) and the extent to which the data policy of the NMS permits the use and re-use of publicly funded weather data by commercial weather service providers. 2    Executive Summary Introduction for targeted advice) and government agencies (to enable them to plan and mitigate weather- and climate-related It is difficult to overstate the importance to the global econ- risks), important opportunities may be lost if governments omy of weather and climate services. Apart from activities fail to recognize the role that the private sector can play in such as agriculture and transport that are directly affected by providing new services, filling investment gaps, and con- the weather, the sales and turnover of a wide range of eco- tributing to innovation in the sector. nomic sectors (ranging from power generation to brewing) are highly dependent on weather conditions. Indeed, more What would help governments cope with these challenges? than 80 percent of business activity is estimated to be weath- Certainly, legal and policy frameworks have an important role er-dependent in one way or another. At the same time, as the to play. Indeed, that is why in 2017 the World Meteorological effects of climate change become more obvious, the need to Organization (WMO) called for appropriate legislative and/ accurately forecast extreme weather events—a key element of or institutional arrangements to enable effective cross-sec- disaster risk management—takes on greater importance. So tor partnerships and remove barriers in the weather sector. also does the need to understand longer-term climate; this This call was restated in the WMO’s 2019 Geneva Declaration understanding is a critical element of adaptation and climate (WMO 2019a). resilience. What is the main obstacle to greater public-private engage- It is important to note here that although the terms weath- ments in the GWE? This report tries to shed light on this ques- er and climate are linked, they are not the same. Weather, at tion by pursuing two main objectives: the simplest level, is what is happening to the atmosphere at any given time (temperature, humidity, wind, rainfall). In ■ The first is to identify, describe, and analyze the basic ele- contrast, climate is the average course of weather conditions ments of meteorology law (hereafter “weather law”) at the for a given location and time of the year, over a period of international and national levels. For, although the World many years. In a narrow sense, climate is usually defined as Bank has supported a number of countries in preparing the “average weather,” or more rigorously, as the statistical meteorological or hydrometeorological laws, there is rel- description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant atively little literature on this topic. quantities over a period of time (IPPC 2018). ■ The second is to examine what legislative arrangements are needed to support the goal of public-private engage- The responsibility for providing weather and climate services ment in the context of the GWE (as called for by the WMO). lies with a range of public and private actors, collectively known as the Global Weather Enterprise (GWE). The GWE in- A basic question raised in this study is whether the presence cludes national meteorological services, academia, research or absence of weather legislation is itself the main obstacle funding bodies, equipment manufacturers, and a growing to such public-private engagement. The report’s key finding is number of commercial weather service providers. that weather laws alone will usually not be sufficient to pro- mote effective public-private engagement. Just as important However, while the GWE plays a vital role, it also faces sev- are the intellectual property rights (IPRs) in data generated eral challenges: and held by the NMS (usually copyright and database rights) and the extent to which the data policy of the NMS permits ■ A key problem for many low- and middle-income countries the use and re-use of publicly funded weather data by com- is the underfunding of the national meteorological ser- mercial weather service providers. vice (NMS)—which, in turn, impacts their ability to collect the basic observation data necessary for weather service This report has been prepared primarily as a desk study—that provision. is, one based mainly on a review of weather legislation (ma- ■ While demand for weather and climate services is increas- chine-translated in many cases) available from public sources ing from businesses (those that are willing and able to pay (usually government internet sites) and the limited literature Executive Summary   3 that seems to exist on the topic (or at least that was identi- some of the largest by geographical area and gross domes- fied by the author). It is set out in nine chapters, including tic product; these include Australia, China, France, Germany, this introduction. It begins with a look at weather law in the the Russian Federation, and the United States. While some international context (chapter 2) before focusing on national weather laws date back to the nineteenth century, most were weather laws (chapters 3–6). It then explores the role of data, adopted relatively recently, and the pace seems to be pick- information, and IPRs in the GWE (chapter 7); examines how ing up, with some 25 adopted since 2010. Moreover, in most weather laws can support public-private engagement (chap- cases, weather legislation has been adopted as primary legis- ter 8); and offers some conclusions (chapter 9). lation, in the form of a law or an act of parliament. This report is aimed at government policy makers, NMSs, and Establishment and Operation of the NMS development partners, as well as those interested in the role of law as it provides support to the GWE. Intended readers Weather laws can take two basic approaches. One is to focus include lawyers (who may be unfamiliar with the weather on the establishment and operation of the NMS—here note sector) and meteorologists (who may be unfamiliar with the that for this study the term NMS is used irrespective of wheth- law and its role in the weather sector). er the entity is also concerned with hydrology or hydromete- orology. The other is to create a framework for the weather International Weather Law sector as a whole, including the NMS, academia, and private actors. However, the distinction is more nuanced than it may At the international level, the main weather-related legal first appear, as a law that is focused on the establishment and instrument is the WMO Convention, which established the functioning of the NMS inevitably impacts the entire weather WMO in 1947. While the convention sets out relatively de- sector, although the details depend on the precise powers, tailed rules as to how the organization is to function, it nei- functions, and duties it confers on the NMS. ther sets out binding rules on its Member States nor makes provision for the subsequent adoption of such rules through However, an NMS can be established without legislation. In protocols to the convention or further treaties. Moreover, the countries that do not have weather laws, the NMS is usually Technical Regulations adopted by WMO are authoritative established as a department, directorate, or a unit within a but not legally binding. There are several other internation- ministry, and its staff are civil servants. This approach can al treaties that address aspects of meteorology—such as the work perfectly well if the NMS receives adequate funding cor- Chicago Convention, which sets out standards for weather responding to its clearly defined public functions. But unless services relating to air navigation—but international law typ- there are specific mechanisms in place, such as the trading ically imposes few obligations on states and certainly does fund of the United Kingdom’s Met Office, a department typi- not require them to adopt weather legislation at the national cally cannot enter contracts to provide weather services on a level. commercial basis to generate a source of income. National Weather Laws Yet another approach is to establish an NMS as a separate legal entity, in the form of a “legal person” or a “body cor- Nevertheless, more than one-third of the 187 WMO Members porate.” This usually enables it to hold property in its name, have adopted their own weather laws—that is, laws that con- enter into contracts, open a bank account, take and defend tain the word meteorology or some related term in their title. legal proceedings, and generate and manage its own funds Sometimes these laws also include the term hydrology or by providing weather-related commercial services in addition hydrometeorology in their titles, primarily because NMS con- to its core public service mission, thereby securing an addi- cerned is actually a national meteorology and hydrology ser- tional source of funding. At the same time, NMSs established vice (NMHS) or national hydrometeorological service (NHS). based on weather laws retain public law status. In several In an increasing number of cases, the title also contains the cases, such as China, weather legislation addresses the es- word climate or climatology. Among these 69 countries are tablishment and operation of the NMS but does not confer 4    Executive Summary independent legal personality upon it. Such an approach can Weather Laws and the Private Sector be used to confer specific powers upon the NMS concerned, to raise its profile, and to facilitate interactions with other Turning to the private sector, weather laws generally take one government departments. of four approaches. One is silence: the private sector is sim- ply not mentioned. This is clearly the case for Canada, with NMS Governance, Public Tasks, and Commercial its weather modification law, and also for Rwanda, where the Activities primary focus is the establishment and operation of the NMS. The second approach is to effectively rule out a role for the In all the cases where the NMS has legal personality, the private sector. The third is to regulate private sector service weather legislation requires it to be managed by a manage- provision, through licensing for example, although some- ment or oversight board, typically specifying its composition times the legislation mentions licenses or authorization only and tasks. Reporting to the board is the director or direc- in passing. For example, Moldova’s weather law simply pro- tor general of the NMS. In some countries, the weather law vides that “authorized” providers can provide weather ser- also requires the NMS to have an advisory board such as a vices, without giving details on how authorization is to be technical committee. Because NMSs, even those with inde- acquired (in contrast to Japan’s weather law, which gives de- pendent legal personality, are public bodies, the legislation tailed provisions on qualifications and licensing.) The fourth usually also provides for oversight by the relevant minister approach is for weather legislation to actively promote a role (Germany), the legislature (Moldova), or a special oversight for the private sector, as is done in Japan’s weather law and committee (South Africa). the Republic of Korea’s Weather Industry Promotion Act. As for the public tasks of the NMS, these usually involve: (1) In practice, one of the most important legal issues is often meteorological observation and data management; (2) analy- not the extent to which the weather law addresses the role sis and forecasting; (3) research (including climate research); of the private sector, but rather the extent to which private (4) liaison with WMO and other parties in the GWE; (5) the sector and academia can actually access and use data that issuance of weather warnings, which is usually reserved are generated and held by the NMS. This arises because of the to the NMS; and (6) emergency situations and disaster re- fundamental role of the NMS in collecting and managing ob- sponse. The commercial activities of NMSs with independent servational data. While this issue may be addressed to some legal personality are also addressed. In some countries, this extent in weather laws, it is usually determined by another is done somewhat discretely in terms of possible income area of law altogether—namely, intellectual property law. sources. Elsewhere, more detail is provided. In Germany, the weather legislation usually also provides that commercial Data, Information, and Intellectual Property services are to be provided based on private law, meaning Rights that ordinary commercial practices can be used. Access to, and the use of, data are of fundamental importance In addition, weather laws can address other issues such as: to anyone engaged in any kind of meteorological activity. (1) weather modification, which may be based on a formal Weather data, including data collected and managed by an permitting scheme, as in Tanzania, or a simple reporting re- NMS, comprise the valuable raw material of the weather sec- quirement, as in the United States, with China’s weather law tor. At the same time, if data are the basic inputs for meteorol- containing particularly detailed provisions; (2) the protec- ogy, the outputs or products are refined information—in the tion of NMS staff from liability from incorrect forecasts, as form of weather forecasts and other predictive and analytical in Tonga; (3) weather observation networks infrastructure, as information concerning weather and the climate. Intellectual in Romania; (4) the importation or placement on the market property law, and the IPRs that it creates, seeks to promote and verification of meteorological equipment, as in China and innovation by giving creators property rights over their cre- Japan; and (5) sanctions for noncompliance, found in most if ations. Like other types of property rights, such as a land ten- not all of the legislation. ure rights, the owner of IPRs can basically use, sell, and gift Executive Summary   5 those rights, which opens the door for restricting access to, copyright can apply to both processed data and data prod- and the use of, data and information (such as meteorological ucts. In addition, in a number of jurisdictions (such as the EU, data and information). Japan, and Russia), IPRs also apply to databases in the form of specific database rights. Meteorological data are costly to collect and manage—and for an underfunded NMS, these data may be the most valuable Because IPRs are property rights, the owner of those rights asset that it controls. As a result, cash-stretched governments is free to prohibit use of the processed data or data products have encouraged NMSs and other public data holders to capi- or to authorize such use on the basis of payment or recogni- talize on their data assets to generate income. However, if the tion of the owner’s IPR. The use, or reuse, of data and data data have been obtained with public funds (that is, from the products—including meteorological data and data products— budget), in principle the public should have a right to see and usually takes place on a contractual basis under which the use those data, as they (as taxpayers) have already paid for user is authorized or licensed to use the data. The contractual this. Moreover, experience suggests that “open data” policies, license will authorize how the data can be used, re-used, and which envisage the free provision of data and their re-use, for what purposes. It may be contained in a formal written will add economic and social value by generating new uses contract, a “click license” on the internet, or a simple notice and users via more economic activities. or disclaimer. Intellectual property is usually divided into two categories: The extent to which data can be used or re-used will depend (1) industrial property—such as inventions (patents), trade- on the data policy of the data holder—meaning that the use or marks, and industrial designs; and (2) copyright (or author’s re-use of meteorological data will depend on the data policy rights)—such as literary and artistic creations, and technolo- of the relevant NMS. This is a key issue for private sector ac- gy-based works. tors within the GWE. They want to know: Does the NMS have a formal data policy, and if so, what does that policy say? Are These property rights relate to the items of information or data available at all, and if so, under what conditions? After knowledge that can be incorporated into tangible objects all, meteorological data are often time sensitive, and yester- (such as books, in an unlimited number of copies) but not day’s data may not be very useful for weather forecasting. to those objects or copies. In other words, IPRs attach to the contents of a book rather than to a physical copy of that book. The answers to these questions can vary by NMS, given that They are usually characterized by certain limitations (such it is free to determine its own data policy subject only to the as a limited duration in time for copyrights or patents). In applicable legislation. However, there is a growing trend to- most countries, IPRs are protected by primary legislation that ward open data policies, a reflection of a greater awareness seeks to give formal legal expression to the moral and eco- of the potential commercial value of data. For example, the nomic rights of creators over their creations, along with the European Union (EU)’s Open Data Directive is binding on its rights of the public in accessing those creations. These laws 27 Member States. usually aim to promote creativity, and the dissemination and application of the results of such creativity. The United States has long championed an open data policy, based on an economic understanding that the information For meteorological data, copyright and database rights are generated by the single largest information generator (that the most relevant IPRs, in that they potentially impose the is, the government) is an important input (in the same way most significant restrictions on access to and the use of data. as gas, coal, or water) to the economic process. US informa- Here, a distinction is commonly made between unprocessed tion-generating agencies (such as the NMS) follow the same raw data (such as numbers), processed data (such as ordering information policy, which is to actively disseminate all tax- or manipulating the data into a table or spreadsheet), and payer-funded public information without any restrictions or data products (such as weather reports). While IPRs do not conditions and without the assertion of copyright or data- hold for the numbers themselves that constitute raw data, base protection rights. One obvious result of this policy is the 6    Executive Summary enormous size, in comparison with most other countries, of the NMS and introducing a high degree of certainty as to who the US private weather sector. may issue definitive weather alerts. While some national weather laws recognize that an NMS Using a weather law to establish an NMS with independent holds an IPR in the data and information that it generates legal personality and the opportunity to generate its own in- and manages, they usually do not address the use and re- come, even as it remains a public entity, may reduce political use of weather data in any detail, leaving the matter to other interference, better incentivize staff through more flexible laws and policies. As for the WMO, it adopted a Unified Data terms of employment, and enable an NMS to become a ser- Policy Resolution in 2021, which reaffirms the commitment to vice provider able to effectively respond to client needs. But the free and unrestricted exchange of data—although it can- the core public tasks of an NMS will always require public not, in terms of its overall mandate as set out in the WMO funding, and the idea of a fully self-funding NMS is just that, Convention, compel its members to embrace an open data an idea. policy for meteorological data and information. Benefits of public-private engagement. Weather legislation Weather Laws and Public-Private Engagement either ignores private sector provision of weather services; effectively excludes a role for private sector; seeks to regulate Benefits of independent legal personality. The adoption of a the private sector; or, in a minority of cases, seeks to promote weather law is clearly not necessary for the establishment of the private activity. However, in practice, a key challenge for an NMS: most WMO Members do not (yet) have weather laws. public-private engagement in general—and private sector Nor does the adoption of a weather law guarantee that the weather service providers in particular—concerns access to NMS it establishes will be adequately funded. Thus, it is not weather data and information. This, in turn, depends on the possible to assert a direct causal link between the presence specific data policy of the relevant NMS and the generally ap- or absence of a weather law and the presence or absence of a plicable rules in the jurisdiction concerned on the use and re- strong and effective NMS that can be an effective partner with use of publicly funded data and information that are subject academia and the private sector. to the IPRs held by the NMS. Nevertheless, in many countries, the relevant NMS does not The result is that weather legislation alone may not be suffi- function effectively, often because of a lack of resources. In cient to promote effective public-private engagement pend- this regard, a weather law can raise the profile of the NMS and ing the embrace of open data policies. And finally, to the make it easier to ensure that an adequate budget allocation extent that private weather service providers are subject to for that body is set out in a separate budget line. A weather regulation by the NMS, in one form or another, conflicts of in- law can also be useful in clarifying the role of the NMS and its terest and even competition law issues may arise if the NMS relationship with other weather service–dependent “clients” itself is effectively competing with such providers on provid- within the government—identifying the key public tasks of ing weather services on a commercial basis.    7 Introduction It is difficult to overstate the importance to the global economy of reliable 1 weather and climate services. Apart from activities such as agriculture and transport that are directly affected by the weather, the sales and turnover of a wide range of economic sectors (ranging from power generation to brewing) are highly dependent on weather conditions. Indeed, it has been estimated that more than 80 percent of business activity is weather-dependent in one way or another (Müller and Grandi 2000). At the same time, as the effects of climate change become more obvious, weather-related natural hazards—including floods, droughts, tropical storms, and wildfires—pose an increasing threat to human development, with poor and marginalized populations disproportionately affected (Browder et al. 2021). This situation adds new urgency to the need to both accurately fore- cast extreme weather events, which is a key element of effective disaster risk management, and understand longer-term climate trends, which is vital for businesses and for society as a whole in terms of promoting adaptation and climate resilience. It is important to note here that although the terms weather and climate are linked, they are not the same. Weather, at the simplest level, is what is hap- pening to the atmosphere at any given time (temperature, humidity, wind, rainfall). In contrast, climate is the average course of weather conditions for a given location and time of the year, over a period of many years. In a narrow sense, it is usually defined as the “average weather,” or more rigorously, as DART® Tsunami detection buoy. Photo: © NOAAPMEL.gov. the statistical description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant quantities over a period of time ranging from months to thousands or millions of years (IPPC 2018). Responsibility for the production of weather and climate services—which include scientific research, technology, observations, modeling, forecasting, and forecast products—lies with what is commonly described as the Global Weather Enterprise (GWE)—the international weather and climate community that comprises public and private actors as well as academia. The main public actors in the GWE are national meteorological services, re- search funding bodies, and development agencies. The main private sector actors include: ■ Equipment manufacturers and civil society organizations, 8    Introduction ■ A growing number of commercial weather service provid- At the same time, the demand for weather data and weather ers that deliver free and paid-for weather forecasts to the and climate services is only increasing from private business- public (including through websites and smart phone appli- es that are willing and able to pay for targeted advice, as well cations), and as other government agencies that need weather and climate ■ Targeted forecasts and advisory services for individual services to plan and mitigate climate risks. While the private sectors or businesses. sector can innovate, provide new services, and help fill the investment gap, if governments do not recognize the role that The involvement of academia stems from the fact that mete- it can play, they may fail to support or enable market involve- orology is a science, “the science of the atmosphere . . . em- ment and could even restrict its activity altogether, not least bracing both weather and climate” (Lewis 1991). Academic by hindering or even preventing access to the available sup- institutions train meteorologists and climate scientists, un- ply of weather and climate data (Usher et al. 2018). dertake relevant research, and provide consultancy advice to the GWE’s public and private actors. What would help governments cope with these challenges? Certainly, legal and policy frameworks have an important part The GWE is of necessity global (the whole world) or inter- to play—which is why, in 2017, the WMO called for appropri- national (at least two or three countries), given that neither ate legislative or institutional arrangements to enable effec- weather systems nor climate regions are restricted by na- tive cross-sector partnerships and the removal of barriers in tional boundaries. International linkages are provided at the the weather sector. Moreover, this call was restated in the intergovernmental level through the World Meteorological WMO’s 2019 Geneva Declaration (WMO 2019a). Organization (WMO), which is the UN specialized agency for meteorology and hydrology; a range of regional networks 1.1 Objectives of This Study under the WMO; transnational companies; and international nongovernmental organizations. What is the main obstacle to greater public-private engage- ment and a stronger GWE? While the World Bank has sup- The GWE is underpinned by rapid advances in technology for ported a number of countries in preparing meteorological or data collection and analysis and the dissemination of data hydrometeorological laws, there is relatively little literature and data products in real time or near-real time. This is an on the topic. This study has two main objectives. The first is important advance for both producers and users: yesterday’s to identify, describe, and analyze the elements of meteorol- weather forecast is generally not very useful. ogy law (hereafter “weather law”) at both the international and national levels. Note that although weather and climate However, while the GWE plays a vital role—one that will only are intimately linked, the study does not examine climate become more important in future years—it also faces a number change law in any detail at either the international or nation- of challenges. A key problem for many low- to middle-income al level.1 The second objective is to examine what legislative countries is the underfunding of the national meteorologi- arrangements are needed to support public-private engage- cal service (NMS)—a term used in this report irrespective of ment in the context of the GWE, as called for in the Geneva whether the entity concerned is also concerned with hydrolo- Declaration. A basic question raised in this study is whether gy or hydrometeorology. NMSs play a fundamentally import- the absence of weather legislation is itself the main obstacle ant role in the GWE as they have national mandates to collect to public-private engagement in the GWE. the observation data necessary for weather service provision and are the repository and managers of those data. They This report has been prepared primarily as a desk study— also provide public weather forecasts, along with weather that is, one based mainly on a review of weather legislation warnings and alerts. Underfunding typically creates a vicious (machine-translated in many cases) available from public cycle: underfunded NMSs fail to produce timely and accurate sources (usually government internet sites) and the limited information, which, in turn, discourages governments from literature identified. It is set out in nine chapters, including increasing funding, leading to a cycle of decline. this introduction. It begins with a look at weather law in the Introduction   9 international context (chapter 2) before focusing on nation- the role of law in supporting the GWE. This grouping includes al weather laws (chapters 3–6). It then explores the role of lawyers (who may be unfamiliar with the weather sector) and data, information, and intellectual property rights in the GWE meteorologists (who may be unfamiliar with the law and its (chapter 7); examines how weather laws can support pub- role in the weather sector). lic-private engagement (chapter 8); and offers some conclu- sions (chapter 9). Endnote The main audience is government policy makers, NMSs, and development partners—and indeed anyone examining the See, for example, the Climate Change Laws of the World database at 1 scope and nature of weather law or seeking to understand https://climate-laws.org. Approaching storm in Sri Lanka. Photo: © Keethopayan Visvalingam.. 10    2 International Weather Law International law is the body of law that regulates the relationship between states and other actors recognized by international law (such as international organizations like the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)). It lacks a number of important elements invariably found in national legal systems (Hart 1961). There is no world police force or equivalent enforcement body. There is no compulsory dispute resolution mechanism to which aggrieved states can turn (states must usually agree to refer disputes to the International Court of Justice). And there is no global parliament or legislature able to adopt the rules of international law. Instead, while some of those rules derive from the custom and practice of states, formal agreements between states are the main source of internation- al law. Variously described as treaties or conventions (the name used does not really matter), such agreements can confer rights upon states and impose ob- ligations on states. They may also apply globally or regionally. But, unlike na- tional laws—which are binding on everyone within the jurisdiction concerned after entering into force—an international agreement is binding on a state only once it has been signed and ratified by that state, in accordance with its own internal procedures (which typically involves legislative approval). International agreements may also provide a framework for the parties to conclude additional agreements to introduce more detailed obligations, in the form of “protocols” to the original agreement or separate agreements. Weather station. Photo: © Robin Olimb. Recent years have seen significant developments in international law in terms of the scope of treaty obligations and the complexity of international frame- work agreements. A good example of a complex treaty regime is the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),1 along with its imple- mentation arrangements, which are intended to introduce significant socio- economic changes to address the problem of global warming. In particular, the Paris Agreement was adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in 2015 and entered into force on November 4, 2016.2 The objec- tives of the Paris Agreement are (1) to limit global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels; (2) to promote adaptation and climate resilience; and (3) to make finance flows consistent with a path- way toward low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development (article 2). However, the agreement itself contains no reference to meteorolo- gy and only limited references to the weather (see box 2.1). International Weather Law   11 (c) To promote standardization of meteorological and re- BOX 2.1.  Weather References in the Paris Agreement lated observations and to ensure the uniform publication of observations and statistics; (d) To further the application of meteorology to aviation, The Paris Agreement contains only one direct reference shipping, water problems, agriculture and other human to the weather. Article 8 states that the importance of activities; averting, minimizing, and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, (e) To promote activities in operational hydrology and to “including extreme weather events” (such as storms) and further close cooperation between Meteorological and “slow onset events” (in other words, droughts), is recog- Hydrological Services; and nized by the Parties. (f) To encourage research and training in meteorology In addition, article 7 calls on the Parties to strengthen and, as appropriate, in related fields and to assist in co- their cooperation on adaptation, including with regard to ordinating the international aspects of such research and the “systematic observation of the climate system,” and training. article 8 (4) includes “early warning systems” among areas for cooperation and facilitation. The WMO bodies are: ■ The World Meteorological Congress (the “WMO Congress”), 2.1 World Meteorological Organization which is the general assembly of delegates representing Members and the supreme body of the organization. ■ The Executive Council, which includes the WMO 2.1.1 The WMO Convention President and three Vice-Presidents; presidents of re- At the international level, the principal legal instrument gional associations; and 27 Directors of Meteorological relating to meteorology is the Convention of the World or Hydrometeorological Services of Members of the Meteorological Organization (the “WMO Convention”), which Organization. It is the WMO’s executive body, and it is re- was adopted on October 11, 1947, and amended on several sponsible for coordinating WMO’s programs. occasions, most recently in 2007. Its main focus is the estab- ■ Regional Meteorological Associations (“regional associ- lishment of the WMO as an international organization. WMO ations”), composed of WMO Members in a given region, members are states and territories, or groups of territories, of which there are currently six (or seven if Antarctica is that maintain their own NMS (article 3). The organization included). currently has 187 Member States and six Member Territories. ■ Technical Commissions, consisting of technical experts; these may be established by the WMO Congress to make The purposes of the WMO are set out in article 2 of the WMO recommendations. Convention, as follows: ■ Secretariat of the organization, based in Geneva, Switzerland, and led by the Secretary-General. The purposes of the Organization shall be: (a) To facilitate worldwide cooperation in the establish- However, the WMO Convention neither sets out binding rules ment of networks of stations for the making of meteo- with regard to its core subject matter (that is, meteorology rological observations as well as hydrological and other and hydrology and related geophysical observations) nor ex- geophysical observations related to meteorology, and to promote the establishment and maintenance of centers plicitly envisages the adoption of such binding rules through charged with the provision of meteorological and related the conclusion of subsequent protocols or international services; agreements under its auspices. The functions of the WMO (b) To promote the establishment and maintenance of sys- Congress, set out in article 8, extend only to the making of tems for the rapid exchange of meteorological and related general policies and recommendations (see box 2.2). And the information; power to determine binding regulations is limited to the pro- cedures of the various WMO bodies. 12    International Weather Law instruments to governments and intergovernmental organiza- BOX 2.2.  Functions of the World Meteorological tions, and the convening of conferences as may be necessary Organization Congress (for the adoption of such agreements) (article 2(b)). Since then, the IMO has concluded numerous international agree- ARTICLE 8: Functions ments relating to various aspects of shipping and navigation.4 In addition to the functions set out in other Articles of the Convention, the primary duties of Congress shall be: Moreover, while article 9(a) of the WMO Convention goes on to provide that WMO Members are required to “do their (a) To determine general policies for the fulfilment of the utmost” to implement the decisions of the WMO Congress, purposes of the Organization as set forth in Article 2; paragraph 9 (b) explicitly recognizes that this may not be (b) To make recommendations to Members on matters possible for all Members. It states that if any “Member finds within the purposes of the Organization; it impracticable to give effect to some requirement in a tech- (c) To refer to any body of the Organization any matter nical resolution adopted by Congress, such Member shall in- within the provisions of the Convention upon which such form the Secretary-General of the Organization whether its a body is empowered to act; inability to give effect to it is provisional or final, and state its (d) To determine regulations prescribing the procedures reasons therefor.” of the various bodies of the Organization, in particular the General, Technical, Financial and Staff Regulations; In other words, unlike the case of the IMO, for example, the (e) To consider the reports and activities of the Executive WMO is not set up as a rule-making body for establishing Council and to take appropriate action in regard thereto; binding norms of international law. (f) To establish regional associations in accordance with the provisions of Article 18; to determine their geograph- 2.1.2 Technical Regulations and Other Instruments ical limits, coordinate their activities, and consider their Even though the WMO is not a formal rule-making body, it has recommendations; adopted a set of Technical Regulations that are contained in (g) To establish technical commissions in accordance three volumes: Volume I — General Meteorological Standards with the provisions of Article 19; to define their terms of and Recommended Practices; Volume II — Meteorological reference, coordinate their activities, and consider their Service for International Air Navigation; and Volume III — recommendations; Hydrology (WMO 2018, 2019b, 2021c). (h) To establish any additional bodies it may deem necessary; Paragraph 3 of the General Provisions of the Technical (i) To determine the location of the Secretariat of the Regulations states that they are designed: Organization; (a) To facilitate cooperation in meteorology and hydrology (j) To elect the President and Vice-Presidents of the between Members; Organization and members of the Executive Council other than the presidents of the regional associations. (b) To meet, in the most effective manner, specific needs in the various fields of application of meteorology and hy- drology in the international sphere; and (c) To ensure adequate uniformity and standardization in The WMO Convention contrasts with the convention adopted the practices and procedures employed in achieving (a) one year later, in 1948, for the establishment of a sister or- and (b) above. ganization—the International Maritime Organization (IMO),3 which is the UN specialized agency responsible for shipping Here, a distinction is made between “standard” and “recom- and navigation. The IMO Convention explicitly includes among mended” practices and procedures. Standard practices and the IMO’s functions “the drafting of conventions, agreements, procedures are, in the slightly convoluted language used in or other suitable instruments,” the recommendation of such the Regulation, “the practices and procedures that Members International Weather Law   13 are required to follow or implement” (paragraph 5). Such In other words, even the mandatory practices and proce- standard practices and procedures: dures are not strictly binding. They impose only a duty on each WMO Member to use its best endeavors rather than a (b) Shall have the status of requirements in a technical res- duty to achieve an actual outcome. That said, what is a clearly olution in respect of which Article 9(b) of the Convention legal obligation for each WMO Member is the duty to notify is applicable; and the WMO Secretary-General of the extent to which standard (c) Shall invariably be distinguished by the use of the term practices and procedures have not been implemented (and shall in the English text, and by suitable equivalent terms thereafter to keep him/her informed of any changes). in the Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish and Russian texts. Apart from the Technical Regulations, the WMO Congress Note that in international law, the use of the word shall in a has adopted a series of declarations including the Geneva legal text means “must.” This means that a standard practice Declarations of 2017 and 2019, which call upon WMO or procedure starts to look like a mandatory or legally binding Members to endeavor to: (1) put in place appropriate leg- norm or rule. islative or institutional arrangements to enable effective cross-sector partnerships; and (2) remove barriers to mutu- In contrast, recommended practices and procedures are ally beneficial cooperation and collaboration. “practices and procedures which it is desirable that Members follow or implement” (paragraph 5). The text goes on to ex- Also worth mentioning is WMO Resolution 40, adopted in plain that such recommended practices and procedures: 1995 and updated in 2021, on the international exchange of (b) Shall have the status of recommendations to Members, meteorological and related data and products (WMO 1995). to which Article 9(b) of the Convention shall not be The recent update is aimed at dramatically strengthening the applied; world’s weather and climate services through a systematic in- (c) Shall be distinguished by the use of the term should crease in much-needed observational data and data products in the English text (except where otherwise provided by from across the globe. decision of Congress) and by suitable equivalent terms in the Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish texts. 2.2 Other International Agreements However, even though the language of the regulation, as just 2.2.1 The Chicago Convention described, seems to distinguish between mandatory standard practices and procedures, and advisory or desirable recom- The Convention on International Civil Aviation (commonly mended practices, paragraph 6 goes on to clarify that: known as the “Chicago Convention”) was signed on December 7, 1944. It establishes the basic international legal framework In accordance with the above definitions, Members for civil aviation as well as providing for the establishment shall do their utmost to implement the standard prac- of another UN specialized agency—the International Civil tices and procedures. In accordance with Article 9(b) of Aviation Organization (ICAO). the Convention and in conformity with the provisions of Regulation 101 of the General Regulations, Members shall Key elements of the legal framework include: the recognition formally notify the Secretary-General, in writing, of their intention to apply the standard practices and procedures that each state has “complete and exclusive sovereignty over of the Technical Regulations, except those for which they the airspace above its territory” (article 1); the right of over- have lodged a specific deviation. Members shall also in- flight by non-scheduled flights (article 5); and the three basic form the Secretary-General, at least three months in principles contained in article 15: advance, of any change in the degree of their implementa- tion of a standard practice or procedure as previously noti- ■ The same uniform conditions apply to the use of airport fied and the effective date of the change. and air navigation facilities in one state by aircraft of all other states. 14    International Weather Law ■ Charges for facilities must not be higher for aircraft of particular international watercourses (article 3). And it per- other states than those paid by national aircraft. tains to a range of procedural requirements for new develop- ■ No charges may be imposed by a state solely for granting ments that may have transboundary impacts. authorization for a flight into, out of, or over its territory. Furthermore, the convention promotes the exchange of The relevance of this convention for weather law derives from weather-related data. First, it provides that “watercourse the importance of weather conditions and the availability of States” have a duty to regularly exchange “readily available reliable and timely weather forecasts for civil aviation safety. data and information on the condition of the watercourse” In fact, air navigation facilities referred to in article 15 include (Article 9(1)). Such data include those of a “hydrological, me- meteorological services provided for the safety and expedi- teorological, hydrogeological and ecological nature and relat- tion of air navigation. Moreover, in accordance with article 28 ed to the water quality as well as related forecasts.” Second, of the Chicago Convention, each contracting state undertakes it provides that if a watercourse State is requested by another as “far as it may find practicable” to provide “meteorological watercourse State to provide data or information that is not services” in its territory, as well as other services to facilitate readily available, it must employ its best efforts to comply international air navigation (such as airports, radio services, with the request—although it may condition its compliance and air navigation facilities), in accordance with the stan- upon payment by the requesting State of the reasonable costs dards and practices recommended or established, from time of collecting and, where appropriate, processing such data or to time, pursuant to the Chicago Convention. 5 information (Article 9(2)). Thus, while the Chicago Convention does not formally require 2.2.3 Regional Agreements states to provide meteorological services for air navigation, Although international law imposes few obligations on states it does provide that if they decide to so, they must apply the for the collection, analysis, dissemination, and sharing of standards set out in Annex 3/Volume II of the WMO Technical weather data and information, there is nothing to prevent Regulations. But if a state finds it “impracticable” to fully states from entering into binding agreements on these is- comply with such standards, it must immediately notify the sues. To this end, a number of binding regional agreements ICAO. In other words, once again an apparently mandatory on weather data and information have been concluded in standard is not quite as binding as it first appears. This is Europe. These include: probably logical given the different technical and resource ca- pabilities of different countries around the world. Moreover, ■ The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather while a state may charge for meteorological services, such Forecasts (ECMWF). This is an independent intergovern- charges must not be applied in a discriminatory manner and mental organization set up in 1975, supported by 35 states, the level of such charges, and the manner in which they are and based in Reading, in the United Kingdom, with sites in calculated, must be submitted to the ICAO. Germany and Italy. Its core tasks are to produce numerical weather forecasts and monitor the Earth system, carry out 2.2.2 The UN Watercourse Convention scientific and technical research to improve forecast skill, Another example of a framework convention is the 1997 UN and maintain an archive of meteorological data. Convention on the Non-Navigable Use of International Water ■ The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Courses (“the Watercourses Convention”)6—the principal Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). This is an intergov- legal agreement of global application on the non-navigation- ernmental organization set up in 1986, based in Darmstadt, al uses of international watercourses. It sets out a number of Germany, with 30 members. It operates a number of satel- general principles for international watercourses and encour- lites to monitor weather, climate, and the environment, and ages States to enter into “watercourse agreements” in respect it partners with a number of other satellite operators. of such watercourses on their territories that can, in turn, ■ The EUMETNET. This is a grouping of 31 European NMSs, apply and adjust the principles to suit the characteristics of set up in 2009, with headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. It International Weather Law   15 provides a framework for its members to organize cooper- Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973; the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974; the International Convention on Standards ative programs on basic meteorological activities (includ- of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, London, 1978; the ing observing systems, data processing, basic forecasting International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on products, research and development, and training). Ships, 2001; the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004; the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation, 1990; the Protocol on Preparedness, Response and Co-operation to Pollution Incidents by Hazardous and Noxious Substances, 2000; the International Endnotes Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, 1969; and the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for 1 United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS), volume 1771, p. 107. Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage, 1971. 2 International Legal Materials (ILM), volume 55, issue 4, August 2016, pp. Standards for meteorological services for air navigation are set out in Annex 5 740–55. 3 to the Chicago Convention (“Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation”), which is identical to WMO Technical Regulation, Volume II, 3 Convention on the International Maritime Organization, 1948, 289 UNTS 48. also entitled “Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation.” 4 These include the Convention on the International Regulations for 6 36 International Legal Materials (ILM) 700, 1997. The convention finally Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972; the International Convention for the entered into force in 2014. Sidi Salem Dam, Tunisia’s largest dam, on the Medjerda River. Photo: © Khaled Ladjimi. 16    3 National Weather Legislation Turning to the issue of national weather legislation, an initial reaction could be to ask, Why are weather laws even necessary? After all, the weather can- not be legislated for. Meteorology, like any other science, does not need its own law. No country has adopted a biology law or a chemistry law. And many countries do not have specific weather legislation—including several coun- tries, such as the United Kingdom, in which public-private engagement in the Global Weather Enterprise (GWE) is somewhat robust. Even so, the research undertaken for the preparation of this study shows that some 69 countries have adopted national weather legislation in one form or another that contains the word weather, meteorology, or a related term, in its title (see appendix A in this report for the full list of these countries).1 In other words, just over one-third of the 187 World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Member States have adopted weather legislation.2 Moreover, these 69 WMO Member States include the largest countries in terms of land area (the Russian Federation, Canada, the United States, and China), or the size of their respective economies (the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and France). Granted, some of the weather legislation is quite old. In Austria, the imperial decree establishing the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics was adopted on 23 July 1851; in Chile, Supreme Decree No. 714 “Establishing the Meteorological Observation System” was adopted on March 26, 1884, while the United States National Weather Service Organic Act was adopted A tropical depression intensifies. Photo: © Peter Blottman Photography. in 1890. But most of the weather legislation is quite recent—and, in fact, the process of adopting weather legislation seems to be speeding up (table 3.1). Of the legislation currently in force, 20 were adopted from 2000 to 2010; a further 25 have entered into force since then, compared with only 10 from 1990 to 2000, and 11 before 1990. National Weather Legislation   17 TABLE 3.1.  Adoption of Weather Laws, by Country and Year Adoption time frame Country and year of adoption Weather legislation currently in force but adopt- Austria (1851); Chile (1884); United States of America (1890); Belgium (1913); ed before 1990 Japan (1952); Czech Republic (1953);a Australia (1955); Costa Rica (1973); Peru (1984); Canada (1985); Solomon Islands (1985). Weather legislation currently in force but adopt- New Zealand (1990); Eswatini (1992); France (1993); Côte d’Ivoire (1997); Algeria ed between 1990 and 1999 (1998); Azerbaijan (1998); Moldova (1998); Russian Federation (1998); Germany (1998); China (1999); Switzerland (1999); Turkmenistan (1999); Ukraine (1999). Weather legislation currently in force but adopt- Romania (2000); Armenia (2001); South Africa (2001); Tajikistan (2002); Nigeria ed between 2000 and 2010 (2003); Zimbabwe (2003); Ghana (2004); Kyrgyz Republic (2006); Venezuela (2006); Argentina (2007); Republic of Korea (2007, 2007, 2009);b United Arab Emirates (2007); Iceland (2008); North Macedonia (2008); Spain (2008); Indonesia (2009); Slovakia (2009); Gabon (2010); Montenegro (2010); Serbia (2010). Weather legislation currently in force adopted Guinea-Bissau (2011); Rwanda (2011); Senegal (2011); Portugal (2012); Uganda between 2011 and 2024 (2012); Niue (2013); Uruguay (2013); Botswana (2014); the Netherlands (2015); Seychelles (2015); Vietnam (2015); Vanuatu (2016); Sierra Leone (2017); Slovenia (2017); Tonga (2017); Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic (2017); Bangladesh (2018); Benin (2018); Finland (2018); Tanzania (2018); Croatia (2019); Kenya (2019); Mauritius (2019); Belarus (2020); Uzbekistan (2022). Source: Original table for this publication. Note: This table presents the chronology of the adoption of weather legislation; the year of adoption appears in brackets. a. The instrument applied to Czechoslovakia at the time of adoption. b. The Republic of Korea has three laws: its Weather Observation Standardization Act (2005), its Weather Act (2007), and its Weather Industry Promotion Act (2009). 3.1 Primary or Secondary Legislation? But even though there are significant differences in the con- tent and approach of the different items of weather legisla- Of the legal instruments identified, the majority are examples tion, the fact that so many countries have adopted primary of primary legislation (in the form of laws or acts of parlia- legislation on the topic is an interesting finding. The adoption ment) rather than secondary legislation (in the form of de- of primary legislation is invariably time consuming and can crees or regulations) (see box 3.1). Examples of countries that be expensive in terms of political capital, so there must be a have adopted weather laws in the form of primary legislation reason why countries adopt weather laws. include Germany, the Russia Federation, China, the United States, and Vietnam. In fact, in the case of the 19 common law jurisdictions dis- cussed in this study,3 all the weather legislation is in the form of primary legislation. In the remaining 50 jurisdictions— which follow either the civil law tradition or the socialist legal tradition, as it has evolved over recent years—all but 11 also use primary legislation. The exceptions use secondary legis- lation, specifically to establish the country’s NMS. These are Algeria, Argentina, Belgium, Benin, Chile, the Czech Republic, France, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Spain. 18    National Weather Legislation BOX 3.1.  Laws, Regulations, and Regulatory Frameworks For weather law, it is important to distinguish between primary legislation and secondary legislation. Primary legislation. This can be described as a “law” or an “act,” depending on the jurisdiction concerned. It is adopted by the legislature (such as the national assembly or parliament). In some countries, though, primary legislation can be adopted on an emergency basis in the form of a presidential decree, which remains valid provided it is subsequently approved by the legisla- ture. Laws create rules and are not only addressed both to citizens and legal entities but also to the government. For example, a law can specify how the government is to manage a particular resource or activity. Primary legislation typically also provides for sanctions to be applied against citizens and legal entities in cases of noncompliance. These sanctions may be imposed on the basis of criminal law (in which case the guilty party acquires a criminal record) or on the basis of administrative sanctions (such as the withdrawal of a license or permit, or the imposition of a fine). Secondary legislation. This takes the form of “regulations,” “orders,” “decrees,” or “decisions,” depending on the jurisdiction concerned. It is adopted by the government/cabinet or a minister, based on specific powers conferred by a law. It sets out (1) detailed technical rules relating to the matter regulated in the law and (2) administrative and procedural requirements. It can also be adopted and, as needed, amended more quickly and easily than primary legislation, as it does not have to be debated by the legislature. Regulatory framework. Although this term has no precise legal meaning, it essentially means the body of rules that regulate a given activity together with the inspection procedures and enforcement mechanisms (such as sanctions necessary to ensure compliance). In practice, many of the detailed rules in a given regulatory framework will be set out in secondary legislation, which, in many jurisdictions, are called “regulations.” 3.2 What’s in a Name? WMO’s mandate includes hydrology. Furthermore, there is a clear functional logic to organizing the provision of hydrolog- All of the legislation identified is weather legislation in that it ical and meteorological services within the same agency. contains the word meteorological, meteorology, meteo, weath- er, or a related term such as atmosphere, in its title. In 21 At the same time, however, hydrological monitoring typically cases, the legislation is, strictly speaking, hydrometeorologi- also plays an important role in the day-to-day management cal or hydrological and meteorological legislation because it of rivers and watercourses; indeed, it is impossible to talk includes the word hydrometeorology or hydrology in its title about water resources management without access to the (see box 3.2). This is usually because the NMS is actually a necessary data. For this reason, countries that have only a national hydrological and meteorological service or a nation- weather law do not usually address hydrology (or hydrolog- al hydro-meteorological service. For example, the weather ical measurements, assessment, modeling, and forecasting, legislation of the Czech Republic is Government Order of 27 and so on) in a separate hydrology law, but rather in their November 1953 “On the Hydrometeorological Institute.” basic water resources laws (often in a specific chapter). This grouping of words is probably a result of the way me- In addition, the fact that the term hydrology is not part of the teorological and hydrological services have been historically title of an item of weather legislation does not necessarily organized in the mostly socialist or former socialist countries mean that that legislation—or more specifically, the NMS that that have hydrometeorological legislation. (An exception it provides for—is not in fact relevant to the provision of hydro- here is China, which has a standalone meteorology law.) After logical services. That is why for this study, the term NMS will all, meteorology and hydrology are intimately connected, es- be used irrespective of whether or not the entity concerned is pecially for the prediction of river flows and flooding, and the also concerned with hydrology or hydrometeorology. National Weather Legislation   19 BOX 3.2.  Examples of Hydrometeorological and Meteorological and Hydrological Legislation ■ Armenia – Law of the Republic of Armenia on Hydro-Meteorological Activities, February 7, 2001 ■ Azerbaijan – Law of the Azerbaijan Republic of April 17, 1998, No. 485-IG About Hydrometeorological Activities ■ Belarus – Law of the Republic of Belarus, December 10, 2020, No. 64-З on the modification of the Law of the Republic of Belarus on hydrometeorological activity ■ Croatia – Law on Meteorological and Hydrological Activity, 2019 ■ Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) – Government Order of 27 November 1953 on the Hydrometeorological Institute ■ Kyrgyz Republic – Law of the Kyrgyz Republic of August 8, 2006, No. 154 About hydrometeorological activities in the Kyrgyz Republic ■ Lao People’s Democratic Republic – The Law on Meteorology and Hydrology, 2017 ■ Moldova – Law No. 1536 of 25.02.1998 on hydrometeorological activity North Macedonia – National Law of Hydrometeorological Activities, 2008 ■ Montenegro – Law on Hydrometeorological Works, No. 26 of 2010 ■ Peru – Law No. 24031 - Organic Law of the National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI), 1984 ■ Russian Federation – Federal Law of 19.07.1998 on the Hydrometeorological Service ■ Serbia – Law on Meteorological and Hydrological Activity, 2010 ■ Slovakia – Law of 29 April 2009 on the State Hydrological Service and the State Meteorological Service ■ Slovenia – Law on Sate Meteorological, Hydrological and Oceanographic Services, 2017 ■ Tajikistan – Law of the Republic of Tajikistan on December 2, 2002, #86 On the Hydrometeorology Service ■ Turkmenistan – Law of Turkmenistan of September 15, 1999, No. 392-I About hydrometeorological activities ■ Ukraine – Law of Ukraine of February 18, 1999, No. 443-XIV About hydrometeorological activities ■ Uzbekistan – Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of January 12, 2022, No. ZRU-745 About Hydrometeorological Activities ■ Venezuela – National Meteorology and Hydrology Law, 2006 ■ Vietnam – Law on Hydrometeorology, No. 90/2015/QH13 The names of several weather laws also contain referenc- and the United Arab Emirates refers to seismology. Although es to climatology or climate change—including Vanuatu’s some of these laws address the issue of weather modification, Meteorology, Geological Hazards and Climate Change Canada’s Weather Modification Information Act, 1985, is the Act 2016; Indonesia’s Law on Meteorology, Climatology, only national-level text that refers to this topic in its title (see and Geophysics, 2009; and Switzerland’s Federal Law on box 3.3). In addition to the Weather Act, 2007, Korea has ad- Meteorology and Climatology, 1999. Slovenia’s legislation opted a Weather Observation Standardization Act, 2005, and contains a reference to oceanography, Austria’s legislation re- a Weather Industry Promotion Act, 2009. fers to geodynamics, while the legislation of the Netherlands 20    National Weather Legislation as in Switzerland, requiring a clearly identified funding recip- BOX 3.3.  Canada’s Weather Modification Information Act ient (see box 3.4). Canada’s Weather Modification Information Act, adopted BOX 3.4.  Swiss Weather Law and Federal Funding in 1985, provides that any person proposing to engage in weather modification must first submit information about themselves, and the weather modification they intend to In Switzerland, article 1 of the weather law very clearly engage in, to the government-appointed Administrator. identifies the responsibilities of the Confederation and, Required details include place and time where the activi- therefore, the need for these activities to be funded at the ty is to be carried out, persons on whose behalf the activ- confederal level: ity is to be carried out, its purpose, and the geographical Tasks of the Confederation area that may be affected. The Confederation has the following tasks in the field of Every person who carries out weather modification must meteorology and climatology: maintain detailed records of the activity and submit a re- port to the Administrator within 15 days. Records of the 1. It continuously captures meteorological and activity must be maintained while the Administrator can climatological data throughout Switzerland. make such information to the public. The government is 2. It takes part in the capture, exchange, and empowered to adopt subordinate legislation, and breach exploitation of international meteorological and of the provisions of the act is punishable as a criminal climatological data. offence. 3. It issues weather warnings of danger. 4. It provides meteorological information for flight The act defines weather modification as “any action de- operations and air navigation safety on Swiss signed or intended to produce, by physical or chemical territory. means, changes in the composition or dynamics of the 5. It endeavors to provide climate information and to atmosphere for the purpose of increasing, decreasing, or implement measures that help to ensure a healthy redistributing precipitation, decreasing or suppressing environment in the long term. hail or lightning or dissipating fog or cloud.” 6. It monitors radioactivity in the atmosphere and provides the meteorological bases necessary for calculating the propagation of atmospheric pollutants. 3.3 Legislation in Federal Jurisdictions 7. It promotes theoretical meteorology and climatology and carries out research and development projects. 8. It provides other meteorological and climatological With one exception, discussed below, weather legislation in services for general interest. federal (or federal like) jurisdictions has been exclusively ad- opted at the national (federal) level (as is the case in Austria, Australia, Canada, Germany, Russia, and Switzerland). The one exception is the United States. It does have a federal weather law: the National Weather Service Organic Act of There are several possible reasons for this, the most obvious 1890,4 which provided for the establishment of the federal being that each country needs a centralized weather service National Weather Service. But several US states have adopted and a sole authoritative source for weather warnings. Second, specific weather laws, albeit with a specific focus on weather there may be constitutional issues regarding which level of modification (an issue that is not addressed in the National government is to be responsible for weather-related mat- Weather Service Organic Act).5 ters. Third, the counterparts to WMO and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) under both the WMO 3.4 The Purpose of a Weather Law Convention and the Chicago Convention are national govern- ments (and, under the Chicago Convention, meteorological With a few exceptions, the purpose of a weather law is to services are to be provided at the national level). Fourth, it create a legal basis for the establishment and operation may be the way budgets at the federal level are often worded, of the NMS or to create a legal framework for the entire National Weather Legislation   21 meteorological sector—such as addressing the competences 4(7) of Germany’s weather law includes, among the tasks of subnational government bodies (as in China), academia of the NMS, the “monitoring of the atmosphere for radioac- (as in Japan), and the private sector. However, the distinction tive trace substances and the prediction of their shipment.” is more nuanced than it might appear. A law that is primar- Similarly, Slovakia’s weather law includes among the tasks of ily concerned with the establishment and operation of the the Slovak NMS “issuing warnings about exceeding the limit NMS inevitably impacts the entire weather sector. This varies values of the dose rate of gamma radiation” and “monitoring somewhat depending on the range of powers, functions, and and evaluation of the level of air pollution” (article 5). duties it confers on the NMS, and therefore the legal space within which the other elements of the GWE can function. Moreover, sometimes the weather legislation shows only a part of the functions of the NMS. For example, Australia’s To take a hypothetical example: If in country A the weath- Meteorology Act, 1995, provides for the establishment of the er law contains an article or section on the importation and Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology and sets out its func- placing on the market of meteorological instruments, the tions regarding meteorology. But a separate item of legisla- same or a very similar legal effect may be achieved in country tion, namely the Water Act 2007, confers a range of duties B where the power to regulate the importation and placing on upon the bureau for hydrology and related data collection the market of meteorological equipment is conferred upon the and management. NMS. Or to take a starker hypothetical example: If a weather law confers a total and exclusive state monopoly on NMS for the provision of weather services, on pain of prosecution in Endnotes the event of noncompliance, it follows that no space is left for private sector weather service provision. Consequently, The 69 total does not include the case of states in which laws or decrees 1 the scope of a weather law and the space that it leaves for describe the general functions of ministries or other public agencies and include meteorology among those functions. Nor does it include countries other elements of the GWE will be rather similar irrespective where aviation-related laws contain specific provisions on the provision of whether the law is the “Weather Law” of country X or the of meteorological services for air transport (such as Papua New Guinea, “Law Establishing the Meteorological Agency” of country Y. where meteorological issues are addressed in its Civil Aviation Authority Act, 2000). 3.5 Scope of the Legislation In countries that follow the common law tradition, which are generally 2 English-speaking or Commonwealth countries, laws adopted by the legislature are usually referred to as acts. As for the scope of weather legislation, apart from the extent 3 Common law jurisdictions are English-speaking or Commonwealth to which it addresses hydrology in addition to meteorology— countries or countries whose legal systems have been influenced by the and increasingly, climate change—a number of other relat- law of England. ed topics may also be addressed, often by reference to the 4 This law was subsequently amended and codified as 15 U.S.C. § 313. scope of the tasks of the NMS concerned. For example, air 5 Examples include Colorado (Colorado Weather Modification Rules and pollution monitoring is also a task of Russia’s NMS. Article Regulations 2 CCr 401-1) and Utah (Utah Code 73-15-3). 22    4 Weather Laws and the NMS In most cases, one purpose, or even the main purpose, of a weather law is to set out the legal framework for the establishment and operation of the national meteorological service (NMS). Clearly legislation is not strictly nec- essary to establish an NMS. After all, having an NMS is effectively an essential pre-requisite for World Meteorological Organization (WMO) membership1— and the majority of WMO Member States that do not (or do not yet) have sep- arate weather laws have managed to establish their NMSs without adopting legislation. In such cases, the NMS is usually established as a department, a director- ate, or a unit within a ministry. In this traditional approach, the department director reports to a director general, permanent secretary, or other senior civil servant—who, in turn, reports to the minister responsible for meteorol- ogy (among other matters). The employees of such an NMS are civil servants employed in accordance with civil service rules and paid in accordance with the civil service pay scale. The department is funded from public funds, as allocated by the legislature based on the government’s annual budget. That model can work perfectly well so long as the NMS is adequately funded, and so long as those adequate funds are allocated to it year after year. However, one basic problem is that, in many low- to middle-income countries, the NMS is underfunded. Sometimes a solution is sought by introducing policies that require the rele- Storm-chaser adjusts rooftop weather station on his vehicle. Photo: © BeyondImages. vant department, directorate, or unit to generate funds from the sale of ser- vices (or even data). But this, too, is often challenging for several reasons. First, civil servants may not be motivated, and are often not trained, to pro- vide commercial services. Second, a government department, directorate, or unit does not usually have independent legal personality and thus cannot enter into contracts. Third, many countries have strict financial rules that re- quire all income generated by a government department, directorate, or unit to be paid directly into the central treasury account. In some countries, such as the United Kingdom (UK), mechanisms exist that enable the reorganization of government departments along production-ori- ented lines and the establishment of discrete accounting mechanisms, with- out needing to establish a separate legal entity. The UK’s Met Office is an executive agency and trading fund—which enables receipts from the provi- sion of such services to finance the operations of the Met Office. But in other countries, this approach is simply not possible from a legal perspective or in terms of national practice. For them, the only route is to adopt a weather law Weather Laws and the NMS    23 that provides for the establishment and operation of the NMS the legal status of previously existing public NMSs to enable as an independent legal entity. them to engage in commercial activities. 4.1 NMS Establishment as an Independent Legal The other approach is to explicitly provide legal personality Entity in the weather law—meaning the weather law is the source of legal personality for the NMS. Moreover, the legislation al- Most of the weather laws explicitly provide for the establish- most invariably provides that the NMS is established on the ment and operation of the NMS as an independent legal entity basis of public law as opposed to private law (see box 4.1). in the form of a “legal person” or a “body corporate,” depend- ing on the legal tradition concerned, sometimes described as Consequently, weather laws usually provide for the NMS to be an “agency” or “authority.” Such an NMS has what is called established as a “legal person under public law” (in jurisdic- “independent legal personality” and, therefore, the legal ca- tions of the civil and socialist law traditions), or a statutory pacity to enter into contracts in its own name (including con- “corporation” or “body corporate” (in common law jurisdic- tracts of employment), hold property, open bank accounts, tions). From a legal perspective, it is important to distinguish and take and defend legal proceedings. between public law legal entities and private law legal enti- ties (such as companies and limited liability partnerships). Moreover, an NMS established as an independent legal enti- One key reason is that the actions of a public law body may ty is able to generate and retain its own funds and generally be subject to review by the courts to ensure that they comply to be run more like a business. For example, in such cases, with the body’s legal mandate, and public law bodies may be the NMS staff may be freed from low civil servant pay scales subject to specific rules on contracting and procurement. and procedures—and employed on the same basis and similar terms as in the private sector with bonuses and even perfor- BOX 4.1.  How Public Law and Private Law Differ mance-related pay. Two main approaches are taken in the weather laws reviewed Private law is concerned with the legal relationship be- tween ordinary private people, including private com- to establish NMSs as independent legal entities. Under one panies—an example is contract law, which is a branch approach, the NMS is established using an existing type of of private law. In contrast, public law is concerned with a legal entity. For example, article 1 of France’s weather law the body of legal rules that regulates the conduct of both provides: state bodies (such as central and local governments) and bodies that undertake public functions (such as state There is created, under the name of Météo-France, a pub- agencies and universities). The distinction between pub- lic establishment of the State of an administrative nature. lic and private law is more marked in the legal systems This establishment, endowed with civil personality and of the civil law tradition, although it is also found in the financial autonomy, is placed under the supervision of the common law tradition. Minister in charge of transport. A “public establishment of the State of an administrative na- In cases where an NMS is established as a legal entity on the ture” is a common type of autonomous public administrative basis of the weather law, this is usually clearly described in entity in France, with its own particular body of rules and pro- the text: cedural requirements to which the weather law cross-refers. Algeria’s weather law takes a similar approach except that ■ In Moldova, article 9 of its weather law states that “(t)he the Algerian NMS is established as a “public industrial and service is a legal entity, it has its stamp, with the image of commercial establishment” (article 2), a legal form that may the State Coat of Arms of the Republic Moldova and the undertake commercial-type activities. Interestingly, both the name of the Service and has a bank account.” Algerian and French weather laws had the effect of changing ■ In Rwanda, article 1 of its weather law states that “Meteo Rwanda shall have legal personality, administrative and 24    Weather Laws and the NMS financial autonomy and shall be managed in accordance 4.2 NMS Establishment without Independent with general provisions governing public institutions.” Legal Personality ■ Similarly, in Guinea Bissau, article 1 of its weather law states that “The National Institute of Meteorology of There are also several countries that provide for the establish- Guinea-Bissau, known for short as ‘INM-GB’, is a public ment and operation of an NMS without specifically address- institute, endowed with legal personality and administra- ing the issue of its legal personality. Take the case of New tive, financial and patrimonial autonomy.” Zealand, whose weather law simply states that the Minister of Transport must: (1) arrange for the making and issuance of In the case of countries that follow the common law tradition, weather forecasts and the collection and recording of mete- a similar form of language is generally used to make clear the orological information necessary for this; and (2) ensure the public law status of the NMS concerned: provision of meteorological warnings by designating a person to be responsible for providing the authorized meteorological ■ Uganda’s weather law provides that the Uganda National warning service in New Zealand. In practice, this duty was Meteorological Authority “shall be a body corporate with fulfilled by converting the NMS into a publicly owned com- perpetual succession and an official seal . . . .” mercial company called MetService. ■ Tanzania’s law echoes this language, describing the NMS as being a “body corporate with perpetual succession and Other weather laws make clear that the NMS is part of the a common seal.” overall (existing) government structure. ■ South Africa’s law, in line with the particular Roman/Dutch legal tradition of that country, simply states that “the ■ In China, article 5 provides that the “competent meteoro- South African Weather Service is a juristic person.” logical department under the State Council is responsible for meteorological work nationwide,” the usual form of However, where weather legislation provides for the estab- wording used in China to identify a ministry. It goes on to lishment of the NMSs as public law bodies, it is important to provide that local competent meteorological departments ensure that they can undertake commercial activities on the at different levels of government are also responsible for basis of private law rules, as regards the conclusion of con- meteorological work, in accordance with the overall hier- tracts, for example. The result is that the NMS can function as archical framework. a business notwithstanding its (public law) legal status. ■ In the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the weather law clearly indicates that the principal meteorological and hy- For France and Algeria, this right derives from the particular drological activities management organization comprises: legal status used to establish the NMS. But in other countries, (1) the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; the weather law makes the point explicitly. This is why article (2) Provincial/Vientiane Capital Departments of Natural 2(3) of the Russian Federation’s weather law states: Resources and Environment; and (3) District, Metropolitan and City Offices of Natural Resources and Environment. 3. Property relations arising in connection with the use of ■ In Armenia, the weather law refers to the competences of organizational and technical means of collecting, process- the “authorized body.” ing, storing and disseminating information about the state of the environment, its pollution in the course of hydro- meteorological service activities are governed by the civil Another approach can be to impose duties on the relevant legislation of the Russian Federation. minister for the provision of meteorological services. Article 3 of the weather law of the Netherlands states that the Minister In other words, even though Roshydromet, Russia’s NMS, is a of Infrastructure and the Environment must: public law body, its property rights and contracts with third parties are governed by private law. a. ensure the free provision of general weather reports about the state of the current weather and the expected weather; Weather Laws and the NMS    25 b. provide warnings to the general public in the event and [it] shall be the designated national authority for the of expected or truly dangerous or socially disruptive provision of official meteorological and ocean informa- weather or warnings in the event of calamities in which tion and services, under this Act or any Regulations made the weather plays an important role; under this Act. c. inform the general public without delay in the event of significant soil movement by geophysical sources or This means that the Tonga Meteorological Service is clearly a volcanic activity; ministerial department. Similarly, in Mauritius (which has a d. support administrative bodies free of charge in the hybrid common law and civil law legal tradition), the weather cases referred to in Article 5; law provides that “(f)or the purposes of this Act, there shall e. ensure the production or collection of meteorological, be, within the Ministry, a department to be known as the seismological and other geophysical data in the con- Mauritius Meteorological Services.” Zimbabwe’s weather law text of the performance of the tasks referred to in this simply recognizes an existing department: section 3 states Article; that the “Meteorological Services Department in the Ministry f. ensure the management and maintenance of the tech- of Transport and Communications which existed before the nical infrastructure necessary for the performance of its date of commencement of this Act shall continue to operate tasks; in accordance with this Act.” g. support administrative bodies, the judiciary, public un- dertakings or public bodies in the field of meteorology, So why identify the NMS in legislation if that body lacks in- seismology or other geophysical areas in the perfor- mance of tasks assigned to them by or pursuant to law dependent legal personality? The legislation itself usually in accordance with ministerial regulations; provides few answers—except to the extent that it confers h. provide independent scientific research and technolog- specific legal powers upon the NMS (such as a regulatory ical development related to meteorology, seismology power) that do not require it to have legal personality. and other geophysical fields; i. produce, collect or make available meteorological, seis- The problem is that, in countries where there is poor coor- mological and other geophysical data or the research dination among government ministries, individual depart- referred to in subparagraph (h) at the request of inter- ments end up working in separate siloes and interact mainly national organisations; with other departments in the same ministry. This makes it j. make meteorological, seismological and other geophys- extremely difficult if the NMS in one ministry needs to collab- ical data or research results available for re-use as re- orate with an agriculture department in another ministry, a ferred to in the Re-use of Public Sector Information Act, transport/aviation department in a third ministry, and a di- without a request having been made on the basis of that saster risk management department in a fourth ministry. Act, or the design thereof, insofar as intellectual proper- ty rights of others do not limit this, whereby additional services can be provided on the basis of an agreement; Thus, the reason to set out the mandate or functions of the k. undertake international cooperation in meteorology NMS in legislation is to provide legal certainty and encourage and seismology and other geophysical fields; and clearer interactions with other government departments that the provide meteorological services for air navigation. depend on the weather services that it provides, as well as with the private sector. In a number of countries that follow the common law tradi- tion, the weather law establishes the NMS and sets out its 4.3 NMS Governance Arrangements mandate and functions—but without conferring indepen- Before examining what weather legislation says about the tasks dent legal personality. For example, in Tonga, section 4 of its or functions of NMSs, it is useful to quickly examine the types weather law provides: of governance arrangements that it typically provides for. (1) For the purpose of this Act, there shall be a Department of the Ministry called the Tonga Meteorological Service 26    Weather Laws and the NMS 4.3.1 Management Board most other countries, this body is somewhat larger, with All the NMSs with legal personality have a management or members representing a variety of sectors (see box 4.2). In oversight board, which range in size, sectors represented, Rwanda, gender is also a factor—its weather law stipulates tasks, and degree of specifications in the weather law. Board that 30 percent of the Board of Directors of Meteo Rwanda members are typically remunerated in some form—as in must be women—as in neighboring Uganda, where the weath- Rwanda, where they receive a sitting allowance if they are er law provides that one-third of the seven members of the present at board meetings in accordance with a schedule de- board of the Uganda National Meteorological Authority must termined by a Presidential Order (article 8). be women (section 5), and all board members must be “per- sons of high moral character and proven integrity” (section 6). In Guinea Bissau, the board of directors is rather small, with only three members (a chairman and two members). But for BOX 4.2.  National Meteorological Service Management Board Composition In Tanzania, the weather law calls for a seven person board comprising a Chairman and Vice-Chairman, the Director General, who is to act as the secretary to the Board and five persons appointed by the Minister who must include: (a) a representative from the Ministry responsible for meteorology; (b) a representative from the agricultural sector; (c) a representative from the water resources sector; (d) a representative from the defense force; (e) a representative from the office responsible for disaster management. In Nigeria, the weather law provides that the “Governing Board” of the Meteorological Agency comprises: (a) a part-time chairman; (b) one representative of the Federal Ministry of Aviation; (c) one representative of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; (d) one representative of the Federal Ministry of Transport; (e) one representative of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources; (f) one representative of the Federal Ministry of Environment; (g) two other persons to represent public interest and who shall be persons who possess cognate experience in meteorological matters; and (h) the Director-General of the Agency. In France, article 7 of the weather law provides that the management board of Météo-France is composed of nine representatives of the State appointed for four years by the Minister in charge of transport including: a) One on the proposal of the Minister of Defence; b) One on the proposal of the minister responsible for agriculture; c) One on the proposal of the minister responsible for the budget; d) One on the proposal of the minister in charge of research; e) One on the proposal of the minister responsible for the environment; f) One at the joint proposal of the Minister of the Interior and the minister responsible for overseas territories. An alternate representative must be appointed under the same conditions for each full representative. Four additional members are to be appointed by government decree, on the proposal of the minister in charge of transport, by reason of their experience (including an active or honorary or former member of or advisor to the Council of State) while six other members are to be elect- ed by the staff of Météo-France for a four-year renewable term. The board must meet at least three times a year in ordinary ses- sion—although extraordinary meetings can be called if the minister or the majority of members so request. The legislation goes on to specify such matters as the quorum for meetings, the manner in which decisions are made, and the keeping of minutes. Weather Laws and the NMS    27 As for the tasks of the board of directors, in France, these are 4.3.2 Director laid out in detail in article 10 of the weather law: Weather legislation that addresses the establishment of the NMS invariably also provides for the appointment of a direc- 1 ° The general programs of Météo-France activities pro- tor to lead the service, but with differing degrees of speci- posed by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; ficity. In Moldova, for example, article 8 of the weather law 2 ° The budget, its modifications, as well as the financial simply states: account; 3 ° The pricing policy for the establishment’s products and (1) The administration of the Service is ensured by its services; Director appointed by the Government. 4 ° Acquisitions, alienations and exchanges, rentals, leas- (2) The Director of the Service fulfils the function of rep- es, constructions and major repairs of buildings; resentative of the Republic of Moldova in accordance with 5 ° Donations and bequests; the regulations of this organization. 6 ° Legal actions and settlements; In contrast, in Japan, article 3 of the weather law sets out 7 ° Loans; the tasks of the Director-General of the Japan Meteorological 8 ° Participation in bodies endowed with legal personal- Agency in some detail: ity; the creation of subsidiaries and the acquisitions, ex- tensions and disposals of financial holdings; The Director-General of the Japan Meteorological Agency 9 ° The annual activity report; shall, in order to accomplish the purpose set forth in 10 ° The internal regulations of the board of directors; Article 1, endeavour to carry out the following: 11 ° Contracts and markets. (i) Establishing and maintaining observation networks concerning meteorological phenomena, earthquakes, and volcanic phenomena; In contrast, in Germany, the weather law (article 8(1)) simply states that: (ii) Establishing and maintaining central systems for fore- casts and warnings of meteorological phenomena, earth- quake ground motions, volcanic phenomena, tsunamis, The management of the German Weather Service is the and storm surges; responsibility of the Executive Board which heads the German Weather Service. The members of the board rep- (iii) Establishing and maintaining systems to quickly ex- resent the German Weather Service in court and out of change information concerning observations, forecasts, court. and warnings of meteorological phenomena, earthquake ground motions, and volcanic phenomena; Paragraph (2) goes on to provide that the members of the (iv) Establishing and maintaining systems to quickly ex- Executive Board are “the President as Chairman, the Vice- change the results of observations of earthquakes (exclud- President and the Heads of the Business Units.” The board ing earthquake ground motions); consists of a maximum of six members who are appointed (v) Ensuring integration of the methods of meteorological and removed by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital observations and the methods of announcing the results thereof; Infrastructure. The “areas of responsibility, the powers of rep- resentation, the decision-making as well as the details of the (vi) Promoting the use in industry, transportation, and other social activities of the results of meteorological ob- appointment and dismissal of the members of the Board of servations, meteorological forecasts and warnings, and Management are regulated by a statute” that is approved by the results of investigations and research concerning me- the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, teorological phenomena. as are any amendments. Often the weather legislation provides that the Director of the NMS must be appointed on merit by the government (or pres- ident). For example, Tanzania’s weather law states in section 11: 28    Weather Laws and the NMS (1) There shall be the Director General of the Authority their deputies or to the heads of service placed under their who shall be appointed by the President in accordance authority within the limits of their powers. with the Public Service Act on such terms and conditions S/he has authority over all the staff of the establishment. as provided for in the scheme of service. S/he is competent to take individual decisions relating to (2) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as the management of bodies specific to the meteorological Director General unless that person- services, under the conditions provided for by the particu- (a) has a doctorate degree in meteorology or related sci- lar statutes of these bodies. S/he recruits and manages the ences from recognized university; and non-tenured staff of the establishment. (b) possesses at least ten years managerial experience in S/he may delegate his signature to the heads of depart- a field of meteorology. ment of the establishment and, in the event of their ab- sence or incapacity, to their employees within the limits (3) The Director General shall be the Chief Executive of their powers. Officer of the Authority and shall, subject to any direction, which may be given by the Board or Minister, have the responsibility for the control and management of matters 4.3.3 Advisory Board relating to meteorology, in accordance with the provisions of the Act. Weather legislation often provides for the NMS to have an ad- visory board. In Guinea-Bissau, for example, article 17 of the (4) The Director General shall be appointed to serve for a term of five years renewable on such terms and conditions weather law provides for the creation of a Technical Council as shall be set out in the letter of his appointment. that is responsible for advising the Board of Directors on: a) The definition of the main guidelines for the activities France’s weather legislation takes a slightly different ap- of the INM-GB; proach by providing, in article 6, that the chair and chief ex- ecutive officer is to be chosen from among the members of b) The preparation of studies and analysis of development programs and projects and of annual and multi-annual the management board for a four-year term. As with Japan’s programs of activities and resources; weather law, the tasks of the chair and chief executive officer c) The annual activity report. are set out in some detail in the remainder of article 6: S/he prepares the decisions to be submitted to the board In France, article 3 of the weather legislation requires of directors and provides for the implementation of its the establishment of a consultative scientific committee, deliberations. the members of which are nominated by the minister, to Each year, s/he presents a report on the establishment’s help Météo-France implement its tasks on research and activity to the board of directors. development. S/he is the authorizing officer of the establishment’s ex- penditure and revenue. S/he may delegate his/her pow- Similarly, Germany’s weather law requires the establishment ers in this area to secondary authorizing officers who may a 10-member Scientific Advisory Board to advise the German themselves delegate their signature to their deputies or to Weather Service on research matters related to its tasks. heads of service placed under their authority for the acts Members are appointed for a four-year term by the Federal they determine. Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure on a proposal By decision, s/he sets the organization of Météo-France. from the Board of Directors of the German Weather Service. S/he represents the establishment in court and in civil Article 10 also requires the establishment of a Federal-State acts. Advisory Board to advise the Executive Board of the German S/he makes decisions and signs contracts on behalf of the Weather Service and the Federal Ministry of Transport and establishment. S/he may delegate part of his powers in Digital Infrastructure “on matters relating to the interests of this area to the directors and heads of interregional or re- the federal departments and the federal states in the perfor- gional services in mainland France and overseas as well as to the directors of the establishment’s central services. mance of the tasks of the German Weather Service.” These agents may themselves delegate their signature to Weather Laws and the NMS    29 4.4 Role of the Minister/Ministry or Government the Weather Service and advise the Minister on the mak- ing of regulations in this regard; The relevant ministry or government has two main roles to (b) ensure that the Weather Service does not abuse its play: oversight of all the elements of the NMS and the issuing position, but in such a manner as not to place undue re- strictions on the Weather Service’s commercial activities of guidance or directions. and guard the Weather Service against unfair competition from national and international private weather services; 4.4.1 Oversight (c) promote the safe efficient, economical and profitable Because the NMS is a public body, in cases where the law operation of the Weather Service; provides for the establishment of the NMS as a public legal promote the reasonable interest and needs of clients and entity, one of the duties of the minster/ministry or the govern- customers of the Weather Service; ment is to oversee the performance of the entity concerned. (d) monitor service standards and where necessary, issue After all, constitutional law in most countries provides that instructions to the the minister is responsible to the legislature for the perfor- Weather Service for improvement: and mance of public bodies under his/her authority. (e) perform any other function assigned to it by the Minister. In Germany, article 2 of the weather law provides: The committee must submit an annual report to the minster The German Weather Service is subject to the service and on the performance of the South African Weather Service; the specialist supervision of the Federal Ministry of Transport committee also has the right to investigate its activities and and Digital Infrastructure. Within the framework of the specialist supervision, the German Weather Service is to advise the minister accordingly. controlled by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure through targets and success checks. The Rwanda’s weather legislation actually calls for a contractual budgetary provisions remain unaffected. arrangement. While article 5 provides for the Prime Minister to identify the “supervising authority” of Meteo Rwanda, the In Moldova, however, article 24 of the weather law states that basis for oversight is a performance contract. This contract oversight is to be provided not by the minister but by the par- must be concluded between the supervising authority and liament and the government: Meteo Rwanda, and it sets out competencies and rights and obligations of each party in order for Meteo Rwanda to fulfil The functions of the state regulation of the use of the re- its missions. Each contract will remain in force “for a period sults of the hydrometeorological activity are exercised by equal to the term of office of members of the management the Parliament and the Government by establishing the norms, rules, modalities and volume of use of hydromete- board of Meteo Rwanda.” orological information by legal entities, regardless of the type of property and the legal form of organization. 4.4.2 Power to Issue Directions Typically, weather legislation provides that the minister/min- South Africa’s weather law takes a slightly different approach. istry may provide guidance, directions, or instructions to the In accordance with its section 20, the minister must establish NMS. In Romania, for example, article 39 of the weather law the Regulating Committee for Weather Services. The commit- states that: tee comprises five people who act on a part-time basis and of whom at least three may not be public servants. The tasks of Based on the provisions of this law, the central public au- the committee are to: thority for environmental protection may issue mandatory orders, norms and regulations in the field of meteorology. (a) set broad limits on prices of services and products of the Weather Service; determine the level of user charges While Romania’s weather law confers such powers on the to be applied to the aviation and maritime industries by ministry (that is, the central public body for environmental 30    Weather Laws and the NMS protection), section 21 of Tanzania’s weather law provides (j) the manner in which consumers may be protected that: under this Act; (k) compulsory payment of cost recovery where tai- (1) The Minister may give directions in writing to the lor-made meteorological services and products are used Authority with respect to the policy to be observed and for commercial gain by stakeholders; and implemented by the Authority, and the Authority shall (l) for any matter which, in the opinion of the Minister is comply with those directions. necessary for the efficient performance of the functions of (2) Directions given by the Minister under subsection (1) the Authority. shall not adversely affect or interfere with the indepen- dence of the Authority or the performance of the functions 4.5 Financing and exercise of the powers of the Authority under this Act. One of the main benefits of setting up an NMS as a legal en- In the interests of transparency, paragraph (3) in that section tity is that it enables the body concerned both to earn and goes on to provide that the minister must ensure that a copy retain its own income and to benefit from budget allocations. of any directions s/he gives to the authority is published in So how do weather laws address the financing of the NMS? the Gazette (the official journal). They primarily address funding sources—and in at least one instance, a need to balance the books (see box 4.3). Moreover, article 53 of Tanzania’s weather law confers power on the minister to adopt regulations for the sector: In Romania, article 25 of its weather law states: (1) The Minister may make regulations for the better carry- Financing meteorological activities ing out of the provisions of this Act. Article 25. - The activity of the National Meteorological (2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), Center is financed as follows: the Minister may make regulations prescribing- a) the meteorological activity, the fundamental research- (a) weather forecasting activities and/or weather modifi- es in the field, the systematic and complete monitoring cation activities; of the state and evolution of the weather, the realization (b) prohibition of making meteorological observations by of the international data exchange and the integration in unauthorized persons; the World Weather Watch System are financed from the (c) procedure for issuance of permits for operating mete- state budget, through the central public authority for en- orological stations and for regulating standards of instal- vironmental protection; within the limits of the amounts lation of meteorological equipment and instruments in allocated annually for this purpose from the state budget; accordance with the World Meteorological Organization b) from economic contracts concluded with third parties standards and recommended practices; for the provision of specific services in the field of mete- (d) procedures for compulsory dissemination of warnings orology and other services, according to the object of ac- and forecasts through the media and mobile phones with- tivity, as well as from other sources, according to the law; in the United Republic; c) the financing of the investment and refurbishment pro- (e) procedures for management of complaints and appeals gram is ensured from own sources, bank loans and, in ad- under this Act; dition, from the state budget, through the budget of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. (f) procedures for application for permits, suspension and cancellation of permits under this Act; Article 26 next provides that income from the provision of ser- (g) fees, charges and interest rates payable under this Act; vices “remain at the disposal of the National Meteorological (h) procedures for compulsory submission of data to the Center as part of the resources for training and development National Meteorological Data Bank by all other meteoro- of its activity.” However, in accordance with article 27, and logical station owners; given the strict rules that apply to public law bodies, “mete- (i) procedures for cost recovery, for services rendered by orological activities that do not fall within the attributions of the Authority; Weather Laws and the NMS    31 the National Meteorological Center cannot be financed from (a) all subventions and budgetary allocations from the budgetary financial resources allocated for its operation.” Federal Government; (b) gifts, loans, grants-in-aid from national, bilateral and A similar mix of income sources is foreseen for the financing multilateral agencies; of the NMS in neighboring Moldova, where article 10 of the (c) fines payable for violation of meteorological weather law states: regulations; (d) returns on investments made by the Agency; (1) The financing of the hydrometeorological activity is (e) 10 percent of landing charges from the Federal Airport ensured from: Authority of Nigeria; a) the state budget, including from collected revenues; (f) 10 percent of en-route and over flight charges from the c) payments of beneficiaries of specialized information; Nigerian Airspace Management Agency; d) other sources not prohibited by legislation. (g) 10 percent of the 5 percent sales tax surcharged on tickets by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority; Article 10(2) next says that the core public tasks of the NMS (h) fees, charges and funds, approved by the Board in re- as well as WMO membership fees and “special works to elim- spect of services provided by the Agency in the following— inate the consequences of natural disasters, catastrophes (i) rendering of climatic information; and accidents” must be funded from the public/state budget, (ii) provisions of agricultural, marine and aeronautical through the inclusion of a specific budget line (article 10(3)). meteorological services; Paragraph (4) then states that: (iii) exhibition and sale of meteorological equipment; (iv) production and sale of books, pamphlets, bulletins, Hydrometeorological activity may be carried out on a etc., on meteorological services; contract basis, at the request of legal and natural per- sons, provided that it is not to the detriment of the works (v) provision of consultancy services on meteorology; financed from the budget, as well as from the means of (vi) rents and fees received from the use of properties ecological or other funds, and to be included in nature owned by the Agency; and protection programs. (vii) such moneys as may be received by the Agency in the course of its operations or in relation to the exercise by In other words, the NMS may generate its own funds—provid- the Agency of any of its functions under this Act. ing that its core public tasks are fulfilled. In other words, apart from budget payments, the legislation As it turns out, this really is a very common approach found envisages a broad range of possible income sources for the in many of the weather laws considered. To jump continents NMS—including charges for the provision of weather services, to Nigeria, section 14 of its weather law provides for the es- as well as a share of charges levied for navigational services tablishment of a specific fund for the National Meteorological that relate to air transport under the Chicago Convention. Agency as follows: This latter funding source is also expressly referred to in South Africa’s weather legislation as a source of income for Fund of the Agency the NMS. There is established for the Agency a fund into which shall be paid and credited— 32    Weather Laws and the NMS BOX 4.3.  German Weather Service: Balanced Books Germany’s weather law contains rather specific provisions on funding, with article 6(1) requiring the German Weather Service to balance its books: The German Weather Service must be conducted in such a way that the expenditure not covered by revenue must be kept as low as possible. Article 6(2) goes on to provide that the “German Weather Service requires remuneration for the provision of its services” as determined by the Board of Management “on the basis of business calculation procedures, if necessary increased on the basis of economic value or reduced on the basis of a special public interest, or on the basis of international agreements in a price list.” In other words, the value of the services provided is to be taken into consideration subject to the public interest. Some services must be provided for free. These include services to federal, state, and local authorities and municipal associ- ations in connection with their duties related to disaster control and civil and environmental protection; and services to the general public with regard to weather and radiation warnings and those related to certain types of spatial data and spatial data services. Some services must be paid for. This is stipulated in order to “achieve a positive total contribution of coverage.” Moreover, the prices for data and products (which terms are defined) must be fully taken into account as part of this calculation. Finally, the obligations with regard to free and paid-for data/services must be subject to periodic independent audit. 4.6 General or “Housekeeping” Provisions determine,” with the result that they are to be employed in accordance with the ordinary employment law. However, sec- There are many types of general or housekeeping provisions tion 20 of the law does provide for the temporary second- typically found in weather legislation as regards such matters ment of civil servants to the agency (although the agency may as NMS staff, accounting rules, and the opening of offices. request their withdrawal if they are not able to carry out their tasks in a satisfactory manner). 4.6.1 Staff 4.6.2 Accounting Rules Particularly in cases where the weather legislation provides the legal basis for the establishment of an NMS as a legal Where weather legislation provides for the establishment entity, it is usually also necessary to address the basis upon of an NMS as a legal entity, it also needs to specify the ac- which the staff are to be employed if the NMS is a public body. counting rules that are to apply to it. Sometimes, as shown by the example of article 13 of France’s weather legislation, For example, section 9(1) of Sierra Leone’s weather law pro- Météo-France, it is possible simply to refer to other relevant vides for the appointment, in addition to the Director-General legislation: and Deputy Director-Generals, of “a secretariat consisting of a Secretary, Finance Officer, Administrative Officer and such The establishment is subject to the provisions of Titles I and III of Decree No. 2012-1246 of November 7, 2012 re- other additional technical and administrative staff including lating to public budget and accounting management. a Legal Adviser, who shall be responsible to provide legal ad- vice to the Board and the Agency, as may be required for the Otherwise, it is necessary to set out specific provisions in the efficient performance of the functions of the Agency.” weather legislation itself. For example, article 15 of Guinea Bissau’s weather law provides that an auditor is responsi- Section 9(2) of that law makes it clear that such staff are ble for controlling the “legality of the INM-GB’s financial and not civil servants. Instead, they are appointed by the Board “subject to such terms and conditions as the Board shall Weather Laws and the NMS    33 asset management and for consulting the Board of Directors the cotton interests, the display of frost and cold-wave sig- in this area,” while article 16 goes on to provide: nals, the distribution of meteorological information in the interests of agriculture and commerce, and the taking of such meteorological observations as may be necessary to (Appointment of the Auditor) establish and record the climatic conditions of the United 1. The Auditor is appointed by the Board of Directors States, or as are essential for the proper execution of the through a public tender for a period of 3 (three) years. foregoing duties.2 2. The remuneration of the Auditor is fixed by the Board of Directors, upon proposal of its chairman. However, for reasons examined in more detail below, the US National Weather Service does not actually undertake com- 4.6.3 Opening Offices mercial activities. Sometimes, the weather legislation addresses the offices of the NMS concerned. Article 3 of Rwanda’s weather law pro- Increasingly, though, in many countries—not least because vides, for example, that the head office of Meteo Rwanda is weather legislation is often adopted to enable NMSs to un- to be located in Kigali City, the capital of Rwanda, but that dertake commercial activities—the public tasks are listed it may be moved elsewhere within the country and also that alongside the commercial ones. For example, South Africa’s it may open branches on the approval of the Prime Minister. weather law provides that the objectives of the South African Weather Service are “to provide public good services and 4.7 Public Tasks commercial services to all South Africans.” Weather legislation generally describes the public or public So, what are the core public tasks and how are they ad- interest tasks to be undertaken by the NMS. Such tasks are dressed in weather laws? This next section focuses on seven typically listed in an article that sets out the NMS’ overall key tasks: planning and policy, meteorological observation mandate or responsibilities. Apart from the fact that such a and data management, analysis and forecasting, research, provision is important in terms of describing what an NMS international aspects, warnings, and emergency situations/ should do, it also has legal implications, particularly where disaster response. the legislation provides for the NMS to be established as a body of public law: a legal entity may only lawfully act within 4.7.1 Planning and Policy its mandate. Surprisingly, perhaps, relatively few of the weather laws reviewed contain much detail about planning or policy Therefore, while an NMS with legal personality may be en- making—a possible reflection of the technical nature of me- titled to provide weather services, it may not sell other ser- teorology and weather services provision. One exception is vices or products not related to the weather sector—unless Korea, whose legislation contains a number of references to for some reason the weather law so indicates. sector planning. Another exception is Indonesia, where arti- cle 7 of the weather legislation provides for the adoption by In the United States, the Weather Service Organic Act 1890, the president of a detailed master plan with a 25-year horizon as amended and codified, sets out the core functions of the to guide the implementation of “meteorology, climatology, United States National Weather Service: and geophysics.” The Secretary of Commerce shall have charge of forecast- In a similar vein, article 8 of the weather law of Lao PDR calls ing of weather, the issue of storm warnings, the display of for the preparation of a “Meteorological and Hydrological weather and flood signals for the benefit of agriculture, commerce, and navigation, the gauging and reporting of Strategy” as the “basic policy for the management, applica- rivers, the maintenance and operation of seacoast tele- tion, maintenance, development and evaluation of the fore- graph lines and the collection and transmission of marine casting and early warning activities.” The strategy consists intelligence for the benefit of commerce and navigation, of “plans, programs, projects and activities related to this the reporting of temperature and rain-fall conditions for 34    Weather Laws and the NMS work” and, as described in article 9, it must address the “ex- in accordance with the regulations set by the competent pansion and improvement of the network of meteorological meteorological department under the State Council un- dertake meteorological observation and report the col- and hydrological stations and the national warning center”; lected data to the competent meteorological departments “the provision of equipment, the management of hydromet concerned. No meteorological observation may be discon- activities; the management of the database system so as to tinued without approval by the competent meteorological ensure sustainability, continuity and integration into regional department at a higher level. The competent meteoro- and international networks”; the “propagation of data and in- logical department under the State Council and the local formation on meteorological and hydrological activities”; and competent meteorological departments concerned shall, in accordance with relevant State regulations, release “strengthening human resources development and technical the observed basic meteorological data at appropriate knowledge and capacity building.” intervals. 4.7.2 Meteorological Observation and Data And article 16 goes on to impose a clear duty upon public Management bodies, as well as other organizations or individuals engaged These core activities are the most basic public functions of in meteorological observation, to report the data so derived an NMS. They are often listed first among the NMS’ tasks. For to “the competent meteorological department under the State example, article 4 of Rwanda’s weather law begins as follows: Council or to the competent meteorological departments of provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly Article 4: Mission of METEO RWANDA under the Central Government” so that it can be shared and The mission of METEO RWANDA shall consist of imple- used. menting the Government policy in relation to meteorology using modern methods of study, research, coordination While it is of course relatively easy to impose a duty to un- and promotion of programmes in the field of meteorology. dertake monitoring and observation in a law, the fact remains METEO RWANDA shall be particularly responsible for the that this is one of the costliest elements of the entire Global following: Weather Enterprise (GWE). 1° to establish meteorological stations across the country to identify each climatic zone, monitor such characteris- 4.7.3 Analysis and Forecasting tics of and use them towards national development; Weather legislation usually identifies the analysis of moni- 2° to collect, gather and access data of meteorological elements from around the country, and exchange related toring/observation data and the preparation of forecasts as information to ensure the security of people and the prop- a key task of the NMS. After all, in popular understanding, erty in accordance with international agreements to which the provision of weather forecasts is the main, if not the only, Rwanda is signatory; task of an NMS. For example, article 11 of Moldova’s weather 3° to approve weather and climate change data; law states: .... The service is obliged to develop hydrometeorological forecasts of public interest, with their dissemination in In a similar manner, the second of Météo-France’s listed tasks the media, as well as specialized forecasts (agro-meteo- is the implementation of “an observation, data-processing, rological, aeronautical, climatic, dispersion and displace- meteorological and climate forecasting, archiving and dis- ment of chemical and radioactive pollutants). semination system enabling it to accomplish its missions.” In a similar manner, the provision of daily and seasonal Article 15 of China’s weather law is entirely devoted to mete- weather forecasts and climate services is listed as the first orological observation: function of the Mauritius Meteorological Service (see box 4.4). Meteorological offices and stations subordinate to compe- tent meteorological departments at various levels shall, Weather Laws and the NMS    35 BOX 4.4.  Functions and Powers of the Mauritius Meteorological Services 5. Functions and powers of Mauritius Meteorological Services The Mauritius Meteorological Services shall – (a) provide daily and seasonal weather forecasts and climate services; (b) provide advisories and warnings for extreme weather events and tsunamis; (c) provide advisories and warnings to ensure the protection and safety of – (i) maritime navigation within METAREA VIII (S); (ii) aeronautical navigation within MAURITIUS FIR; (d) provide customized weather forecasts for weather-sensitive socio-economic sectors; (e) make, collect and exchange meteorological and other related observations in accordance with the procedures and the stan- dards of the World Meteorological Organization; (f) record, process and archive meteorological and other related observations for climatological, environmental, research, so- cio-economic and other purposes; (g) monitor the state of the atmosphere and of the ocean on a local, regional and global scale; (h) keep the entities set up under the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act informed of the evolution of weather and climate, including extreme weather; (i) prepare, disseminate and supply meteorological data, information, products and advice; (j) conduct and assist in research and investigations in the field of meteorology and climatology; (k) monitor, assess and conduct research on climate change, in particular on the science of climate change and sea level rise, and provide baseline information for the sustainable development of Mauritius; (l) promote and participate in regional and international cooperation programmes in meteorology, climate change and seismology; (m) establish offices and stations for the observation of parameters related to weather and climate over land, in the atmosphere and in the oceans; (n) arrange with any institution, authority or person to perform and record meteorological observations, in accordance with estab- lished standards of the World Meteorological Organization; (o) be responsible for the reception and transmission of meteorological data and information at local, regional and international levels; (p) ensure optimum use of communication facilities for the transmission and reception of meteorological data and information at local, regional and international levels; (q) promote education, sensitisation and awareness on weather and climate; (r) act as the National Tsunami Warning Center for Mauritius, receive advisories from tsunami service providers, issue appropriate bulletins for Mauritius and participate in the Intergovernmental Coordination Group of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System; and (s) do all such other acts or things as may be necessary or desirable for the attainment of its objects. 4.7.4 Research In connection with the activities listed in articles 4 and 5, the institute to support and develop its own activities and Weather laws often, but not always, impose a duty on the to increase its own professional level NMS to undertake meteorological research—with a focus on a) carries out research and scientific activities, the type of research. b) monitors scientific progress in the relevant fields, In Slovakia, for example, article 6 of the weather law states: c) uses domestic and foreign results of science and research, Scope and method of scientific and research activities d) implements the development of database systems, to support the development of hydrological and meteo- forecasting systems, methods and applications for various rological activities areas of human activity, 36    Weather Laws and the NMS (e) promotes the publication of the results of research and 1. International cooperation of the Russian Federation in scientific activities. the field hydrometeorology and related areas is carried out on the basis of international treaties of the Russian The reference in this list to articles 4 and 5, which relate to Federation. the provision of meteorological and hydrological services, un- The Russian Federation promotes the formation and de- derscores that NMS research should be of a practical nature. velopment of international observation networks and the international exchange of information on the state of the environment and its pollution. In the United States, the Weather Research and Forecasting 2. The specially authorized federal executive body in the Innovation Act of 2017 imposes a duty on the NMS to “conduct field of hydrometeorology and related areas ensures the a program to develop improved understanding of and fore- protection of the interests of the Russian Federation and cast capabilities for atmospheric events and their impacts, the coordination of the work of legal entities regardless of placing priority on developing more accurate, timely, and ef- organizational and legal forms and individuals in the im- fective warnings and forecasts of high impact weather events plementation of international cooperation of the Russian that endanger life and property” (section 101). This program Federation in the field of hydrometeorology and related areas. is required to focus on affordable and attainable advances in observational, computing, and modeling capabilities in an ef- 3. The procedure for participation of the specially autho- rized federal executive body in the field of hydrometeorol- fort to deliver substantial improvements in weather forecast- ogy and related areas, as well as other federal executive ing and the prediction of high-impact weather events, such bodies operating in the field of hydrometeorology and as hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, floods, storm surges, and related areas, in the international cooperation of the wildfires—all events that are associated with the impacts of Russian Federation, including in international exchange climate change. information on the state of the environment, its pollution and information products is determined by international treaties of the Russian Federation, this Federal Law, other 4.7.5 International Aspects federal laws and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Weather legislation often explicitly recognizes the interna- Federation. tional nature of the GWE, the role of the WMO (see box 4.5), the importance of transboundary cooperation in weather In contrast, Germany’s weather law addresses the issue in a matters, and the role of ICAO (see box 4.6). more concise manner in its article 4-3: For example, Russia’s weather law contains an entire chapter The German Weather Service is the national meteoro- logical service of the Federal Republic of Germany. It (Chapter VI) on international cooperation, with relatively de- participates in international cooperation in the field of tailed provisions: meteorology and climatology and fulfils the resulting obligations. Article 19. International cooperation of the Russian Federation in the field of hydrometeorology and related areas Weather Laws and the NMS    37 BOX 4.5.  Weather Law and Direct References to the WMO In several cases, the weather legislation explicitly refers to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Zimbabwe’s weather law. Section 4(f) provides that the Meteorological Department is to “provide and operate meteorological telecommunication systems in compliance with Resolution 40 of the World Meteorological Organization.” It goes on to provide that the Department “shall have the power to—(a) enter into agreements with other weather services at the regional and inter- national level . . . .” South Africa’s weather law. It states that the South African Weather Service must fulfil the international obligations of the Government under the WMO Convention and the Chicago Convention. Sierra Leone’s weather law. Section 12 (2) of the equivalent legislation sets out a longer list of international bodies with which the Sierra Leone Meteorological Agency must cooperate. Specifically, the agency must: (n) participate on behalf of Sierra Leone in the activities of relevant international organizations to which it belongs, including the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), World Weather Watch (WWW), Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW), Inter- Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), African Center of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD), United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and any other relevant organizations. 4.7.6 Warnings BOX 4.6.  Weather Laws and the ICAO One of the key functions of meteorology legislation is to clearly identify the sole body within the jurisdiction con- Weather legislation reviewed often contains references cerned that has the legal authority to issue severe weather to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). warnings and alerts. In the case of Senegal, this is unsurprising given that the NMS is the National Agency for Civil Aviation and Meteorology. ■ In Moldova, article 14 of the weather law provides: “The ser- vice is the only legal entity on the territory of the Republic Romania’s weather law contains a specific definition of of Moldova that elaborates forecasts and warnings regard- “aeronautical meteorological activity.” This is “the set of activities aimed at permanent surveillance and knowl- ing dangerous hydrometeorological phenomena.” edge of the evolution of meteorological conditions, nec- ■ In Tanzania, section 27 of the weather law provides that essary for the information and meteorological protection the NMS “shall have exclusive powers on weather forecast of air navigation and is an integral part of air navigation and issue of weather warnings to the public.” Among the services” (article 1(3)). Such activity is “carried out in duties of the Director General in section 12(1) is: “(b) to accordance with the standards, practices and recommen- issue a warning and alert of flood, gale, storm, drought dations of the World Meteorological Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization, as well as with and any other weather condition likely to endanger life or the provisions of international conventions in the field of property and determine when a warning and alert is to be aviation to which Romania is a party” (article 1(4)). While lifted.” article 3(1) of the weather law goes on to provide that ■ In New Zealand, the weather law specifies that it is the the “National Meteorological Administration” is tasked duty of the relevant minister to designate a “person to be with meteorology in general, aeronautical meteorology responsible for providing the authorized meteorological is the responsibility of the Autonomous Administration “Romanian Administration of Air Traffic Services” – warning service in New Zealand.” ROMATSA. The detailed duties of ROMATSA are subse- quently defined in articles 11 and 12. Another key function is to identify the notion of weather warnings and how they are to be disseminated. 38    Weather Laws and the NMS In Moldova, the weather law states: “The warnings regard- to work out plans for prevention of meteorological disasters ing the dangerous hydrometeorological phenomena and the and take effective measures to increase the capability of pre- extremely high environmental pollution are communicated venting such disasters.” without delay to the population, to the central public admin- istration authorities, as well as to the interested legal per- In accordance with article 28 of the law, meteorological de- sons, according to the scheme approved by the competent partments at all levels must make arrangements for “joint bodies, using for this purpose all means of communication.” monitoring and forecast of significant weather events” but must also “propose timely measures for preventing meteo- A third key function is to define the scope of provision on rological disasters and make assessment of severe weather weather warnings—which turns out to depend on the coun- disasters, which shall serve as the decision-making basis for try’s geography and experience. For example, section 5 of the the people’s governments at the corresponding levels to ar- Mauritius weather law provides that the NMS is also to act range prevention of meteorological disasters.” Moreover, “[c] as “the National Tsunami Warning Center for Mauritius . . . .” ompetent meteorological departments” at all levels of gov- ernment must “strengthen the organization and management 4.7.7 Emergency Situations/Disaster Response of preventive efforts against disasters caused by thunder- storm and lightning and, together with other relevant author- Much, but not all, of the weather legislation reviewed spec- ities, inspect the lightning protection devices installed on the ify the NMS’ tasks in emergency situations—and, in some buildings, structures and other facilities likely to be struck by cases, confer specific disaster response powers upon them. lightning.” Such protection devices must comply with stan- In Russia, article 11 of the weather law states: dards specified by China’s (central) NMS. Activities of the hydrometeorological service in emergen- cy situations 4.8 Commercial Tasks The Hydrometeorological Service is part of the unified state system for the prevention and elimination of emer- Although one of the reasons that countries adopt weather leg- gencies and carries out its activities in emergency situ- islation is to enable the NMS to undertake commercial weath- ations in accordance with the legislation of the Russian er-related tasks, the actual provisions in weather laws on this Federation on the protection of the population and terri- aspect of their activities tend to be rather brief. For example, tories from natural and man-made emergencies. as already noted, one indication that an NMS may undertake commercial activities is provided by the possible sources of In Tonga, section 13(1) of the weather law confers power on its income. the director of the NMS to make recommendations (following consultation) to the minister responsible for emergency man- Very often, this is the place in weather legislation where the agement regarding the need for evacuation or the declaration issue of commercial service provision is addressed. For ex- of a state of emergency. Moreover, the director must “issue ample, in Moldova, article 10(1) of the weather law provides any warning without delay, including any advice for actions that hydrological activity is to be financed from “a) the state to be taken, in response to any meteorological or ocean relat- budget, including from collected revenues; b) payments of ed event, that threatens to endanger or is likely to endanger beneficiaries of specialized information; and c) other sources life, property and the environment.” not prohibited by legislation.” While paragraphs (2) and (3) describe activities to be funded from the state budget with Chapter V of China’s weather law—entitled “Prevention of the requirement that such matters are to be contained in a Meteorological Disasters”—contains a number of provisions specific budget line, paragraph (4) addresses the provision of on emergency situations/disaster response. Article 27 re- meteorological services on a contract basis as follows: quires national and province-level governments to “improve their monitoring and warning systems for meteorological di- The hydrometeorological activity may be carried out on a sasters” and to “make arrangements for relevant departments contract basis, at the request of legal and natural persons, Weather Laws and the NMS    39 provided that it is not to the detriment of the works fi- Typically, too, weather legislation provides that such services nanced from the budget, as well as from the means of are to be provided on an ordinary commercial basis under pri- ecological or other funds, and to be included in nature vate law, as specified in article 5(1) of Germany’s weather law: protection programs. The German Weather Service shall provide its services on Another indication that an NMS may engage in commercial the basis of private law provided that this does not con- activity may be provided in a general description of the NMS’ flict with other laws. It shall be entitled to participate in functions. This occurs in Tanzania, where the explicit refer- competitive bidding processes conducted by public au- thorities for the supply of meteorological services. ence to the provision of commercial services is included as one of the main functions of the Meteorological Authority What is interesting about this paragraph is that it also clearly (see box 4.7). indicates that the German Weather Service may participate in public tenure procedures. In fact, this type of provision is commonly found in weather legislation. The Japanese weather law, in its article 43, de- South Africa’s weather law goes a little further. Not only does it scribes in some detail the scope of commercial services that provide in section 4 (2) that the South African Weather Service may be provided: may charge fees for the provision of commercial services, but it also states that it may “with the approval of the Minister, (1) The Japan Meteorological Agency may, to the extent establish or assist in establishing companies for the promotion that no performance of its services is interfered with, per- of meteorological services for any related business purpose.” form, at the request of public, specialized observations, forecasts, collection and preparation of information, in- vestigations, and research concerning meteorological In short, apart from conferring upon an NMS the legal right to phenomena, terrestrial phenomena, tremors and ground provide commercial weather services and include the income deformations, terrestrial magnetism, terrestrial electrici- from such services among its receipts—subject only to the ca- ty, and hydrological phenomena, and matters closely rele- veat that commercial activities do not disturb the performance vant thereto, provide the guidance therefor, and carry out of the basic public tasks of the NMS concerned—there is proba- the designing, manufacturing, verification, repairing, and bly not much more to be said about the issue in a weather law. conditioning of meteorological instruments as well as ap- paratuses, implements, and devices used in observations of tremors and ground deformations, terrestrial magne- At the same time, though, such provisions—or the absence tism, and terrestrial electricity. of such provisions—are of fundamental importance for pub- lic-private engagement and even the concept of the GWE. (2) A person who makes the entrustment set forth in the preceding paragraph shall pay a fee pursuant to the provi- Indeed, it needs to be asked: What room is there for other ac- sions of Ordinance of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, tors in the “weather space” if the NMS is undertaking public Transport and Tourism. tasks, commercial activities, and, for that matter, research? 40    Weather Laws and the NMS BOX 4.7.  The Tasks of the Tanzania Meteorological Authority 5.-(1) The functions of the Authority shall be to deliver public good and commercial services in relation to meteorology as elab- orated in the second and third schedule to this Act. (2) Without prejudice to subsection (1) the functions of the Authority shall be to- (a) implement the National climate related policies in relation to weather and climate matters; (b) regulate and coordinate meteorological activities in the United Republic; (c) organize and administer efficient networks of surface and upper air stations necessary to establish accurate records of the weather and climatic conditions; (d) provide weather and climate services for the safety of life and property and to various users of meteorological services; (e) issue severe weather-related warnings and advisories to ensure that there is a single authoritative voice in this regard; (f) publish weather and climatological summaries, climate status and other interpreted products; (g) observe, collect, process, archive and disseminate meteorological data and related information; (h) cooperate with other institutions and authorities involved in meteorology and related fields in aspects of training, studies, research, environment, climate variability and change; (i) recover cost for meteorological services rendered to ensure service sustainability; (j) provide marine meteorological services to shipping, fishing, and other marine activities within the United Republic territorial waters and high sea; (k) provide aeronautical meteorological services, advisory, warnings, products and information and related services to civil avia- tion within the United Republic and other prescribed areas as per regional and international agreements; (l) cooperate with other national and international institutions in search and rescue relating to aviation and maritime accidents by providing relevant weather information; (m) keep in safe custody all meteorological records and data; (n) calibrate and fabricate meteorological equipment for internal and external use; (o) ensure that international standards and practices of meteorological services including instrument and equipment installation are maintained; (p) carry out research, awareness activities, and training in meteorology, climatology and other related fields and to process and analyze climatic data for the purpose of use in socio-economic development planning; (q) approve and register meteorological stations; (r) participate in the activities of relevant international organizations, in particular the Organization; and (s) carry out any other function as the Minister may direct. (3) In addition to the functions specified under subsection (1), the Authority may innovate, invent or develop meteorological software and equipment. Endnotes With the exception of the countries listed in its Annex 1, which were the original signatories of the WMO Convention, article 3 provides that membership 1 in the WMO is open to other countries, territories, or groups of territories that maintain their own NMS subject to compliance with relevant procedural requirements. 2 15 U.S.C. § 313.    41 Weather Laws and Weather Sector Issues 5 Besides detailing the functions and organization of an NMS, weather laws also typically address other issues that may arise in the weather sector, ranging from weather modification to the infrastructure networks needed for weather observation networks. 5.1 Weather Modification Weather modification—which covers intentionally or inadvertently altering atmospheric conditions sufficient to modify the weather on local or regional scales—is addressed by a number of countries in their weather laws.1 In this regard, Canada stands out, as its national weather law centers on this issue. But other countries, such as Tanzania, set out a formal permitting regime for weather modification. Section 15 of Tanzania’s weather law provides: (1) A person who intends to engage in any meteorological observations, weather forecasting activities or weather modification activities shall apply for a permit to the Authority in such manner as may be prescribed in the Regulations made under this Act. (2) An application under subsection (1) shall contain such particulars or in- formation as the Authority may consider necessary. Subsequently, section 19(2) provides that any person who engages in weather modification activities without permission, commits an offence, while section 20(1) requires the filing of a report on such activities in the prescribed form. Elsewhere, even if the formal permission of the NMS is not required for Dry riverbed. Photo: © inho Lee. weather modification, the legislation sets out a formal reporting requirement. This is the case in the United States, where in accordance with 15 U.S. Code § 330a: No person may engage, or attempt to engage, in any weather modification activity in the United States unless he submits to the Secretary such re- ports with respect thereto, in such form and containing such information, as the Secretary may by rule prescribe. The Secretary may require that such reports be submitted to him before, during, and after any such activity or attempt. Here, weather modification is defined as “any activity performed with the intention of producing artificial changes in the composition, behavior, or 42    Weather Laws and Weather Sector Issues dynamics of the atmosphere”—and the “Secretary” is the power under this Act or any Regulations made under this “Secretary of Commerce,” who is required to maintain a re- Act, shall be personally liable, except in the case of gross negligence or misconduct. cord of such reports and to make them, and related informa- tion and documents, available to the public “to the fullest (2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Ministry or the practicable extent.” Department shall not be subject to any civil or criminal lia- bility for meteorological information or services produced and supplied by the Department, arising from the lawful Unsurprisingly, given China’s pioneering role in weather mod- exercise of its functions under this Act or any Regulations ification, article 30 of the Chinese weather law contains rath- made under this Act. er detailed provisions on the topic: (3) Immunity from any liability under this section shall extend and apply to the application of the precautionary People’s governments at or above the county level shall principle under this Act or any Regulations made under enhance their leadership over weather modification and, this Act. in light of actual conditions, carry out work in this field in an organized and planned way. The competent meteo- This means that an individual can be found liable only in the rological department under the State Council shall more efficiently administer and guide weather modification case of gross negligence or misconduct, while the ministry throughout the country. Local competent meteorological or NMS cannot be subject to any legal proceedings at all, departments at all levels shall make plans for weather provided they have acted lawfully within the meaning of the modification operations and, under the leadership and weather law. coordination of the people’s governments at the corre- sponding levels, administer, guide and arrange for such However, in China, article 40 of its weather law explicitly pro- operations. Relevant departments shall, in compliance with their functions and duties and division of respon- vides for the possible imposition of administrative sanctions sibilities, cooperate with the competent meteorological against employees of public meteorological departments at departments in weather modification. Organizations different levels of government if they “neglect their duties engaging in weather modification operations shall meet and consequently fail to make an important public meteo- the qualifications prescribed by the competent meteoro- rological forecast or to send out severe weather warning, or logical departments of provinces, autonomous regions or make a wrong forecast or send out a wrong warning, or who municipalities directly under the Central Government, use the operational equipment which meets the specifications lose or damage raw meteorological observation data or fab- set by the competent meteorological department under ricate meteorological data.” Moreover, if such actions cause the State Council, and conform to the operational rules. “heavy losses to State interests or people’s lives or proper- ty” such employees may also be subject to investigation and And article 39 of that law goes on to provide that an orga- prosecution under criminal law. nization that undertakes weather modification other than in compliance with relevant standards may be punished with a 5.3 Weather Observation Networks and warning, a civil fine, or—on the basis of criminal law—may Infrastructure also be liable to pay compensation for damage caused. Given the fundamental importance of weather observation 5.2 Liability to meteorology, unsurprisingly, many weather laws explicitly address the infrastructure networks needed for this activity, In a number of countries, weather legislation seeks to protect together with related questions on access to, and the use of, public officials and the NMS from potential liability claims re- the land on which such infrastructure is installed. garding the provision of weather services. In Tonga, section 18 of the weather law states: In Romania, article 16 of its weather law contains detailed provisions on the “national meteorological surveillance net- (1) No staff or employee of the Department, including any work” as follows: other person authorised to exercise any power, who does any act in pursuance of any function or the exercise of any Weather Laws and Weather Sector Issues   43 (1) The national meteorological surveillance network is with the relevant executive authorities of the constituent composed of synoptic meteorological stations, climato- entities of the Russian Federation, the termination of the logical, areological surveys and radar observatories rep- activities of these observation points is carried out ex- resentative for the evolution of weather and climate in clusively in accordance with the decision of the specially Romania. authorized federal executive body in the field of hydrome- teorology and related areas. (2) The national meteorological surveillance network shall also include the technical means used for the transmis- 3. In order to obtain reliable information about the state sion and collection of meteorological data. of the natural environment, its pollution around station- ary observation points in the manner determined by the (3) The size and composition of the national meteoro- Government of the Russian Federation, protective zones logical surveillance network shall be determined by the are created in which restrictions on economic activities central public authority for environmental protection, on a are established. proposal from the National Meteorological Center. 4. Easements may be established on land plots through (4) For special purposes or for detailed meteorological which passage or passage to stationary observation points surveillance, at the local level, complementary meteoro- included in the state observation network is carried out in logical networks may be established, in accordance with the manner determined by the legislation of the Russian the provisions of art. 15 para. (1). Federation. (5) No parallel meteorological networks involving financ- ing from public funds may be set up at national level. Thus, in Russia, it is not always necessary for the NMS, or the state on behalf of the NMS, to actually acquire or own Article 17 goes on to provide that the “national meteorolog- the land used for elements of an observation network. And ical surveillance network constitutes public property of the in Tanzania, easements or servitudes, which include rights of state and is entrusted to the administration of the National way, may be acquired over privately owned land. Section 2(1) Meteorological Center,” while article 18 establishes 30-me- of Tanzania’s weather law confers somewhat broad powers ter-wide “areas of absolute meteorological protection” upon the NMS as follows: around meteorological platforms to ensure the representa- tiveness of the data. Within such protection areas, the con- (1) The Authority may, for the performance of its func- struction of structures above ground level, irrigation, and the tions, after giving reasonable notice of intention to the planting of forest crops or tall agricultural crops are prohibit- owner, occupier, or the company or local authority having ed and the areas themselves must be considered in the devel- control or management of any land or premises, enter the opment of urban and spatial development plans. Moreover, in land or premises and do any act reasonably necessary for performing any functions of the Authority and, in partic- accordance with article 19, special restrictions apply within a ular, may— 500-meter zone around the areas of absolute meteorological (a) install, construct, place or maintain equipment, appa- protection for the types of constructions and activities that ratus or other instruments in, on, over or under any land, may be undertaken. watercourse or sea for the purposes of recording and mak- ing any meteorological observations; The Russian Federation’s weather law contains similar pro- (b) inspect and examine land, buildings and equipment of visions for the “protection of the state observation network.” meteorological stations; Article 13 states: (c) inspect and examine records and other information re- quired to be kept by meteorological stations; or 1. The state observation network, including the land plots and parts of water areas allocated for it, refers exclusively (d) cut down and remove any tree, underwood or struc- to federal property and is protected by the state. tures that may interfere with surveys or stations. 2. The organization of the activities of stationary and mobile observation points, the determination of their Nevertheless, section 2(2) goes on to make it clear that the location is carried out in accordance with the decision NMS obtains only a use right with regard to the land “on, over of the specially authorized federal executive body in the or under which its equipment, apparatus or instruments are field of hydrometeorology and related areas in agreement installed, constructed, place or maintained.” 44    Weather Laws and Weather Sector Issues As for weather observation equipment, which is often in- (1) A person shall not import any meteorological equip- stalled in remote places, there can be quite a high risk of van- ment or tools into Uganda except under license issued by the Executive Director. dalism or theft. To seek to discourage such antisocial activity, weather laws quite often contain specific provisions that seek (2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an to confer a measure of protection for meteorological equip- offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding forty-eight currency points or imprisonment not exceed- ment. For example, article 37 of Japan’s weather law states: ing two years or both; and the goods imported by the per- son convicted contrary to subsection (1) may be forfeited No person shall, without justifiable grounds, destroy or re- to the state by the Executive Director. locate any meteorological instruments installed outdoors by the Japan Meteorological Agency or a person who per- (3) Any person who imports into Uganda meteorological forms meteorological observations which shall be made tools and equipment which are substandard according in accordance with the technical standards pursuant to to World Meteorological Organization (WMO) standards the provisions of Article 6, paragraph (1) or paragraph commits an offence and the Executive Director shall have (2) or any warning signs concerning meteorological phe- powers to confiscate the tools and equipment. nomena, terrestrial phenomena (for earthquakes, limited (4) The Executive Director may in addition to confiscation to earthquake ground motions), tsunamis, storm surges, under subsection (3), order that the person be charged in high waves, or floods, or otherwise conduct any acts det- the courts of law. rimental to the effects of said meteorological instruments or signs. In China, article 13 of its weather law states that “specialized meteorological equipment” must comply with technical stan- The Japanese weather law, like much of the other legislation dards specified by the (national level) NMS and are subject to reviewed, also confers broad powers on NMS staff to enter examination and approval by the latter. Only approved equip- private land (as well as state and local government land) ment may be used in meteorological operations. Moreover, where this is “necessary for performing observations of me- in accordance with article 14, instruments for meteorological teorological phenomena, terrestrial phenomena, tremors and measurement are subject to verification by the institutions ground deformations, terrestrial magnetism, terrestrial elec- responsible for the verification of such instruments in accor- tricity, or hydrological phenomena.” Moreover, with the prior dance with the relevant provisions of the Metrology Law of permission of the owner, if this can be obtained in time, in the People’s Republic of China. Again, only verified instru- cases where it is necessary, NMS staff may “clear or remove ments may be used. the plants, fences, rails, etc. that would cause interference.” Article 40(1) goes on to provide for the payment of compen- In Japan, article 28 of its weather law contains similarly sation for losses so caused with the amount being determined detailed provisions on the verification of meteorological by the Director-General of the Japan Meteorological Agency equipment. (with the possibility of review by the courts at the requested of the aggrieved person). 5.5 Some Idiosyncratic Provisions 5.4 Importation and Placing on the Market of Although it is neither practical nor necessary to describe in Meteorological Equipment this study all of the other provisions contained in weather legislation, suffice it to say that the weather law of the Lao In a number of countries, the weather legislation contains People’s Democratic Republic is the only item of legisla- specific provisions on the importation and placing on the tion that provides a day (March 23) designated as “National market of meteorological equipment. In Uganda, section 34 Meteorology and Hydrology Day.” Similarly, Russia’s weather of the weather law contains rather strict rules on the impor- law is the only weather law identified that provides that NMS tation of meteorological equipment, for which a permit from staff may carry weapons—presumably a reflection of the re- the NMS is required, as well as compliance with (unspecified) mote location of many observation stations, rather than any WMO standards. Breach of these rules may be punished in particular social threats to NMS staff. accordance with the criminal law: Weather Laws and Weather Sector Issues   45 5.6 Offences Endnote 1 It should also be noted that this topic may be addressed in laws other All of the weather laws contain provisions that create offenc- than a specific weather law. In the Philippines, the issue of cloud seeding es for noncompliance with their provisions, or the conditions is subject to the requirements of the water resources management of any related permits or licenses. Such offences are punish- agency, in coordination with the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). able on the basis of administrative law (usually with the im- position of fines) or criminal law, in which case the sanction of imprisonment may also be imposed by the court. University students prepare and carry air testing instruments to a tethered weather balloon for a national air quality project. Photo: © milehightraveler. 46    6 Weather Legislation and the Private Sector Moving from the public to the private sector, a key question is which weather legislation creates legal space for the private actors in the weather sector— that is, the private element of the Global Weather Enterprise (GWE). Weather laws take a range of different approaches to addressing the issue of private sector engagement. However, in practice—given the fundamental role of the national meteorological service (NMS) in terms of the collection and management of observational data—a critical element in the legal framework is often not the extent to which the weather law promotes the role of the private sector in particular and the GWE in general (see box 6.1), but rather the extent to which the private sector and academia can actually access and use that data. BOX 6.1.  Specification of Global Weather Enterprise Participants in Russia’s Weather Law In Russia, article 3 of the weather law clearly captures the notion of the Global Weather Enterprise (GWE) by identifying the different actors involved: ■ Participants in the activity of the hydrometeorological service ■ The participants in the activity of the hydrometeorological service are: ↘ specially authorized federal executive body in the field of Large dam spillway in full flow after heavy rain. Photo: © Thurtell. hydrometeorology and related areas, its territorial bodies and organizations; ↘ organizations of other federal executive bodies carrying out activities in the field of hydrometeorology and related areas; ↘ research organizations; ↘ organization of an observation network; ↘ specialized organizations to actively influence meteorological and other geophysical processes; individuals carrying out activities in the area of hydrometeorology and related fields on the basis of licenses. Weather Legislation and the Private Sector    47 6.1 A Wide Range of Approaches to Private 6.1.2 Ambiguity or Prohibition Sector Engagement Prohibition, or at least a high degree of ambiguity, is worse than silence for the private sector. In Uganda, the government Overall, governments seem to take quite a range of approach- prohibits private sector operators from delivering weather es to engaging the private sector, raising questions about to forecasts directly to end users—although private data provid- what extent they really want public-private engagement. ers can contract with the NMS and potentially share revenues from the sale of services by the NMS. It is unclear how effec- 6.1.1 Silence tively this prohibition is enforced, but the legal framework At one extreme, the weather law simply ignores the private might discourage private companies from entering the mar- sector. This is the case in the United States, which neverthe- ket (Usher et al. 2018). less has an enormous, vibrant, and extremely valuable private weather service sector (see box 6.2). It is also clearly the case A slightly different approach is provided by the weather leg- for the Canadian law, which is concerned only with weather islation of Eswatini, which appears to regulate the provision modification, and the New Zealand law, which provides for of private weather services so tightly that it is effectively pre- the appointment of a service provider—actually a commercial vented. Section 33 of Eswatini‘s weather law states: company, albeit one that is publicly owned. Any person who without authorization in writing of the Executive Director makes weather observations, issues This approach is also true for a number of countries where weather forecasts, releases climate information to the the establishment of the NMS is addressed in the weather public commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a law. For example, Rwanda’s law makes no reference to the fine not exceeding forty eight currency points or to impris- private sector either to authorize or prohibit it. It appears onment not exceeding two years or both. neutral on the topic. A literal reading of this clause suggests that a written autho- rization from the Executive Director would be necessary for BOX 6.2.  US Weather Research and Forecasting each weather forecast or release of climate information. Innovation Act 6.1.3 Recognition One of the purposes of the US Weather Research and Conversely, many of the weather laws reviewed do in fact rec- Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 is to expand commer- cial opportunities for providing weather data. ognize a role for the private sector, although not always with much detail. In the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, article To this end, the act defines the (interchangeable) terms 4 of the weather law clearly seeks to encourage the private weather industry and weather enterprise to include “in- sector in meteorological and hydrological activities: dividuals and organizations from public, private, and academic sectors that contribute to the research, devel- opment, and production of weather fore-cast products, The government supports meteorological and hydrolog- and primary consumers of these weather forecast prod- ical activities by creating an enabling environment for ucts.” It also clarifies that the national meteorological these activities such as human resource development, service (NMS) is permitted to buy commercial weather construction and modernization of stations that meet data and to fly weather sensors on commercial satellites. international standards, provision of knowledgeable and It establishes a pilot program to validate commercial capable personnel, as well as modern instruments, along weather technologies. And it requires the NMS to deter- with necessary budget for the implementation of strate- mine whether it is in the national interest to continue gies and programs for each period. solely pursuing publicly funded weather satellites. The government supports and encourages domestic and international individuals, entities and organizations to co- operate, contribute and provide data and information on meteorological and hydrological activities. 48    Weather Legislation and the Private Sector Thereafter, however, the law gives little indication as to how protection in the field of meteorology and by the state the support and encouragement to the private sector is to be authority in the field of civil aviation, for aeronautical meteorology. implemented. For example, article 6 provides that “[i]ndivid- uals, entities and organizations must contribute to meteoro- logical and hydrological activities such as the safeguarding of In contrast, Japan’s weather law contains extremely detailed stations, including equipment, provision and dissemination provisions on private sector involvement in meteorology. of meteorological and hydrological information.” Moreover, These include provisions on the issuance of licenses for article 48 creates a number of rather general offences that weather forecasting (article 17); the assessment of the ca- depend on the ill-defined concept of “approval”: pacities of applicants in terms of staffing levels and technical capacity (article 18); staffing requirements including the use Individuals, entities or organizations are prohibited to: of certified weather forecasters; oversight of license holders by the NMS; and the procedure for obtaining certification as 1. Build meteorological and hydrological stations without approval; a weather forecaster (article 24-2). In short, the provision of weather services by the private sector in Japan is clearly a 2. Destroy, remove instruments or create obstacles to meteorological and hydrological stations’ signals without rather heavily regulated sector—although it has evolved into approval; a thriving private weather sector. 3. Use meteorological and hydrological information with- out approval; In a similar manner, Tanzania’s weather law creates an even 4. Disseminate false meteorological and hydrological stricter regulatory framework. Section 14(1) states that the information; NMS must “regulate the meteorological services in the United Republic.” And section 14(2) goes on to indicate that the 5. Other unlawful and regulation violating behaviors. scope of regulation includes: This language suggests that different types of approval are (a) approval and registration of meteorological stations; necessary for private sector activities. (b) to ensure adherence to international standards and practices of meteorological services; Indeed, as article 9(1) of the Russian Federation’s weather law indicates, a role for the private sector will necessitate (c) ensure adherence to standards in installation and maintenance of meteorological instruments; some kind of authorization or the regulation of actors other than the NMS: (d) to perform monitoring and supervisory functions over meteorological operators. Legal entities regardless of organizational and legal forms, as well as individuals carry out activities in the field of hy- Otherwise, any person who “intends to engage in any meteoro- drometeorology and related areas on the basis of licenses logical observations, weather forecasting activities or weather issued in the manner prescribed by the legislation of the modification activities” must apply to the NMS for a permit Russian Federation. (section 15) in the prescribed manner. The NMS may, if it is “satisfied that the applicant has fulfilled the conditions as pro- However, the law provides no further details about the legis- vided under the Regulations, issue the permit to the applicant lation it is referring to or how licenses are to be issued. And upon payment of the prescribed fees.” This permit is valid for in Romania, article 4 of its weather law speaks only about the just one year, although it may be renewed if the NMS is sat- certification of weather service providers, although without isfied the holder has complied with all the conditions of that any details: permit. The NMS can also suspend or cancel a permit if those conditions are not met. Needless to say, in accordance with Natural or legal persons may carry out meteorological ac- section 19(1), any “person who engages in any meteorological tivities on the basis of attestations of competence and in accordance with the law. Certificates of competence are observations, weather forecasting activities or weather modifi- issued by the central public authority for environmental cation activities without permission, commits an offence.” Weather Legislation and the Private Sector    49 6.1.4 Active Promotion The Republic of Korea provides an example of how weath- At the opposite extreme of the prohibition approach is the er legislation may actively seek to promote the role of the active promotion approach. private sector. Its legal framework rests on three items of legislation: Japan is an example of how weather law can support the private sector in the weather business. Chapter III-3 of its ■ The Weather Act. This act (adopted in 2005 and most re- weather law provides that the NMS may designate a nongov- cently amended in 2018) can be described as a basic weath- ernmental organization with legal personality (the Private er law. It sets out the duties of the Korea Meteorological Weather Service Support Center) to ensure the sound devel- Administration (KMA), including for planning duties; ob- opment of meteorological services by “supporting the sound servation networks (including satellites); announcements, development of forecasting services performed under license forecasts, and severe weather alerts; weather modifica- . . . and other meteorological services in the private sector tion; climate monitoring; meteorological research and and ensuring the promotion of the use of meteorological in- development; international cooperation; knowledge dis- formation in industries, transportation, and other social ac- semination; education, the use of weather information; tivities.” More specifically, in accordance with article 24-29, charging for aviation weather information; temporary ac- the Private Weather Service Support Center is to: cess to land; and penalties/sanctions. ■ The Weather Observation Standardization Act. The (I.) Provide the results of observations, the infor- purpose of this act (adopted in 2009 and most recently mation concerning forecasts prepared by the Japan amended in 2013) is to standardize “methods and stan- Meteorological Agency in the course of implementing dards for the performance of weather observations and its services, and other information owned by the Japan the standardization of the setting for, and the data from, Meteorological Agency (hereinafter referred to as “mete- weather observations.” Article 3(1) indicates that the orological information”); act applies to weather observations made by essentially (II.) Provide investigations and research concerning the public agencies and provides for the KMA Administrator services referred to in the preceding item (hereinafter re- ferred to as “information provision services”) and the use to prepare and promote a standardization policy. Chapter of meteorological information; III provides for the establishment and management of a Weather Observation Network—coordinated by the (III.) Provide consultation and other assistance with re- gard to the matters concerning the use of meteorological Administrator, who is also mandated to set standards for information; data quality management and procedures and to adopt a (IV.) Provide training for the users of meteorological policy for the mutual exchange and joint utilization of data. information; ■ The Weather Industry Promotion Act. The purpose of this (V.) In addition to what is listed in each of the preced- act (adopted in 2009 and amended in 2011), is to support ing items, performing the services necessary to support and foster the weather industry. It stipulates the defini- the sound development of meteorological services in the tions, conditions, and procedures concerning the develop- private sector and to ensure the promotion of the use of ment of the weather industry (see box 6.3). meteorological information in social activities. 6.2 Limits of Weather Laws in Promoting Article 24-30 goes on to stipulate that the Director-General Private Sector Engagement of Japan’s NMS must provide the center with the meteorolog- ical information needed to implement information provision Against this backdrop of weather laws taking such varied services, as set out in secondary legislation adopted by the stances on private sector engagement—ranging from silence responsible minister, as well as with necessary guidance and to ambiguity/prohibition to recognition to active promotion— advice concerning the implementation of said services. it is important to keep in mind that, in practice, one of the key elements in the legal framework is often not the extent to which the weather law promotes the role of the private 50    Weather Legislation and the Private Sector BOX 6.3.  Korea’s Weather Industry Promotion Act The purpose of Korea’s Weather Industry Promotion Act is “to prescribe matters concerning the support and fostering of the weather industry for the purposes of laying the foundation for the development of the weather industry and strengthening its competitiveness, thereby contributing to the development of the national economy.” The term weather industry is defined to mean “any industry that manufactures or provides weather-related goods or services.” Weather industry promotion. The act requires the Korean Meteorological Association (KMA) to develop, every five years, a “basic plan” for the advancement of the weather industry that must, among other matters, identify domestic and foreign trends in the weather industry, objectives and basic policy directions, and research and professional development requirements. It provides for the mandatory registration of any entity engaged in the “weather prediction business”—defined as “the business of pro- viding weather forecasts for general or specific requesters.” And it sets out both minimum standards for registration and the grounds upon which registration can be revoked. Public support. Chapter IV of the act provides for the provision of public support and assistance to the weather industry—which may include subsidies, equipment purchase, the grant of exclusive or nonexclusive licenses to use intellectual property rights (IPRs) that derive from public support, and the verification of the international trustworthiness of weather equipment. Data sharing. Chapter V focuses on the “Dissemination and Facilitation of the Use of Weather Information.” It provides that the KMA Administrator may request any institution falling under any subparagraph of Article 3 (1) of the Weather Observation Standardization Act to extend cooperation “to ensure that the private use of weather information will be further facilitated.” It goes on to Article 15 (Provision of Weather Information) to provide that the KMA must provide weather information requested by a business operator “unless any justifiable ground exists otherwise” although “a fee may be collected to cover expenses incurred in the provision of such weather information.” A nonprofit legal entity. To this end, the KMA may set up a nonprofit legal entity to manage such activity. The Korea Meteorological Industry Promotion Agency is to be established to provide efficient assistance with the advancement and development of the weather industry. Weather predicters and appraisers. Chapter VI provides for the mandatory licensing of weather predicters (defined as “any person who is in charge of dealing with weather prediction services”) and weather appraisers (defined as “any person who is in charge of dealing with weather appraisal services”) and sets out the requirements and procedures for this. sector (in particular) and the GWE (in general), but rather the to some extent in weather laws, it is ultimately determined by extent to which the private sector and academia can actually another area of law altogether—namely intellectual property access and use those data. While this issue may be addressed law.    51 Data, Information, and Intellectual Property Rights 7 As data are of fundamental importance to anyone engaged in any kind of me- teorological activity, the meteorological data collected (and managed) by a national meteorological service (NMS) can be seen as the raw material for the provision of weather services. At the same time, if data are the basic inputs for meteorology, the output or product is refined information in the form of weather forecasts and other predictive and analytical information concerning weather and the climate. The right of any person to access and use (or re-use) data and information is governed by intellectual property law. Intellectual property law is a major area of law, and a full discussion of the topic is far beyond the scope of this study.1 Nevertheless, it is necessary to briefly examine the role of intellectual property law and, in particular, the intellectual property rights (IPRs) that it creates. IPRs protect the interests of creators by giving them property rights over their creations. As with other types of property rights—such as land tenure rights or the ownership right over any movable object (such as a pencil)—an owner can, in principle, decide whether to use his or her intellectual property, to allow someone else to use that property, or to sell or otherwise dispose of the property as s/he sees fit. It follows that the assertion of IPRs can restrict access to, and the use of, data and information, including meteorological data and information, which are costly to collect and to manage. For an underfunded NMS, the meteorological data may be the most valuable asset that it controls. On the one hand, cash-stretched governments have Field weather station. Photo: © Rogerio Peccioli. encouraged NMSs and other public data holders to capitalize on their data assets to generate income. On the other hand, if the data have been obtained through the use of public funds (that is, from the budget), in principle, the public should have a right to see and use those data as they (as taxpayers) have already paid for it. Moreover, experience suggests that “open data” pol- icies, which envisage the free provision of data and its re-use, will add value to those data by generating new uses and users and increased economic ac- tivity. But before discussing these contrasting positions in more detail, it is useful to set out more clearly the nature of IPRs. 52    Weather Legislation and the Private Sector 7.1 Intellectual Property Rights ■ Raw data. These are unprocessed basic information such as numbers. In general terms, IPR refers to creations of the human mind. ■ Processed data. These have value added by the body han- It protects the interests of creators by giving them property dling the data. rights over their creations and includes patents, trademarks, ■ Data products. These are creations that use the data that and copyright, as well as database rights.2 are specifically designed or tailored to meet certain infor- mation needs or requests. Intellectual property is usually divided into two categories: (1) industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), From a legal perspective, it is generally accepted that IPRs trademarks, and industrial designs; and (2) copyright (or au- in general, and copyright in particular, cannot be extended thor’s rights), which includes literary and artistic creations as to cover raw data as such—that is, the basic information con- well as technology-based works. tained in a readout or printout from a technical or measuring device. However, the ordering or manipulation of those data Such property rights relate to the items of information or by putting them into a table or spreadsheet is usually suffi- knowledge that can be incorporated in tangible objects in cient to establish copyright in the resulting arrangement of an unlimited number of copies—but not to those objects or words and numbers (European Commission 2008). copies as such. That is, they attach to the contents of a book rather than to a physical copy of that book. And they are usu- Take, for example, a hypothetical table that sets out simple ally characterized by certain limitations (such as a limited elements of weather data, as shown in table 7.1. An IPR can- duration in time for copyright or patents). not be held in the measurements per se—that is, the numbers (or, in this case, the zeros) that record those measurements. In most countries, IPRs are protected by primary legislation However, an IPR can be held in the particular ordering of that has the twin objectives of giving formal legal expression these numbers in the format of the table (or more likely the to (1) the moral and economic rights of creators over their spreadsheet) in question. To the extent that the data have creations, and (2) the rights of the public to access those been manipulated by entry into a table or spreadsheet, they creations. IPR legislation usually also aims to promote cre- have been processed sufficiently to no longer be classified as ativity and the dissemination and application of the results “raw” data and thus may benefit from copyright protection. of such creativity. For a range of reasons—in particular, the potential impacts of such laws on international trade—is an It follows that meteorological data may potentially take the area that is also regulated under international law (European form of a “literary” work protected by copyright or may be Commission 2008). part of a database that is sufficiently creative to be protected by copyright. For meteorological data, copyright and database rights are probably the most relevant in that they potentially impose For the purposes of copyright protection, the term literary the most significant IPR restrictions on access to and the use work is understood to include every original work of author- of data. Other IPRs, including patents and trademarks, are ship, irrespective of its literary merit. Copyright arises auto- less relevant, except to note that inventions of new meteoro- matically and without formality upon creation of the work, logical equipment may be subject to patents and the logos of typically once it is fixed in some material (reproducible) NMSs may well be subject to a trademark. form. Thus, most meteorological data products, in the form of forecasts and reports, will automatically be subject to copy- 7.1.1 Copyright and Database Rights right. International harmonization of copyright law has been achieved to a certain extent through, among other things, the While it is difficult to define the term data in a more or less minimum standards set out by the Berne Convention,3 the accurate way, a distinction is frequently made between three World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related levels of data: Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS),4 and the Weather Legislation and the Private Sector    53 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright to preserve the personal link between him/herself and the Treaty of 20 December 1996 (WCT). work. Rights owners will usually be able, under applicable copyright law, to prohibit or authorize (1) the (direct or in- Databases (in any form) can also benefit from copyright direct, temporary or permanent) reproduction of the work by protection—which does not extend to the data contained in others, (2) the communication of the work to the public, (3) the database (although that may be subject to copyright in the distribution of copies of the work to the public (by sale its own right). The author of the database will be the nat- or otherwise), (4) the rental of copies, and (5) the alteration ural person(s) who created the database or (where nation- (including translation) of the work. al legislation permits it) the legal person designated as the rightsholder by that legislation (such as the employer of the Thus, copyright protection effectively means that the re-use, database creator, such as an NMS). and, in some cases, access to copyright material, will not be possible without the author’s consent. At the very least, it Moreover, in some jurisdictions—including Japan, the will not be possible to transfer copyright material from the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and the 27 Member copyright proprietor to another without the consent of the States of the European Union (EU)—a “sui generis database copyright proprietor. right” may protect the content of a database (whether or not there has been creativity in its arrangement), provided that 7.1.2 Contractual Licenses there has been a substantial (qualitative or quantitative) in- The use, or re-use, of data and data products (including mete- vestment in obtaining, verifying, or presenting the material.5 orological data and data products) usually takes place on the Thus, public or private sector databases with meteorological basis of a contractual license—that is, a license that authoriz- data may be protected by copyright (if they are intellectu- es the use of the data or data products and is created on the al creations in either their arrangement or data selection or basis of a contract.6 Under a contractual license, the holder of both) or specific database rights (if they are the product of a the IPR (“the licensor”) grants permission to another person substantial investment in obtaining, verifying, or presenting (“the licensee”) to use the data and data products subject to the data). the IPR. In cases where copyright exists, the proprietor of the data A contractual license will typically govern the further use or data product has the exclusive right to authorize third (and dissemination) of the data by the licensee, who will parties to use the protected materials and to assert his/her be obliged to observe the conditions and restrictions con- (1) economic rights, which allow the author to derive finan- tained in the license. Data “owners” usually do not actually cial benefits from the use of his/her works by others; and (2) sell data—or, more accurately, they do not sell the IPR they moral rights, which allow the author to take certain actions hold in those data. Instead, they sell a right to use the data TABLE 7.1.  Theoretical Weather Data Table Site: Date: TIME 0700 0800 0900 1000 1100 Cloud cover 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Windspeed 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Temperature 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Source: Original table for this publication. 54    Weather Legislation and the Private Sector (subject to the license conditions) and, for that purpose, they Contractual licenses will also specifically address the protec- provide access to the data. The data owner/licensor explicitly tion of the licensor’s IPR in the data, thereby affecting the retains his/her property rights relating to the data. Indeed, a licensee’s ability to use and disseminate the data, as the contractual license may require the licensee to either destroy licensee will be required to comply with any restrictions that copies of the data or to return the data to the licensor upon such provisions impose. This could include a requirement not termination of the license agreement (European Commission to reproduce or distribute any copyrighted data without the 2008). prior consent of the right-holder, or at all times to display the copyright notice of the data supplier. How can a contractual license be created? Just as with a con- tract for other types of goods or services, there are a number Contractual licenses may address the issue of payment for of different ways. the use of the data. Commercial data suppliers will normally grant a license subject to the payment of a market-based li- ■ The license may be contained in a formal written agree- cense fee. While public sector data owners may be entitled to ment that is reached after negotiations (like any other type charge for the use or supply of data, they may also, depend- of commercial contract). This approach is more likely to be ing on the applicable legislation, be bound by specific rules used for a commercial data product (such as a client- or contained in legislation that seeks to promote access to data sector-specific weather forecast). or open data. ■ It may take the form of a standard contract to which appli- cants can adhere (such as a “click-license” for data that are 7.1.3 Data Policy made accessible on the internet). The extent to which a data holder permits the use or re-use of ■ It may take the form of a “legal notice” or a “disclaimer.” its data and data products (in the sense of data or products This would work for data made available on a without-con- in respect of which it claims IPR) will depend in the first in- ditions basis—that is, free of charge and without any spe- stance on its data policy. cific re-use restrictions (although users will typically be required to acknowledge the data source). At one end of the scale, a data holder could voluntarily waive ■ It may take the form of a click on a webpage or the use of a the exploitation of all its IPRs. At the other end of the scale, website, which can provide sufficient evidence of consent particularly where data have a commercial value, their use to the license’s conditions. may be jealously guarded and authorized only on the basis of payment. Contractual license agreements, regardless of how they are created, will usually address all of the issues that are For meteorological data, the extent to which data held by relevant to control the dissemination and further use of the an NMS can be accessed will depend on the data policy of data. This may include provisions on liability and the proper that NMS. This is a big issue for private sector actors within use of the data (like non-alteration of the information). For the Global Weather Enterprise (GWE). For example, for some example, the website of the Belgian Royal Meteorological purposes, meteorological data are time sensitive: last week’s Institute, like other weather-related websites, spells out the data may not be of much use for weather forecasting. What is general conditions for the use of meteorological data and ser- important here is that, as the data “owner” (or more accurate- vices (see box 7.1). ly, the owner of IPRs in the data), the NMS is in principle free to determine its own data policy—although it is also possi- Contractual licenses will typically contain provisions on ble that the NMS’ data policy is determined by the applicable the uses to which the data may be put by the licensee. For legislation. instance, they may provide that the licensee may not use the data for commercial purposes (such as providing a data service to third parties) or for purposes other than those ex- plicitly stated in the license (such as only using internally). Weather Legislation and the Private Sector    55 7.2 The Move toward Open Data Policies Information-generating agencies of the US Federal Government (including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Alongside greater awareness of the potential commercial Administration, which hosts the National Weather Service) value of data, there is a growing trend toward open data pol- follow the same information policy—which is to actively icies.7 Indeed, in the United States, such a policy of open and disseminate all taxpayer-funded public information without unrestricted access to taxpayer-funded government-gener- any restrictions or conditions and without the assertion of ated public information has long existed. And increasingly, copyright or database protection rights. One obvious and other countries and international organizations are moving clear result of this policy is the enormous size, in comparison in the same direction. with most other countries, of the US private weather sector. Following negotiations between the “weather industry” and 7.2.1 United States the National Weather Service, weather information and fore- casts have been made available in real time by the latter to The open data policy of the United States is based on an eco- the weather industry, which has, in turn, developed a wide nomic understanding that the information generated by the range of weather products. single largest information generator (that is, the government) is an important input—just like gas, coal, or water—to the 7.2.2 European Union economic process (Weiss 2004). The sources of this policy include the Copyright Act 1976, the Freedom of Information In the EU, the recently adopted Open Data Directive seeks Act (FOIA), the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Electronic FOIA to promote the use of open data and stimulate innovation in Amendments of 1996, and the Office of Management and products and services by setting out minimum rules govern- Budget Circular No. A-130. ing the re-use (and the practical arrangements for facilitating the re-use) of existing documents held by public sector bod- ies of the Member States—including their respective NMSs.8 BOX 7.1.  The Belgian Royal Meteorological Institute’s Specification of Data Use 1. The data, either wholly or partially, either on their own or in any combination, are only for own use. Except when explicitly agreed in writing with the RMI, it is forbidden: ■ to report or communicate this information to a third party either wholly or partially; ■ to reproduce it; ■ to publish it by media like television, internet or videotext. 2. It is not permitted either to provide services with added value based on these data. 3. The user recognizes that the rights of intellectual property concerning the offered information belongs exclusively to the RMI and that the right of use doesn’t imply full or partial transfer of such rights. 4. The RMI can’t be held responsible for possible damage and direct or indirect consequences that could result from the use of offered information. The RMI isn’t responsible either for the consequences of the not or only partially coming true of provided forecasts nor the not or not correctly delivering of a product. 5. The RMI reserves the right to modify the above-mentioned conditions without prior notice. Source: RMI “General conditions for data and services,” available at https://www.meteo.be/en/services/general-conditions. Note: This page is itself subject to copyright! 56    Weather Legislation and the Private Sector Making documents available. The directive requires each re-used by a public sector body as input for its commercial EU Member State to ensure that documents to which the di- activities that fall outside the scope of its public tasks, the rective applies (this includes weather data) are reusable for same charges and other conditions will apply to the supply commercial and noncommercial purposes. Requests should of the documents for those activities as apply to other users be processed through electronic means and, if a license is (article 11). The re-use of documents must be open to all po- required, this should be finalized within a reasonable time tential actors in the market, even if one or more market actors limit. Data should be made available in any pre-existing for- already exploit added-value products based on those docu- mat or language and, where possible and appropriate, by ments. Moreover, specific rules apply to a number of high-val- electronic means, in formats that are open, machine-read- ue data sets, including meteorological data sets. able, accessible, findable, and re-usable, together with their metadata. Both the format and the metadata must, where 7.2.3 World Meteorological Organization possible, comply with formal open standards. Dynamic data The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has also taken should be made available for re-use immediately after collec- a number of steps toward embracing open data policies. In tion, via suitable application programming interfaces (APIs) accordance with the provisions of WMO Resolution 40, ad- and, where relevant, as a bulk download, except where this opted in 1995, a defined set of basic data and products that would exceed the financial and technical capacities of the are necessary for the protection of life and property must public sector body, in which case they should be made avail- be distributed by Member States on a full and open basis. able for re-use within a time frame or with temporary techni- The remaining data may be subject to restrictions in order cal restrictions that do not unduly impair the exploitation of to prevent their use for commercial purposes outside the their economic and social potential (article 5). receiving country, without the agreement of the originating member (National Research Council 2003). Apparently, until Costing of re-use of documents. Article 6 of the directive pro- the adoption of Resolution 40, countries had been withhold- vides that the re-use of documents must be free of charge, ing data to prevent private sector companies (largely in the although the recovery of the marginal costs incurred for the United States) from selling weather products within the coun- reproduction, provision, and dissemination of documents as try that collected the data. Because companies were able to well as for the anonymization of personal data and measures obtain the data at low cost through the US National Weather taken to protect commercially confidential information may Service, their products could be sold for less than comparable be allowed. However, this basic principle does not apply to products created by privatized weather agencies, which had public sector bodies that are required to generate revenue to to recoup data collection costs (National Research Council cover a substantial part of their costs relating to the perfor- 2003). mance of their public tasks or public undertakings. In such cases, the total charges must be calculated in accordance In October 2021, a new WMO Data Policy Resolution was ad- with objective, transparent, and verifiable criteria. The total opted at a virtual Extraordinary Meteorological Congress. The income from supplying and allowing the re-use of documents resolution integrates and updates material from Resolution over the appropriate accounting period must not exceed the 40, as well as Resolution 25 on Hydrology and Resolution 60 cost of their collection, production, reproduction, dissemi- on Climate. The basic problem, though, is that the WMO can- nation, and data storage, together with a reasonable return not, in terms of its overall mandate as set out in the WMO on investment, and—where applicable—the anonymization of Convention, compel its Members to embrace an open data personal data and measures taken to protect commercially policy—even though Resolution 40 urged the Members of the confidential information. Charges must be calculated in ac- WMO to “[s]trengthen their commitment to the free and un- cordance with the applicable accounting principles. restricted exchange of meteorological and related data and products.” Conditions for the re-use of documents. Any applicable con- ditions for the re-use of documents must be nondiscriminato- ry for comparable categories of re-use, and if documents are Weather Legislation and the Private Sector    57 7.3 Provisions on Data and IPRs in Weather (1) The Authority shall retain the intellectual property Legislation rights on any meteorological data and advisory services, computer programs, inventions, discoveries and improve- ments generated by the Authority in the fulfilment of its The absence of an international mandate to embrace open functions. data policies that is enforceable leaves the issue of data shar- (2) Meteorological data, information or other meteorolog- ing and IPRs squarely at the national level. Indeed, access ical services of the Authority provided to a client or cus- to weather data and information and the right to use those tomer shall not be provided by that client or customer to data and information, are, and will continue to be, subject a third party or be distributed without the written consent to national laws and policies concerning IPRs, along with in- of the Authority. dividual data policies of the NMS concerned (as modified or amended by the weather legislation). However, section 30(2) clearly restricts the ability of a client or customer of the NMS to share data provided by the latter. So, what do the weather laws say about data and IPRs? In general, weather laws do not address the issue of access to Another example is an explicit reference to WMO Resolution data or the re-use of those data in any great detail. Instead, 40. In Lao PDR, article 41 of the weather law talks about the the issue is left to other laws or unspecified data policies. exchange of weather data in accordance with WMO princi- Indeed, most of the laws reviewed are silent regarding the ples; in South Africa, section 4 (1) of the weather law states data policy of the NMS, let alone any requirement that they that: should have, and publicize, such a policy. In a very real sense, given that data are fundamental to meteorology and the pro- The Weather Service must: vision of weather services by the private sector, there is a ... large data-shaped hole in terms of clear provisions on data (b) adhere to the intent of Resolution 40 of the Twelfth use and re-use by the private sector and by academia. This Congress of the World Meteorological Organization, and is a fundamental aspect of law in terms of enabling effective any other related resolutions regarding the internationally free and unrestricted exchange of meteorologically relat- cross-sector partnerships and the removal of barriers for the ed data and products; . . . . GWE, even if it is not explicitly addressed in weather laws. Still another example is accessing weather data—and even its That said, there are some weather laws that dip their toe into pricing—which a number of weather laws provide for in prin- data use and re-use and pricing—but even then, what stands ciple. In Moldova, article 12 of the weather law states that: out is what is not said rather than what is said. At the request of legal and natural persons, the Service One example is the explicit recognition that the relevant NMS provides hydrometeorological information on past phe- holds IPRs in the weather data that it generates—although nomena at a price not exceeding the costs for services there is little information on the circumstances in which such provided. The Service may refuse to provide data and in- data may or may not be shared, used, or re-used. For example, formation if it would cause harm to national security. in Kenya, section 37(1) of the weather law states: While, at first sight, the provision of data “at a price not ex- The Authority shall retain the Intellectual Property Rights ceeding the cost of services provided” may seem reasonable, on any data, meteorological, hydrological, environmental a basic question is what exactly constitutes those costs. Is it and advisory service, computer programs, inventions, dis- the cost of pressing a key on a computer keyboard to print off coveries and improvements, generated by the Authority in data contained an existing database? Or does it include the the fulfilment of its functions. notional costs of managing that database, of collecting the data, or even the costs of setting up and staffing the observa- Similar provisions are contained in section 30 of the weather tion network in the first place? law of neighboring Tanzania: 58    Weather Legislation and the Private Sector On the other hand, while article 24(1) of Romania’s weath- Endnotes er law provides that “access of natural and legal persons to For a good introduction to English intellectual property law, see Bainbridge 1 meteorological data and information, according to the prin- 2012. ciples and recommendations of the World Meteorological 2 The basic principle of a “property right” is that the owner of such a right Organization, is made in compliance with the provisions of may use the property subject to that right as s/he wishes (and indeed may decide not to use it) and that nobody else can lawfully use it without his/ this law,” the following paragraph specifies that “[t]he use of her authorization. meteorological data and information for commercial purpos- 3 Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of es is allowed only for a fee, in accordance with the law.” Given September 9, 1886, as revised. Details can be found at https://www.wipo. that Romania is an EU Member and thus bound to implement int/treaties/en/ip/berne/. the Open Data Directive, the reference to “the law” here is, or 4 Annex 1C to the Agreement establishing the WTO (Marrakesh, April 15, 1994). shortly will be, to the relevant national legislation that trans- 5 However, following the adoption by the EU of the Open Data Directive, poses the directive into Romanian law. (see section 7.2.2), it now seems that database right protections no longer apply to publicly held meteorological data. Finally, in Iceland, article 5 of its weather law states that 6 This differs from a regulatory license, which is issued pursuant to an item “[d]ata collected by the Icelandic Meteorological Office for of legislation, such as a license to provide weather services issued in accordance with a weather law. public funds from the state budget shall be accessible to all 7 The World Bank has, for example, embraced an open data policy and also free of charge, provided that their delivery does not violate provides advice on the topic through its Open Government Data Toolkit, the legally protected rights of third parties or violate the rules which is available at https://opendatatoolkit.worldbank.org/en/data/ opendatatoolkit/home. on fees set by the data owner. However, handling costs may be 8 Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council collected.” And article 4 provides for tariffs to be set for data of 20 June 2019 on open data and the re-use of public sector information handling costs. (OJ L 172, 26.6.2019, p. 56). This directive updated the previous public sector information directive.    59 How Weather Laws Support Public-Private Engagement 8 Having explored weather law at the international level and at the national level—in the case of those countries that have adopted specific weather leg- islation—this chapter explores the ways that weather laws can, or should, support public-private engagement in the Global Weather Enterprise (GWE). 8.1 How Weather Laws Benefit the National Meteorological Service At this point, most countries do not have specific weather laws in place, and in many cases the relevant national meteorological service (NMS) manages to function perfectly well without weather legislation. Thus, it is not possible to assert a direct causal link between the presence or absence of a weather law and the presence or absence of a strong and effective NMS that can be an effective partner to academia and the private sector. Even so, in many countries the relevant NMS is not functioning effectively, often as a result of a lack of resources. One way that a weather law can benefit an NMS is by raising its profile, wheth- er or not the NMS has independent legal personality. After all, a law is a state- ment of policy—and a weather law shows that the government and legislature take meteorology and the provision of weather services seriously. A higher profile might make it easier to ensure that the NMS has an adequate budget allocation in a separate budget line. Not only does this ensure transparency, but it may also hinder the re-allocation of a departmental budgetary allot- ment in favor of other departments or units within the same ministry. Hydroelectric dam on a stormy weather day. Photo: © bbostjan. Another way is by using the weather law to clarify the role of the NMS and its relationship with other weather service–dependent “clients” within the government—such as ministries or agencies responsible for agriculture, water resources management, transport, and disaster risk management. The law would need to clearly identify the key public tasks of the NMS and introduce a high degree of certainty as to who may issue definitive weather alerts. There are also a number of benefits to establishing an NMS as an agency or authority with independent legal personality. This underscores that the question of whether or not an NMS should be set up with independent legal personality goes beyond issues of law (Rogers and Tsirkunov 2013). These benefits include: 60    How Weather Laws Support Public-Private Engagement ■ The possibility of reducing political interference in recruit- 8.2.1 Regulation ment and promotion; The term regulation is often used to describe a wide variety ■ The possibility of engaging staff on private as opposed to of public interventions in a given sector—ranging from strict- public sector pay scales, which may facilitate rewarding ly economic actions (price, quantities) to rules of conduct merit and productivity; that apply to a profession or to privacy protection (Bacache- ■ The possibility of re-orienting the NMS into its true role as Beauvillet and Perrot 2017). The basic question that arises an executive body, or service provider, rather than a gov- in the context of the provision of weather services is, Why ernment department; regulate? One advantage of licensing weather service provid- ■ The possibility of operating in a more flexible manner, ers would appear to be that at least such a provider can show which would allow it to more quickly adapt to the changing that it is somehow authorized or “legal.” needs of those who depend on its services; and ■ The possibility of earning (and retaining) income for the But is weather sector regulation strictly necessary? After all, provision of commercial services. other weather-related commercial activities—such as weath- er-related insurance policies (including crop insurance, and Here it should be noted, though, that the fact remains that also weather index insurance)—usually do not require per- the core public tasks of an NMS, especially the collection mission from the NMS before they are written (or at least not of observation data, will always require public funding. For in the weather laws reviewed for this desk study). Nor are most, if not all, countries, the idea of a self-funding NMS is a weather derivatives subject to control in accordance with chimera. It simply will not be possible. And if the NMS is to weather laws. So why license weather forecasting and the engage in commercial service delivery, two other questions provision of other weather services? Is it, for example, nec- arise: What should be the role of the private sector? And how essary to regulate meteorologists as a profession, like doc- should the weather law address and support public-private tors and lawyers? Are the moral perspectives of meteorology engagement? equivalent to, say, the Hippocratic Oath of the doctor, or the duty of the lawyer to balance one’s responsibility to the client Then, too, there are some costs that need to be factored in. against the imperative not to mislead the court? And if so, Establishing an NMS as an independent entity has its own how should this be done? Through self-regulation by the me- costs in terms of establishment, operation, and supervision— teorology profession or regulation by the state? including remuneration for management board members. The usual reasons that particular activities are regulated 8.2 Weather, Law, and the Private Sector are either that there is a potential danger that they pose to members of the public or that they have potentially negative There are four basic approaches to the private sector provi- environmental impacts. It is hard to see what negative en- sion of weather services (see chapter 6): vironmental effects the provision of weather services might have, or to see how such activities could cause a danger to ■ Simply ignore the issue altogether. the public. Of course, people rely on weather forecasts and ■ Effectively exclude a role for the private sector in service such weather forecasts may not always be correct, but it is provision. hard to see how the fact of regulation would necessarily make ■ Recognize the role of the private sector, usually with some them more accurate. Weather forecasting is, after all, a prob- type of regulation—especially for the provision of weather abilistic exercise. Do licenses and minimum standards real- forecasts. ly make weather forecasts more effective or more accurate? ■ Actively promote the private sector. Moreover, by licensing a weather service provider, is the reg- ulator explicitly or implicitly guaranteeing the quality of the services provided by that provider? How Weather Laws Support Public-Private Engagement    61 For private companies commissioning a supplier to provide ■ First, setting up and effectively implementing a regulato- their sector- or location-specific forecasts, presumably the ry regime is not cost-free. Here, a first question concerns relevant qualifications, resources, track record, and experi- the actual capacity of an NMS in a middle- or low-income ence of the supplier, as well as reviews of that supplier, are country to effectively regulate the private sector. There compared before the supplier is engaged. In other words, will need to be procedures in place, the regulator will need contracting takes place just like any other business procure- the requisite skills, and the NMS—staffed (hopefully) with ment. Members of the public usually do not pay for weather skilled meteorologists—will also need to be equipped to forecasts, (although they may increasingly pay for online ap- act as a sector regulator. plications for use on their computers or smart phones). Again, ■ Second, if the NMS is seeking to undertake commercial experience is usually the best way to determine which partic- weather activities, as mandated by that country’s weather ular service appears more accurate. And another point arises law, there would appear to be a conflict of interest—with from the use of modern technology: internet-based weather the regulator competing directly with the regulated. From forecasts are easily accessible, and they apply globally. It is a legal and ethical perspective, this does not look correct. possible to sit in Paris and obtain the weather forecast for Of course, a notionally independent regulator could be set Timbuctoo and Shanghai. Given that such services are (usual- up, but this would result in even greater costs. And again, ly) free, what exactly is the point of licensing national weath- the question arises: to what end? er service providers other than, perhaps, the fact that locally generated forecasts may be more accurate? 8.2.2 Access to Data Whether or not weather legislation establishes a regulatory Also, what if a private weather forecast is disastrously wrong? regime for private sector service providers, there can be sig- Weather laws often seek to protect the relevant NMS from po- nificant challenges for the private sector. In practice, the main tential liability, and it is difficult to see how the courts might issue is likely to be access to data. The two basic questions eventually hold a public service provider liable for an inac- are: (1) can the data collected by the NMS be made available curate weather forecast (Klein and Pielke 2002a). Private to the private sector in real time in a computer-readable for- weather forecasters do not have this type of statutory protec- mat; and (2) if so, under what conditions are the data made tion. Nevertheless, it may be difficult to successfully mount a available (such as, for example, a requirement for payment)? negligence claim for damages from an incorrect weather fore- cast. Klein and Pielke, writing about the likelihood of success- Whether or not data are available to the private sector will fully mounting such a claim in the United States, a famously depend on the applicable data policy. This may be set out in litigious country, note that private sector forecasters may be legislation at the national level that embraces an open data liable for damages only if it can be proven that a forecast was approach, as in the United States, and now in Europe, or it not made in good faith, was not made using reasonable care, may be in the individual formal data policy of the NMS (if or was made with intent to deceive (Klein and Pielke 2002b). such a policy even exists). In any event, private weather forecasting companies typical- ly seek to protect themselves by writing contracts that limit If an open data policy is a form of ideal, it is nevertheless their liability to clients and by purchasing liability insurance clear that it will take many years for such an approach to be (Smith 2002). the global standard. Moreover, the ability of the WMO to pro- mote open data policies for weather data and information, At the same time, it is not possible to say that the concept of notwithstanding their importance to the GWE, may be limited regulating private sector service provision is entirely wrong. by the wording of the WMO Convention; the limited powers Japan’s experience suggests that regulation can be effective that the convention grants to the WMO to adopt legally bind- in ensuring compliance with minimum standards by requiring ing rules; and the fact that this issue is usually regulated by a the employment of appropriately qualified staff. There are, much broader area of law—namely, intellectual property law. however, two important practical issues that arise regarding sector regulation. 62    How Weather Laws Support Public-Private Engagement In the meantime, an important role for a weather law may be to promote open access to weather data. BOX 8.1.  Competition Law and the MeteoSwiss Case 8.2.3 Competition Issues MeteoSwiss (formerly the Swiss Meteorological Institute, or SMA) is a nonincorporated business in the Federal Even if weather data are made available in one form or anoth- Department of Home Affairs, which is obliged by the Act er to the private sector, if the NMS is required to be self-fund- on Meteorology to execute certain sovereign tasks. One ing to some degree, there is evidently a risk of competition of those is preparing and disseminating meteorological with the private sector (Rogers et al. 2021). This may be pos- data. Although charges for the data are set by government itive in the sense that it spurs innovation. It may also be the ordinance, there is some room for discounts. case that in a given country, the market for weather services In 1996, the SMA entered into a contract to supply weath- is too small to attract the private sector, meaning that the er data to the state-owned Swiss Broadcast Company only possible source of tailored commercial service provision (Schweizerische Rundfunk Gesellschaft, SRG). In July 1998, is the NMS. it made an offer for services similar to those of Meteotest, a private weather forecast enterprise, for a sum amount- ing to about twice the amount paid by the SRG. The However, the fact remains that by virtue of its public funding Competition Authority then stepped in, prohibiting dis- and the fact that it is the holder of weather data, the NMS will crimination between trading partners as an abuse of a invariably be in a dominant economic position with regard to dominant position. But the SMA lodged an appeal before the private sector. In many countries, a public undertaking the Swiss Supreme Court, arguing that the Swiss Cartels such as a public NMS is subject to competition law rules that Act did not apply to it, given its status as a state-owned prevent the abuse of a dominant position (UNCTAD 2015). enterprise whose prices were set by ordinance. The Swiss Supreme Court upheld the SMA’s appeal. This is certainly the case in the EU—and also Switzerland, where the law was modified following the MeteoSwiss case Subsequently, the Swiss Cartels Act was revised in 2004 (see box 8.1) with the introduction of a new article 2 para. 1bis—which provides that “undertakings are all consumers or suppli- ers of goods or services active in commerce regardless In other countries, however, competition law may be less of their legal or organizational form.” The result is that developed or accessible. And, in any event, a private weath- the application of competition law is now neutral as to er service provider will be litigating against its future data the ownership and organizational form of companies supplier, which may not portend a prosperous future relation- (UNCTAD 2015). ship. But the discriminatory supply of data is only part of the picture. The fact remains that an NMS is publicly funded and, in practice, it may be difficult to clearly distinguish between Ultimately, the question of whether an NMS should seek to different cost bases. provide commercial services beyond its core public tasks is not simply a legal one. However, if the NMS does provide The UK Met Office is effectively split—with staff, costs, and commercial services in actual or potential competition with services being placed in the private or public block, depend- the private sector, a range of complex legal questions may ing upon whether they are considered to be addressing pub- arise. These would center on regulation; the use or reuse of lic needs. In Iceland, Article 4 of its weather law states that data (and the conditions for this); and how competition law “[t]he part of the Icelandic Meteorological Office’s operations applies to the extent to which the NMS’s services are subsi- that is operated on a commercial basis in a competitive mar- dized and the extent to which it may abuse its dominant posi- ket shall be financially separated from other aspects of the tion in the market for weather services. operation and the remuneration for it shall be based on the market price.” But there will always be room for argument as to the precise basis for this type of cost allocation.    63 Conclusions Although international law does not set out binding rules for the provision 9 of weather services or require the adoption of weather legislation at the na- tional level, to date some 69 countries have adopted their own weather laws. Moreover, the pace of adoption seems to be increasing; more than 45 of those laws have been adopted since the beginning of the century. And weather leg- islation is generally adopted in the form of primary legislation, in laws or acts of parliament. Benefits of independent legal personality. While legislation is not necessary to set up a national meteorological service (NMS), in most cases the basic focus of weather legislation is the establishment and operation of an NMS. If it is established with independent legal personality, this often opens the possibility that it can generate income from the sale of weather services, although in reality it will seldom, if ever, become fully self-funding. It will always require some public funding to cover its core public functions for weather observation and basic forecasting. Establishing an NMS as an independent legal entity also offers the possibility that (1) it can be run on business lines as a service provider rather than a government department, and (2) it can be better able to respond to the needs of its clients and to recruit and remunerate its staff in a manner that rewards effective performance. But even if weather legislation does not confer an in- dependent legal personality on the NMS concerned, it will usually have the effect of (1) raising its profile, (2) clarifying its relationship with other gov- ernment services that need its products, and (3) strengthening its position in Flood gauge on partly flooded road. © mtcurado | istock annual budget negotiations and allocations. Benefits of public-private engagement. Weather legislation either ignores the private sector provision of weather services; effectively excludes a role for private sector; seeks to regulate the private sector; or, in a minority of cases, actually seeks to promote the private sector provision of weather ser- vices. However, in practice, a key challenge for public-private engagement in general—and private sector weather service providers in particular—concerns access to weather data and information. This in turn depends on the specific data policy of the relevant NMS. It also depends on the generally applicable rules in the jurisdiction concerned with the use and re-use of publicly funded data and information, as well as the data and information that are subject to the intellectual property rights (IPRs) held by the NMS. 64    Conclusions The result is that weather legislation alone will usually not Future research and analysis—and building on this desk re- be sufficient to promote effective public-private engagement view of current weather legislation—could draw on a series until and unless open data policies are adopted by the rel- of case studies and interviews with public and private stake- evant NMS. Furthermore, to the extent that private weather holders to analyze how weather legislation is implemented in service providers are subject to regulation by the NMS, con- practice. It could also be useful to undertake a more detailed flicts of interest and even competition law issues may arise analysis of how NMSs interact with the private sector in terms if the NMS is effectively competing with such providers for of data sharing use and re-use for both intellectual property providing weather services on a commercial basis. law and competition law to provide a more solid basis and facilitate future public-private engagements. Storm surge striking West Bengal and Bangladesh during tropical cyclone Bulbul. © SB Stock | istock    65 Appendix A. Legal Instruments Cited International Laws Convention on International Civil Aviation, 1944. 33 United Nations, Treaty Series (UNTS) 294. https://treaties.un.org/Pages/showDetails. aspx?objid=0800000280163d69&clang=_en. Convention of the World Meteorological Organization, 1947, 77 United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS) 143. https://treaties.un.org/pages/showDetails. aspx?objid=0800000280157e8e. Convention on the International Maritime Organization, 1948. 289 United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS) 48. https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/ UNTS/Volume%201276/volume-1276-I-4214-English.pdf. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 1992. 1771 United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS) 107. https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/ conveng.pdf. Paris Agreement, 2016. International Legal Materials, Volume 55, Issue 4, August 2016, pp. 740 – 755. https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/ parisagreement_publication.pdf. Regional Agreements Convention Establishing the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, 1975. https://www.ecmwf.int/sites/default/files/ convention_protocol_privileges_original_en.pdf. Convention for the Establishment of a European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), 1986. https://www. jaxa.jp/library/space_law/chapter_3/3-2-2-6/index_e.html. Agreement for the Establishment of the Economic Interest Grouping EUMETNET, 2009. https://www.eumetnet.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/ Final_EIG_agreement_17092009_EN.pdf. 66    Appendix A. Legal Instruments Cited European Union Chile – Supreme Decree No. 714 of March 26, 1884, estab- lishing Meteorological Observation Systems Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on open data and the re-use China – Weather Law of the People’s Republic of China, 1999 of public sector information (OJ L 172, 26.6.2019, p. 56). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX Costa Rica – Law No. 5022 on the Establishment of the %3A32019L1024. National Meteorological Institute, 1973 National Weather Laws Côte d’Ivoire – Decree 97-228 of 16 April 1997 on the cre- ation of SODEXAM – Company for airport, aeronautical and Algeria – Executive Decree no. 98-258 of 3 Joumada El Ouala meteorological operation and development 1419 (corresponding to 25 August 1998) transforming the National Meteorological Office into a public establishment of Croatia – Law on Meteorological and Hydrological Activity, an industrial and commercial nature 2019 Argentina – Decree 1432/2007 Czech Republic – Government Order of 27 November 1953 on the Hydrometeorological Institute Armenia – Law of the Republic of Armenia on Hydro- Meteorological Activities, February 7, 2001 Eswatini – The National Meteorological Services Act, 1992 Australia – Meteorology Act, 1955 as amended Finland – Law on the Finnish Meteorological Institute, 6.4.2018/212 Austria – imperial decree establishing the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics of 23 July 1851 France – Decree n ° 93-861 of June 18, 1993 Creating the pub- lic establishment Météo-France Azerbaijan – Law of the Azerbaijan Republic of April 17, 1998 No. 485-IG About Hydrometeorological Activities Gabon – Decree No. 0919/PR/MRPICIRNDH of December 29, 2010 on the creation, powers and organization of the General Bangladesh – Meteorological Act, 2018 Directorate of Meteorology Botswana – National Meteorological Service Act, 2014 Germany – Law on the German Weather Service, 1998 Belarus – Law of the Republic of Belarus, December 10, 2020 Ghana – Ghana Meteorological Agency Act, 2004 No. 64-З On the modification of the Law of the Republic of Belarus About hydrometeorological activities Guinea-Bissau – Decree-Law No. 11/2011 Establishing the National Institute of Meteorology of Guinea-Bissau Belgium – Royal Decree of 31 July 31 1913 establishing the organic regulations of the Royal Observatory of Belgium and Iceland – Act on the Icelandic Meteorological Office 2008 no. of the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium 70 11 June 2009 Benin – Decree No. 2018 - 432 of September 19, 2018 ap- Indonesia – Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 31 proving the statutes of the National Meteorological Agency Year 2009 about Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics (Météo-Benin) Japan – Meteorological Services Act, No. 165 of June 2, 1952 Canada – Weather Modification Information Act R.S.C., 1985 Appendix A. Legal Instruments Cited   67 Kenya – The Kenya Meteorology Act, 2019 Russian Federation – Federal Law dated 19.07.1998 On the Hydrometeorological Service Korea, Republic of Rwanda – Law N ° 54 bis / 2011 OF 12/14/2011 Establishing ■ Weather Act, 2007 the Rwandan Meteorology Agency (Meteo Rwanda) and ■ Weather Industry Promotion Act, 2009 Determining its Mission, Organization and Operation ■ Weather Observation Standardization Act, 2005 Senegal – Decree establishing and setting the organizational Kyrgyz Republic – Law of the Kyrgyz Republic of August 8, and operating rules of the National Agency for Civil Aviation 2006 No. 154 About hydrometeorological activities in the and Meteorology (ANCAM), 2011 Kyrgyz Republic Serbia – Law on Meteorological and Hydrological Activity, Lao People’s Democratic Republic – The Law on Meteorology 2010 and Hydrology, 2017 Seychelles – Meteorology Act, 2015 Mauritius – Meteorological Services Act, 2019 Sierra Leone – The Sierra Leone Meteorological Agency Act, Moldova – Law No. 1536 of 25.02.1998 “On hydrometeoro- 2017 logical activity” Slovakia – Law of 29 April 2009 on the State Hydrological Montenegro – Law on Hydrometeorological Works, No. 26 of Service and the State Meteorological Service 2010 Slovenia – Law on Sate Meteorological, Hydrological and Netherlands – Law of 23 September 2015, Containing rules Oceanographic Services, 2017 on government care in the field of meteorology and seismolo- gy (Meteorology and Seismology Tasks Act) Solomon Islands – Meteorology Act, 1985 New Zealand – Meteorological Services Act 1990 South Africa – South African Weather Service Act, 2001 Nigeria – Nigerian Meteorological Agency (Establishment, Spain – Royal Decree 186/2008, of February 8, approving the Etc.) Act, 2003 Statute of the State Meteorological Agency. Niue – Meteorological Services Act, 2013 Switzerland – Federal Law on Meteorology and Climatology (LMét) of June 18, 1999 North Macedonia – National Law of Hydrometeorological Activities, 2008 Tajikistan – Law of the Republic of Tajikistan on December 2, 2002 #86 On the hydro meteorology service Peru – Law No. 24031 - Organic Law of the National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI), 1984 Tanzania – Tanzania Meteorological Authority Act, 2018 Portugal – Decree-Law No. 68/2012 Creating the Portuguese Tonga – Meteorology Act, 2017 Institute of Sea and Atmosphere. Turkmenistan – Law of Turkmenistan of September 15, 1999 Romania – Law no. 139/2000 On meteorology activity No. 392-I About hydrometeorological activities 68    Appendix A. 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