Gianpaolo Balsamo

Director at the World Meteorological Organization

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Gianpaolo Balsamo serves as the director at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), having joined in 2024 to lead the Global Greenhouse Gas Watch (G3W). This new flagship initiative aims to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement through the use of Earth Observations and Earth System Models. The G3W is dedicated to providing authoritative and precise data to support the Global Stocktake and the Nationally Determined Contributions under the Enhanced Transparency Framework of the Paris Agreement. Before this role, Balsamo coordinated the CO2 Human Emission European project, a precursor to the Copernicus CO2 service, CoCO2. This project was developed by the European Commission’s Earth Observation Programme, Copernicus, with support from the Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe Research Frameworks. Balsamo holds a Ph.D. and a professorial accreditation from the University Paul Sabatier Toulouse III in Earth System Science. He is also an invited professor for the Climate Change Solutions Master’s program at the Politecnico di Torino. Prior to his affiliation with the WMO, he joined the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) in 2006, where he was a principal scientist. His focus was on Earth system coupled process modelling within the Integrated Forecasting System of the ECMWF, a world leader in weather forecasting and climate reanalysis, such as ERA5. Earlier in his career, Balsamo worked for Environment & Climate Change Canada in Montréal, where he pioneered the Canadian Land Data Assimilation System (CaLDAS). He also specialized in data assimilation of Earth Observations at Météo-France in Toulouse. Born and educated in Torino, Balsamo has a deep affection for his city and region. To date, he has lived and worked in five countries: Italy, France, Canada, the UK, and currently, Switzerland.