We are proud of our research community who have enabled WCRP to provide the global scientific leadership and coordination needed to address frontier scientific questions related to the coupled climate system.
On this International Women’s Day, we especially want to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions and achievements of the women researchers across our WCRP community. You have played a significant role in WCRP’s impact and success.
Looking to the future, diversity in our workforce and partnerships will continue to be critically important for WCRP. But there is much work to do to ensure that our WCRP research community is inclusive and that barriers and impediments are being identified and addressed.
It is worth noting that in 2020 women comprised just over a third (34%) of the membership of our core WCRP activities approved by the Joint Scientific Committee. This falls short of equal representation and is below the more modest target of no more than 60% of any one gender that other organizations are setting as a starting point. As the new WCRP is rolled out, we must enact more concrete ways to improve the diversity of our WCRP community – across science disciplines, geography, cultures and gender. As JSC Chair and Vice Chair, we are committed to leading the way for WCRP, although we will need your suggestions and support – it will take a community effort.
Detlef Stammer and Helen Cleugh