Professor Petteri Taalas was appointed in May 2015 as the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and re-appointed in June 2019 for another four yearmandate (2020 to 2023). He was born in 1961 in Helsinki, Finland. He holds a PhD in Meteorology (Helsinki University, Physics department 1993, Univ. of Eastern Finland: meteorology, physics, physical chemistry and international development)

Before joining WMO he was the Director-General of the Finnish Meteorological Institute 2002-2005, 2007-2015 (National weather, climate and marine Institute). He has also held positions in International development and scientific fields: Director of Development and Regional Activities Department of WMO, Geneva 2005-2007; Research professor on Remote Sensing/FMI 2000-2002; Senior scientist/scientist at the FMI 1986-1999. He is also a Member of various international activities:  Member of WMO Executive Council 2008-2015; Chairman of EUMETSAT Council 2010-2014 (European Meteorological Satellite Organization); Chairman of EUMETNET Council 2003-2005 ; (EUMETNET is a network of 31 European National Meteorological Services based in Brussels); Member of ECMWF Council 2002-5, 2007-2015, (The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts is an independent intergovernmental organisation supported by most of the nations of Europe and is based at Shinfield Park, Reading, UK) ; Principal Delegate of Finland to IPCC 2007-15 (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) ; Member of American Meteorological Society 2007-2014 ; Honorary Doctor, Teri University, India (2016) ; Honorary Member 2015, China Meteorological Association ; Chairman of the Board of University of Eastern Finland (2009-2015) ; Member Board of Directors of Fortum Energy Company (2013-2015).