Episode 4: Inside a commercial national met service

In this episode of The WeatherPod, we've invited Peter Lennox, formerly the CEO of the New Zealand Met Service, into the studio to discuss the operation of a national meteorological service as a commercial enterprise.

Peter, from Belfast Northern Ireland, is uniquely qualified to talk on this topic. From 2011 to 2020 has was the Chief Executive of the New Zealand Meteorological Service which was established as a state-owned enterprise on 1 July 1992.

This came about mainly as a result of pressures also being faced by an increasing number of national meteorological services – chiefly, the pressure to earn money on their activities rather than rely entirely on taxpayer funding.

But does such a change in status from a straightforward public service to a commercial enterprise charged with earning money on its services pose any problems or contradictions? For example, is the the requirement to issue public weather warnings or to provide national security support compromised as a result?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.