Mr Abdalah Mokssit is the Secretary of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He has a long experience with the IPCC and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). He is a former Vice-Chair of IPCC Working Group I, which deals with the physical science basis of climate change. He is also a former Third Vice-President of the World Meteorological Congress of WMO and was member of several WMO commissions including the Commission on Climatology and the Commission for Basic Systems.
Mr Mokssit, born in Azrou, Morocco in 1961, obtained his Masters Degree in Mathematics from the University of Rabat in 1983, his graduate degree in Meteorology from the National School of Meteorology of Toulouse, Météo-France in 1985 and second graduate degree in Telematics and Information Systems from SUPELEC in France in 1987. He also has a diploma of High Management Course of the Ministry of the Public Works of Morocco.
Mr Mokssit has an extensive experience in strategic management. In July 1987, he joined the Centre of Studies and Information Processing in Morocco and became the Chief of dynamic meteorology service of Morocco in 1991. In July 1992, he became the Head of a Division in the National Centre for Climate and Meteorological Research (CNCRM) in Morocco and in January 2005 was appointed as the Deputy Director of the National Meteorological Department of Morocco and Head of the CNCRM. In February 2009, Mr Mokssit was appointed as the Director of the National Meteorological Department of Morocco.
At the National Meteorological Service of Morocco, he has focused on upgrading forecasting, from nowcasting to long-range forecasting; improving warning and crisis management for extreme events; and generating regional models of climate change scenarios, climate change sector impact studies and services for end users. In May 1996, His Majesty, the late King Hassan II of Morocco awarded the «National Order of Merit, Excellent Class» to Mr Mokssit for his contribution to the modernization of the National Meteorology. He was also awarded the medals “Chevalier” and “Commandeur” personallyby His Majesty King Mohamed VI.
Mr Mokksit has been active in international cooperation with regional and international centres such as the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, the African. Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) and the ALADIN, a European group of countries working on numerical weather prediction. Mr Mokssit has received the medal Le Verrier in recognition of his work achieved on expanding the use of the PERIDOT model to North Africa and Eastern Europe and the initiation of the international project ALADIN.