The WCRP was established in 1980, under the joint sponsorship of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Council for Science (ICSU), and has also been sponsored by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO since 1993.
它于1980年，在国际科学理事会和世界气象组织的联合赞助下成立，自1993年以来也得到联合国教科文组织的政府间海洋学委员会(Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission)的赞助。