Session 9. New activities

André Obregón, Rapporteur

GEO Work Plan SymposiumGeneva, 5-7 May 2015

New activities

1. New elements of existing Flagships

2. Proposals for Flagships

3. Proposed activities (Initiatives, Community Activities, Foundational Tasks)

4. Frameworks for future activities

New elements of existing Flagships

1. GEOGLAM: new developments• Early Warning Crop Monitor (EWCM)

• Rangelands and Pasture Productivity (RAPP)

• Joint Experiment for Crop Assessment and Monitoring (JECAM)

2. Observation System in a Box• Generic toolbox to help countries set up a national

observation system

• Increase the probability of countries setting up an observation system; end-to-end continuity

• Similar challenges in other tasks? Need for a GEO Foundational Task?

New proposals for Flagships(already considered in the WP draft)

1. A Global Observing System for Persistent Chemical Pollutants• C1: Global Mercury Obs System, C2: Global Monitoring of

Persistent Organ Pollutants (POPs), Emerging Contaminants and Global Change Indicators

• Impacts: a) Policy: quantification on pollutants in support of implementation and verification of international treaties b) Human health: increase awareness of impacts of pollutants, c) Technology: develop SDI and web services for Hg and POPs

• Bilateral agreements established and funding sources

New proposals for Flagships(already considered in the WP draft)

2. Ecosystems Flagship• Strong need for EO data to monitor status of ecosystems

and ecosystem services

• Projects: ECOPOTENTIAL and SWOS

• Flagship will be able to support the extension of the global monitoring ecosystem activity

• Improve current and future ecosystem benefits through EO;

• based on an already developed prototype service

New proposals for Flagships(already considered in the WP draft)

3. Carbon Flagship• Motivation: need for more high quality and standardized data

• Goal: global, integrated, financially sustaining, long-term observation system for the carbon cycle and GHG

• Providing data to help inform mitigation and adaption policies; inform society

• Path to this aim: start as a candidate flagship, open for partnerships

New proposed activities

1. New initiatives on Energy• Discrepancy between mineral activities and renewables in the

current task,• Re-organization:

• Community activity EO data and mineral resources (part of EN-01)

• GEO Initiative: EO data and renewable energies (part of EN-01) (potential for a GEO Flagship)

• Tentative target: Develop tools and information for the Resource Assessment, Monitoring of Renewable energy sources

2. Global Human Settlement Layer• Develop a new generation of measurements and information

products, new scientific evidence about global human settlement

• Support global policy processes with agreed actionable and goal-driven metrics (UN HABITAT, Sendai Framework, SDG)

New proposed activities

3. Cultural heritage• Proposed GEO Community Activity

• Motivation: value of cultural heritages well-recognized but under threat; EO can highly accelerate the documentation of CH

• Proposal: Mobilize multidisciplinary communities in EO, provide forum to exchange knowledge and expertise, showcase best practice

4. Socio-economic benefits and impacts of EO data and information • Proposed GEO Foundational Task

• Link data to information to knowledge to decision and policy making

• How to measure impact, what are benefits of reducing uncertainty and increasing foreseeability?

• Expand the use of impact assessment method to GEO SBAs

Framework for future activities

1. Disasters: How to address Sendai Framework• WCDRR results: Sendai Framework for DRR 2015-2030

• Several priorities for actions relate to EO

• Framework for proposals in the new Work Programme

2. Sustainable Development Goals• What role GEO/EO should play in post2015/SDG (identify areas

monitoring, implementation)

• How do you see your group playing a role in that? (explain exact roles)

• Plan of implementation and recommendation for post2015

The SDGs and their role in GEO post-2015

Comments

• GEO/EO is crucial to monitor targets/indicators; integrate knowledge and data, monitoring is the key towards progress;

• EO data can help to progress towards achievements of the goals (e.g. end hunger)

• National statistics: improve the EO data flow into national statistics, global picture; help to identify gaps and who is available to fill the gap; GEO in a good position working with UN statistics division, contacts should be leveraged; identify potential inputs into national statistics; increase national capacity through GEOSS

• GEO should act politically (working through UN org. and POs) and technically (inventory of SDG targets across all SBAS how to determine how EO can support measuring performances, identify gaps, that statistical measures cannot respond to)

The SDGs and their role in GEO post-2015

• Uncertainty about the EO/GEO roleo Criticial issue: need to figure out what exactly is needed and

how GEO can contributeo Integration of socio-economic variables not a priority; some

SDGs are less straight-forward to address with EO

• Convince stakeholder of the benefit of EO; need to expand our engagement activities to make a link to other communities (be ambitious!)o Production of a glossy brochure

The SDGs and their role in GEO post-2015

• Possible coordinated activity for the next GEO Work Programme; in parallel to the ongoing efforts of engaging and outreaching o Assessment of targets; mapping how EO could support, with

indicators to proposeo Development of the concept of a knowledge baseo Parallel feedback loop (use cases, e.g. Water SDG analysis),

to better understand and define how to support SDGs