Foreword

As climate change accelerates and risk landscapes evolve in unprecedented ways, the imperative to understand, anticipate and reduce disaster risk has never been greater. Because disaster risk is inherently dynamic, static maps and assessments are no longer sufficient. Earth observation satellites offer a powerful lens on our changing world, enabling near real-time monitoring of hazards such as wildfires, cyclones and floods as they evolve. In doing so, they deepen our understanding of risks and potential impacts on communities, economies and critical infrastructure.

This transformative capability makes satellite data critical to enhancing early warning and early action, as called for in the Early Warnings for All initiative. When combined with ground-based and airborne observations, local knowledge and forward-looking projections, they can support long-term disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation planning, while helping to mobilise the resources needed to act at scale. During implementation, they can also track the progress of large-scale interventions such as reforestation programmes and the strengthening of coastal defences.

I welcome the 2026 edition of the Earth Observation Handbook, with its focus on resilience and adaptation, and commend the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites for its leadership in expanding access to satellite data.

With less than four years remaining to achieve the ambitions of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, I encourage disaster risk management agencies, as well as all stakeholders, to draw on this handbook to better leverage satellite Earth observations in their work.

By harnessing space-based technologies to bridge knowledge gaps on the ground, we can help countries anticipate hazards before they become disasters, thereby saving lives and livelihoods and advancing Resilience for All.

As the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), we are pleased to introduce this 2026 Earth Observation Handbook on Adaptation and Resilience.

CEOS was established to strengthen international coordination of civil space-based Earth observation activities and to promote the accessibility and effective use of satellite data worldwide. That mission is especially important in the context of adaptation and resilience. No single agency, mission or observing system can meet the full range of information needs required to understand and respond to climate risk. Through cooperation across agencies and with partner organisations, we work to ensure that satellite observations are better coordinated, more accessible and more responsive to societal needs.

Adaptation and resilience present a particularly important challenge for the Earth observation community. Unlike applications focused on a single variable or sector, adaptation requires integrated information across hazards, exposure, vulnerability, ecosystems, infrastructure and human systems. It also requires data that can support the full adaptation cycle: risk assessment, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Satellite observations, used alongside in-situ, modelled and socio-economic data, are increasingly central to this task.

This Handbook demonstrates the breadth of ways in which Earth observation can support adaptation and resilience, from drought and flood monitoring to agricultural planning, coastal management, urban heat assessment, ecosystem conservation and climate services. It also underscores a critical point: Earth observation delivers its full value only when data is translated into actionable information and integrated within decision-making and operational workflows. Delivering this depends not only on satellite capability, but also on data access, analytical tools, strong institutional partnerships, user engagement and sustained capacity-building.

Across CEOS, we are contributing to this effort through coordinated missions, open data policies, analysis-ready data, thematic initiatives, capacity-development activities and partnerships with user communities and international frameworks such as the Group on Earth Observations (GEO). Our shared challenge is not simply to observe the planet, but to ensure that observations help societies anticipate risk, reduce vulnerability and build resilience.

We commend all those who contributed to this handbook and see it as an important example of how the global Earth observation community can support practical action on one of the defining challenges of our time.