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UN-GGIM Foreword
The integration of statistics, geospatial
information, Earth observations, and other sources
of Big Data, combined with new emerging
technologies, analytics and processes, are
becoming a fundamental requirement for countries
to measure and monitor local to global sustainable
development policies and programs. Today a large
proportion of the global community have an
entirely different set of Earth observations and
geospatial information uses, needs and
expectations than they did 10 years ago. But more
is needed.
Adopted by the United
Nations General Assembly in September 2015, the
broad and transformative nature of the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development has ushered in a new
era in thinking about global development. With 17
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 169 targets
and a global indicator framework, presently
consisting of 232 indicators, the 2030 Agenda
requires us to consider new and innovative means
to curtail the many development challenges in
order to ‘leave no one behind’, and with
commensurate new and innovative data sources and
methods. As the implementation of the 2030 Agenda
gains momentum, Member States and the global
community are now also beginning to understand the
commensurate prospects for using Earth
observations and geospatial information as
fundamental inputs for realizing the 2030 Agenda.
The United Nations Committee of
Experts on Global Geospatial Information
Management (UN-GGIM) is advancing new approaches
to data by implementing a global policy framework
that will enable countries to better integrate
geospatial and other key information into global
development policies and into their own national
plans. Established in 2011, UN-GGIM sets
directions for the production and use of
geospatial information within national and global
policy frameworks, and for building and
strengthening geospatial information capacity of
nations, especially of developing countries.
Through partnerships within the UN system and with
organizations such as the World Bank, the Group on
Earth Observations (GEO), the Committee on Earth
Observations Satellites (CEOS), and other global
actors, our combined ability to contribute towards
an interconnected data ecosystem that will allow
Member States to properly plan for and implement
the SDGs, will be realized.
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CEOS has a long and well recognized
history for producing publications that
promote the importance of satellite Earth
observations in support of society’s
challenges. This latest Handbook continues
that rich and valuable journey, and focusing
on the contribution of satellite Earth
observations in support of the Sustainable
Development Goals, their targets and global
indicator framework. The Handbook provides
us with valuable global sustainable
development and Earth observations context
and guidance, and then captures the
different dimensions and perspectives on the
role and importance of Earth observations
data, including specific examples, for
supporting the implementation of the SDGs.
Importantly, the Handbook recognizes and
informs National Statistical Offices and the
broader statistical community as to how
geospatial information, Earth observations
and other new data sources can reliably and
consistently contribute to the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development.
The
ways in which the aspirations of the 2030
Agenda have been embraced by the global
community has been quite phenomenal and has
generated great expectations for us to make
real development progress. This Handbook is
a significant and strategic contribution
towards guiding the way in which countries
collectively manage and transform the
social, economic and environmental
dimensions of people and the planet through
to at least 2030.
Dr. Li Pengde
Deputy Director General
National Administration of Surveying, Mapping
and Geoinformation (NASG) of China
Co-Chair, UN-GGIM
Ms. Dorine Burmanje
Chairperson Executive Board
The Netherlands Cadastre, Land Registry and
Mapping Agency
Co-Chair, UN-GGIM
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CEOS Message
The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites
(CEOS) – established under the aegis of the G7
Economic Summit of Industrial Nations in 1984 –
ensures international coordination of the civil
Earth-observing programmes of more than 30 of the
world’s leading space agencies. These agencies are
collectively investing billions of dollars in
space infrastructure with the capability to
provide precise, continuous and sustained
observations of the entire planet. Recognising
that no single country can satisfy all of the
observational requirements necessary for
monitoring of the Earth system, governments are
taking steps through CEOS to harmonise and
integrate their observing network.
The
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a
milestone in our progress towards a sustainable
society, being the first data-driven international
framework for development policies. The 2030
Agenda seeks to serve all countries, and effective
reporting over the next 15 years will require
significant effort in the utilisation of
supporting data. In combination with the
traditional statistical, socio-economic data used
by countries, geospatial information and Earth
observations, with modern data processing and big
data analytics, offer unprecedented opportunities
to make a quantum leap in the capacities of
countries to efficiently track all facets of
sustainable development and to make viable the
prospect of a global indicator framework for the
SDGs.
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This report has been compiled to help
develop a broader understanding of the fundamental,
strategic importance of satellite Earth observation
data to the 2030 Agenda. Satellites have a role to
play in relation to most of the agreed Goals and
have been shown to have the potential to support
national reporting against a quarter of the
associated targets, and to inform national
development policies. Satellite data providers and
enablers have already taken steps through CEOS and
the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) to ensure
coordination of their engagement with the 2030
Agenda. These efforts must be linked effectively to
the work of the UN Agencies and other international
partners, responsible as ‘Custodian Agencies’ for
the development of workable and robust methodologies
for the reporting by countries against the SDG
Indicator Framework. National Statistical Offices
must also be supported in understanding the
opportunities and the challenges inherent in the
application of large Earth observation datasets for
the development of evidence. Individual countries
are the most important players as the implementers
of the SDGs and of the resulting development
policies. We are confident that this CEOS Report on
SDGs can serve as a valuable reference source for a
variety of readers from all sectors of society,
including those engaged in the 2030 Agenda process,
as well as decision-makers in political and
socio-economic sectors. It is our firm belief that
satellite Earth observations can support the
realisation of the promise of the SDGs to ensure
that no one is left behind.
Dr. Philippe Brunet
Director for Space Policy, Copernicus and Defence
Directorate-General Internal Market, Industry,
Entrepreneurship and SMEs
European Commission CEOS Chairperson for 2018
Dr. Josef Aschbacher
Director of Earth Observation Programmes
European Space Agency (ESA)
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