Earth Observations for the Sustainable Development Goals

Concept

EO4SDG will help GEO organize efforts to promote Earth Intelligence in support of the advancement of the UN SDG Agenda and the multilateral framework(s) on sustainable development that will follow beyond 2030. The cross-cutting nature of the SDG Agenda lays out paths for specific Earth intelligence solutions in support of human and environmental prosperity via targets and indicators.

It is crucial that an outlet remains for the GEO community to keep sharing expertise and amplifying EO data and methodology successes for sustainable development policy and to elevate external awareness of GEO’s capacity to assist countries with progress monitoring and reporting as frameworks evolve. This Enabler will also reinforce the complementary nature of in situ and remotely sensed EO data, geospatial data, and citizen science to advance cooperation between national statistical, mapping, and space agencies, and UN custodian agencies. Likewise, EO4SDG will welcome new people from across the GEO community to bring diverse perspectives to the acceleration of sustainable development through technology.

EO4SDG will play three key roles for the GEO community:

Internal and external communication of achievements to foster replication of successful Earth intelligence methods for sustainable development themes in coordination with the respective GWP elements.

Consulting GEO Members and GWP elements on navigating the SDG policy landscape for decision-making, solutions deployment, and engagement with UN custodian agencies.

Advocating for GEO’s participation in planning activities of the post-2030 sustainable development agenda and other MEAs to maintain a strong voice on the integration of Earth observations, ensuring it remains integral to decision-making at global, regional, national, and local levels.

With the approach of 2030 and the anticipated transition to new multilateral frameworks, EO4SDG’s mission remains crucial. In the next five years and beyond, countries will still need assistance with EO adoption, capacity building, and scaling. The programmatic assets and community fostered by EO4SDG as a GEO Initiative from 2016–2025 will continue to support the nexus of sustainable development data contributors and users. However, this will be a renewed community with new leadership and forward-thinking activities to propel GEO’s deployment of solutions for EO-driven decision-making.

The GEO Post-2025 Strategy recognizes the importance of supporting the UN Common Agenda’s key elements to “accelerate an integrated response and to enhance GEO’s global partnership along all stages of the Earth observation value chain.” Built around the desire to accelerate SDG implementation, the Common Agenda prioritizes the improvement of global digital cooperation and planetary protection efforts. By bringing together Members, Regional GEOs, Participating Organizations, and Associates, EO4SDG will help GEO demonstrate its broad applicability to support those focal points and many others as the UN looks toward the next few decades.

Objectives

Sustainable development encompasses the realms of human well-being, economy, and environment on a local-to-global scale. Its natural multidimensionality as a concept and as a policy framework through the current 2030 Agenda requires this Enabler to be in alignment with all six Focus Areas, as well as the pursuits of Equity & Inclusion and Open Data, Knowledge, and Infrastructure. Although EO data can support the assessment of many more SDG indicators, much methodological focus has been placed on applications for SDG 6: Clean Water & Sanitation, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities, SDG 13: Climate Action, SDG 14: Life Below Water, and SDG 15: Life on Land.

In alignment with the IAEG-SDGs Working Group on Geospatial Information, we affirm the importance of strengthening global coordination and coherence of all EO- and geospatially enabled SDGs. This Enabler will also help the GEO community navigate processes to influence the development of the post-2030 framework, such that Earth observations and geospatial data are well-represented.

EO4SDG can illuminate how the Post-2025 Enablers and R2O activities are aligned with the current SDGs and, later, the goals established in the next sustainable development framework. This would help the GEO community understand where data product gaps may exist, where opportunities exist for cross-GWP co-development, and how to connect global stakeholders to the data and expertise they need. By engaging with other GWP elements, this Enabler can use its network within the sustainable development community to showcase knowledge and solutions that can anchor GEO’s reputation as a viable provider of sustainable development data and analytical solutions.

It is also important that EO4SDG stays in close collaboration with the other three Strategic Engagement Priority Enablers, on account of the natural synergies of those topic areas and their respective multilateral frameworks with the SDG Agenda.