The Full Picture

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Development

The World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2001

recognized the use of satellite data for sustainable devel-

opment and an urgent need for action in Africa.

Several European activities concentrate on natural

resources monitoring and food security, with

programmes like the African Monitoring of the

Environment for Sustainable Development (AMESD),

to be implemented and coordinated by the African

Union. AMESD is a first step in increasing the use of

Earth observation data in natural resource manage-

ment and in moving toward a continental approach to

cross-border issues. Support to the African Union

Council’s department responsible for environment is

foreseen in the area of environment integration as a

component of the larger programme to develop

African capacity.

Whilst addressing all African, Caribbean and Pacific

(ACP) countries, the focus will be on the African conti-

nent in the initial phase. The ACP Observatory will

support three main domains: sustainable management of

natural resources, food security, and crisis response/moni-

toring for security. A thematic and geographical

coordination mechanism will be put in place between the

different actions.

The European Development Consensus emphasizes

the importance of the integration of development objec-

tives into its research and development and innovation

policies. The EU will continue to assist developing coun-

tries in enhancing their domestic capacities in the areas

of science and technology. The EU should ensure that

its principles, and values such as convergence and

harmonization, effective participation and ownership by

developing countries and predominant focus on user

needs, are effectively implemented within GEOSS.

Furthermore, international endeavours such as the

Global Knowledge Partnership emphasize the urgent

need to stimulate conservation and use of indigenous

and local knowledge in a world with increasing exoge-

nous information overload. A central aspect of these

efforts will be the development of local capabilities to

generate reliable information on the location, condition

and evolution of environmental resources, food avail-

ability and crisis situations.

Conclusion

The European Commission is actively contributing to the

implementation of the GEOSS through major initiatives

like GMES, the FP of Community Research, INSPIRE and

capacity building activities (AMESD and PUMA).

GEOSS represents a major international cooperation

framework for solving global problems affecting our

planet. It provides a unique platform for the exchange of

and access to strategic observations needed to better

understand the Earth system and its functioning. The

understanding of the physical and biochemical mecha-

nisms affecting the environment as well as the monitoring

of the impact of policies is a cornerstone of the sustain-

able economic development promoted by Europe.

• Conditions of access to data required for good governance should

not impede their extensive use

• Retrieval of data, evaluation of its relevance and its conditions of

use for a specific purpose should be easy.

The

GEOSS 10-year Implementation Plan

advocates the use of existing

spatial data infrastructure components as institutional and technical

precedents in areas such as geodetic reference frames, common

geographic data, standard protocols and interoperable system interfaces.

INSPIRE contributes to the crosscutting initiatives, technologies and

systems of GEOSS through the provision of standard protocols improv-

ing data access and sharing, interoperable system interfaces, mechanisms

for allocation, transfer and use of data and detailed specifications and

standards. It demonstrates the value of an underlying architecture based

upon a system-of-systems approach through the infrastructures operated

by member states.

A Sensor Web enabled environmental data collection network

Source: Osiris project

The Ny-Ålesund station on Spitsbergen

Source: Osiris project

ATIONAL

& R

EGIONAL

EPORTS

The station will play an important role in the implementation of GEOMON to

study key compounds like HCL involved in stratospheric ozone depletion