Earth observation technologies enable countries to better integrate geospatial and other key information into global development policies (photo credit: United Nations)

By David Singh

GENEVA, 5 December, 2017: A number of meetings and declarations in recent weeks have emphasized the importance of space technologies in supporting UN Member States to implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the global plan to reduce disaster losses by 2030.

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction , Mr. Robert Glasser, commented: “Thanks to technological progress made in the past few years, geospatial information at the right scale and definition can be made available and provides critical elements to better understand exposure to disaster risk due to natural and human made hazards. It can also assist in ensuring a risk-sensitive approach to development planning to avoid the creation of new risk."

The Bonn Declaration, adopted on November 24 at a UN /Germany International Conference on International Cooperation towards Low Emission, Resilient Societies specifically calls on the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the UN OffIce for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) to work with the space community and relevant partners to develop robust solutions for disaster risk reduction.

The Bonn Declaration also calls on the World Meteorological Organization, UN agencies, the Group on Earth Observations, and other relevant organizations, to facilitate the identification of relevant satellite data and information to respond to requests from stakeholders, particularly from developing countries, in order to help with implementation of the Sendai Framework, the Paris Agreement on climate and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Declaration calls on UNOOSA and UNISDR to build on the pilots of the Committee of Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), and the UN Platform for Space-based information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER).