Space for Climate Observatory
Now well established on every continent, the impacts of climate change are affecting lives and ecosystems, disrupting economies and, in turn, threatening peace and prosperity.
An initiative launched by space agencies and joined by other public and private entities, Space for Climate Observatory is a factory of decision-making tools to adapt to the impacts of climate change and preserve biodiversity.
Since its birth in June 2019, SCO has accredited 57 projects, developed in 80 territories, on all continents.
In line with the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda, SCO and its projects address all issues related to the impacts of climate change, in all environments.
SCO philosophy consists of accelerating local scientific projects to transform them into operational tools thanks to satellite data, combined with other data sets: in situ measurements, drone images, socio-economic data, etc.
In order for the tools developed to benefit the greatest number of people, they must be transposed to other territories by adapting to their own characteristics. To this end, each country that has signed the SCO Charter undertakes to set up a national branch that organises calls for projects in order to identify the most promising.
In this spirit of sharing, data from some SCO projects, like TropiSCO which monitors tropical deforestation, will be accessed from the MapX cartographic application where it is possible to overlay it with other environmental data (e.g., population, hydrology, risk, protected areas etc.) to conduct further analysis.
SCO Projects designate satellite-based applications for climate change monitoring, mitigation and adaptation supported by SCO Signatories and meeting the following criteria:
- C1. Addressing the needs of End users within a specific geographic area;
- C2. Proposing operational and practical software(s);
- C3. Making the best use of available satellite, environmental, climate, in situ and socio-economic data, at a resolution adapted to the problem;
- C4. Building on (pre-)operational and research infrastructures, services and local data provision;
- C5. Having a built-in potential for extending to several geographic areas.
To achieve the objectives, a SCO project is intended to bring together several families of actors in its consortium, including at least the scientific community, whose research work feeds into the solutions developed, and national and local public actors, who are often the end users of the tools implemented.
SCO International: 2024 Edition
27/05/2024 - Following its first international call for projects, the SCO is proud to announce the approval of 17 projects, which will be supported by 6 national SCOs: China, Gabon, Italy, the Philippines, the UK and the USA.
SCO France: 2024 Edition
29/03/2024 - The fifth call for projects of SCO France resulted in the approval of 11 projects covering several areas of climate change impacts. With water management still at the heart of our concerns, this year saw an increase in the number of digital twins and a clear focus on the African continent.
SCO Portfolio: the 2024 edition is here!
19/02/2024 - To all SCO projects and team spirit aficionados, the new SCO Portfolio is now available. It compiles all the projects accredited from 2020 to 2023 and has a new section: services that are operational and available! Download or order.