Space for Climate Observatory. The Space for Climate Observatory, or SCO, is an international initiative launched in 2019 to combat and adapt to the impacts of climate change using satellite data.

Bringing together a range of public and private entities involved in the Earth observation sector, the SCO brings together and coordinates efforts to develop operational tools aimed at political decision-makers and the general public for monitoring, mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change at local level.

History

Context and issues 
The work of the IPCC establishes that human activity is responsible for the climate change observed by scientists. Higher temperatures, more frequent extreme weather events, rising sea levels and melting ice are some of the most visible signs, confirmed by space-based observations of essential climate variables (ECVs). Again according to the IPCC reports, the predicted increasing changes will have a cascade of consequences: severe weather phenomena, the effects of extreme heat, problems with water and food supplies, degradation of the environment and quality of life, increased air pollution, impacts on water quality, health problems, increased social inequalities, fires, drought, and so on.

As international efforts focus heavily on mitigating climate change, the SCO concentrates on adapting territories to the effects of climate change by providing tools and support for decision-making at local/regional/national level. To achieve this, the projects developed by the SCO mobilise spatial, in situ and socio-economic data to provide local decision-makers with tools for forecasting, analysing and monitoring the impacts of climate change in a wide range of areas, such as retreating coastlines, urban heat islands, water management, agriculture, flooding and extreme weather events, etc.

Preparation, from 2015 to 2019 
In September 2015, at the summit of heads of space agencies organised by the International Academy of Astronautics in Mexico, a declaration affirmed the need to strengthen international cooperation and take full advantage of Earth observation satellites to observe climate change and monitor the commitments made to mitigate its effects.

On 12 December 2015 at COP21, 195 countries signed the Paris Agreement to contain, by 2100, the rise in global temperature to well below 2 °C, and if possible below 1.5 °C compared to pre-industrial levels. In 2016, space agencies from around the world ratified the New Delhi and Marrakech declarations to develop a common system for measuring greenhouse gas concentrations and one for the water cycle.

On 11 December 2017, 25 of them initialled the Paris Declaration in favour of a Space Climate Observatory. The creation of the SCO was ratified the following day at the "One Planet Summit", a progress report on the implementation of the Paris Agreement organised by France. A first demonstrator was presented at the Toulouse Space Show on 28 June 2018.

Birth and growth 
After an initial coordination meeting in February 2019, on 17 June 2019, 22 space agencies and international organisations sign the Joint Declaration of Interest for the SCO at the Paris-Le Bourget International Air Show (France). The first International Steering Committee meeting will be held on 22 October 2019, in conjunction with the 70th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Washington (USA).

As the instigator of the initiative, France is launching the first call for SCO projects in September 2019 and will label the first 20 projects in March 2020. A number of projects have become emblematic of the SCO approach, such as the TropiSCO platform to monitor tropical deforestation in real time, FLAude and its FORO tool to improve flood resilience, ALEOFEU to prevent the risk of forest fires, EO4Wetlands to renaturalise wetlands, and SCOLive, which uses the olive tree as a bioindicator of climate change.

The founding Charter of the SCO, drawn up by all its members under the coordination of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), will be ratified on 27 June 2022 and will enter into force on 1 September 2022.

Mission

General objectives 
The SCO supports the development of a set of operational tools for policy-makers and the general public, taking full advantage of satellite, in situ and socio-economic data to enable the implementation of policies to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change at local level. These tools, which are co-constructed with their users to respond precisely to local needs, must be easily transferable to other regions facing the same challenges.

The SCO also aims to improve international coordination around operational applications based on space technologies for climate, highlight the tools developed and thus serve as an international forum for these issues.

Sustainable development goals 
As an instrument of international cooperation in the field of climate change impacts, the SCO actively contributes to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015 (Agenda 2030).

100% of SCO projects meet 2 SDGs:

 SDG13 - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
 SDG17 - Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

SCO projects also specifically address the following SDGs:

 SDG6 - Ensure access to water and sanitation for all and ensure sustainable management of water resources
 SDG11 - Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
 SDG15 - Preserve and restore terrestrial ecosystems

Organization

Charter and international governance 
The members of the SCO are signatories to the founding Charter of the Space  for Climate Observatory. This Charter defines the scope, activities and governance of the SCO. It also opens its membership to any public or private entity committed to climate action.

As an international initiative based on the best efforts of its members, the SCO has multilateral governance. A Focal Point is appointed in each country to take part in the meetings of the Steering Committee, which meets at least twice a year to decide on the alliance's major orientations. Among these Focal Points, a sub-group forms the Programme Committee, which oversees for a given period the SCO activities - projects and working groups - carried out by each of the members. These committees and all activities are supported by the SCO General Secretariat, under the responsibility of a SCO member.

Member states and institutions 
By 31 December 2024, 50 institutions had signed the SCO Charter.

National SCOs 

 SCO in China
 SCO in France
 SCO in Gabon
 SCO in Sweden

Functioning by use case

National SCO and calls for projects 
The signatories of the SCO Charter aim to identify and support local projects that respond to the concrete needs of the area.

These projects are selected through an annual call for projects. As the instigator of the international initiative, France has devised a modus operandi which can be replicated by each national SCO.

At international level, knowledge sharing and synergies between projects are organised to encourage the scaling up of the solutions developed. International cooperation is also provided to help the most vulnerable regions.

SCO project criteria 
Projects applying for the SCO label must meet a number of criteria, in particular:

 Meet the needs of end-users in a specific geographical area;
 Constitute a multi-family consortium comprising at least scientists, companies and/or public authorities and the end user;
 Propose an operational and practical solution, such as an application or web mapping interface, preferably open source;
 Make the most of satellite, environmental and climate data, combining them with available in situ and socio-economic data;
 Draw on existing (pre-)operational and research infrastructures, services and local data;
 Can be extended or transposed to other geographical areas.

Community feedback 
Ideally, the solutions developed via the SCO should be able to be transposed to other locations, to benefit as many people as possible. In this context, the projects awarded the label undertake to share all or part of the data, algorithms and technical components. Bilateral or multilateral collaborations, or collaborations involving other SCO signatories, are encouraged.

References 

Organizations established in 2019
International climate change organizations