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 Call for projects 2024
01/09/2023 - The Space for Climate Observatory (SCO) is thrilled to announce its latest Call for Projects, inviting research teams, companies and end users to submit projects so to keep on transforming the landscape of climate action. This is your chance to be part of a global movement that leverages the power of Earth Observation data to develop operational tools addressing the urgent challenges of climate change and create a powerful combination with valuable in situ data.
SCO France: 2023 Edition
18/01/2023 - 31/03/2023 - The fourth call for projects of the SCO France has allowed 14 projects to be accredited. They cover 7 areas of climate change impacts, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable countries.
The 2022 outcome opens up good prospects for 2023
10/01/2023 - Between the founding Charter, the delivery of 5 operational tools and 5 demonstrators, 2022 is confirmed as a shift year for the SCO. There is no doubt that 2023 will follow in this footsteps, to accelerate solutions for mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change for the benefit of all.