Space-based Earth observation in support of the UNFCCC Paris Agreement

• Published in: Frontiers in Environmental Science
• Main Authors: Hegglin, Michaela, I, Bastos, Ana, Bovensmann, Heinrich, Buchwitz, Michael, Fawcett, Dominic, Ghent, Darren, Kulk, Gemma, Sathyendranath, Shubha, Shepherd, Theodore, G, Quegan, Shaun, Röthlisberger, Regine, Briggs, Stephen, Buontempo, Carlo, Cazenave, Anny, Chuvieco, Emilio, Ciais, Philippe, Crisp, David, Engelen, Richard, Fadnavis, Suvarna, Herold, Martin, Horwath, Martin, Jonsson, Oskar, Kpaka, Gabriel, Merchant, Christopher, J, Mielke, Christian, Nagler, Thomas, Paul, Frank, Popp, Thomas, Quaife, Tristan, Rayner, Nick, A, Robert, Colas, Schröder, Marc, Sitch, Stephen, Venturini, Sara, van der Schalie, Robin, van der Vliet, Mendy, Wigneron, Jean-Pierre, Woolway, R. Iestyn
• Other Authors: Department of Meteorology Reading, University of Reading (UOR), Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (MPI-BGC), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Institute of Environmental Physics Bremen (IUP), University of Bremen, College of Life and Environmental Sciences Exeter, University of Exeter, NERC National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft = Helmholtz Association-Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft = Helmholtz Association, School of Mathematics and Statistics Sheffield (SoMaS), University of Sheffield Sheffield, Federal Office for the Environment, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), Laboratoire d'études en Géophysique et océanographie spatiales (LEGOS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Universidad de Alcalá - University of Alcalá (UAH), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), German Research Centre for Geosciences - Helmholtz-Centre Potsdam (GFZ), Technische Universität Dresden = Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden), Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Sierra Leone Meteorological Agency, Freetown, German Federal Environmental Agency / Umweltbundesamt (UBA), Environmental Earth Observation IT GmbH (ENVEO), Department of Geography Zürich, Universität Zürich Zürich = University of Zurich (UZH), Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Met Office Hadley Centre (MOHC), United Kingdom Met Office Exeter, Centre interprofessionnel technique d'études de la pollution atmosphérique, German Weather Service, Group on Earth Observations (GEO), Planet, Harlem, Interactions Sol Plante Atmosphère (UMR ISPA), Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Sciences Agronomiques de Bordeaux-Aquitaine (Bordeaux Sciences Agro)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), School of Ocean Sciences, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Bangor University
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: climate change; Earth observation; Paris Agreement; enhanced transparency framework; mitigation; adaptation; loss and damage; global stocktake; [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; [SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces; environment; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04219470; https://hal.science/hal-04219470/document; https://hal.science/hal-04219470/file/fenvs-10-941490.pdf; https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.941490

International audience Space-based Earth observation (EO), in the form of long-term climate data records, has been crucial in the monitoring and quantification of slow changes in the climate system-from accumulating greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere, increasing surface temperatures, and melting sea-ice, glaciers and ice sheets, to rising sea-level. In addition to documenting a changing climate, EO is needed for effective policy making, implementation and monitoring, and ultimately to measure progress and achievements towards the overarching goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement to combat climate change. The best approach for translating EO into actionable information for policymakers and other stakeholders is, however, far from clear. For example, climate change is now self-evident through increasingly intense and frequent extreme events-heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, and flooding-costing human lives and significant economic damage, even though single events do not constitute "climate". EO can capture and visualize the impacts of such events in single images, and thus help quantify and ultimately manage them within the framework of the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, both at the national level (via the Enhanced Transparency Framework) and global level (via the Global Stocktake). We present a transdisciplinary perspective, across policy and science, and also theory and practice, that sheds light on the potential of EO to inform mitigation, including sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases, and adaptation, including loss and damage. Yet to be successful with this new mandate, EO science must undergo a radical overhaul: it must become more user-oriented, collaborative, and transdisciplinary; span the range from fiducial to contextual data; and embrace new technologies for data analysis (e.g., artificial intelligence). Only this will allow the creation of the knowledge base and actionable climate information needed to guide the UNFCCC Paris Agreement to a ...