Dubai – The upcoming COP28 in Dubai presents a critical opportunity to align the climate and nature agendas, leveraging advancements in space technology for a sustainable future. This alignment is seen as essential following the separate outcomes of last year’s climate COP in Egypt and the biodiversity COP in Canada, where the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was established. The latter was hailed as the “Paris moment” for nature, setting a goal to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, mirroring the carbon-neutral goal of the Paris Agreement in 2015.
According to World Economic Forum, Despite the close timing of these two events and the interrelated nature of their goals, the outcome texts did not reflect a cohesive alignment. The final decision at Sharm El-Sheik included text on nature-based solutions, a topic of contention at the previous COP in Glasgow, UK. However, this text was non-committal, only encouraging parties to consider these solutions without addressing their synergy with the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The interconnectedness of climate and nature is evident. Over half of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions have been absorbed by ecosystems, a crucial natural process that mitigates climate change effects. Active efforts like mangrove protection and restoration not only capture carbon dioxide but also shield coastal areas from climate change impacts.
The natural world is rapidly approaching tipping points, with ecosystems like coral reefs, polar ice sheets, and the Amazon and Southeast Asian forests in peril. The path forward demands protection and restoration of nature and a shift in financial flows from nature-negative to nature-positive practices in sectors like agriculture, fisheries, infrastructure, forestry, and extractives.
COP28 presents an opportunity to create an integrated nature-climate action plan, emphasizing nature-based solutions for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Achieving this requires nature-positive outcomes to be central to climate solutions, including in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) across countries. These NDCs should have specific, measurable targets for nature-based solutions, aligned with other international policy frameworks.
A credible and independent method for measuring progress on these targets is essential. Space technology, with thousands of satellites monitoring Earth, offers a solution. This remote sensing technology, combined with ground observations and other tools, can precisely and real-time track natural habitats and their changes.
However, ecosystem data remains fragmented and inaccessible. The Global Ecosystems Atlas initiative, led by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), aims to create a global map of ecosystem types to align nature, climate, and other agendas like water and food security. This tool will enable harmonized monitoring and reporting on ecosystems, aiding in the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and nature-related components of the Paris Agreement and other environmental agreements.
As the Earth faces urgent climate and biodiversity crises, COP28 is a pivotal moment to listen and respond with actions that address both simultaneously. With nature’s potential to impact climate and Earth observations’ ability to support this impact, the focus must shift to addressing these crises collectively. The importance of a thriving natural world for a prosperous and just future leaves no room for reverting to business as usual.