UK to Chair Global Earth Observation Group
Dr. Paul Bate Named Chair of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS)
The UK has assumed the Chair of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites. As CEOS celebrated its 40th anniversary at the annual CEOS Plenary in Montreal, the CEOS Community of space and meteorological agencies and other groups has also renewed its collective commitment to CEOS’ mission and efforts in responding to global challenges for the good of humanity, with the agreement of the Montreal Statement.
“As chair of the committee the UK will help to harness the potential of data to improve people’s lives."
Sir Chris Bryant, Minister for Space
Satellite Earth observation data can deliver significant public benefits in areas ranging from climate and biodiversity monitoring, disaster management, clean energy and urban planning.
"The UK has a vast amount of expertise to offer the international space community, including government backing to help spaceports and rocket manufacturers develop our launch capability at pace," said Sir Chris Bryant, Minister for Space. "Data from satellites supports our critical sectors and services across the UK, from supporting farmers to manage their land for food production to speeding up responses to extreme weather like flooding. As chair of the committee the UK will help to harness the potential of data to improve people’s lives."
The UK is involved in a range of Earth observation missions that contribute to global capabilities. These include leadership of the European Space Agency’s TRUTHS mission, which will improve confidence in climate forecasts; Biomass, which will monitor the world’s forests; Microcarb, a ground-breaking French-UK satellite mission for carbon monitoring; and the various Sentinel missions of the European Copernicus programme with its associated user-facing Services. As well as these missions, the UK are experts in the use of the data for applications ranging from cutting edge science, operational services, new commercial and public sector services.
The UK Space Agency’s role as CEOS Chair will be to oversee the activities of CEOS and ensure it is achieving the objectives of its work plan. The UK Space Agency has proposed four priorities to champion data-driven solutions for major global challenges over the 12-month period as Chair, within the theme of ‘Unlocking Earth Observation for Society’. They are:
Using Earth observation to improve public services.
Increasing use of space data in the Global Stocktakes of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Supporting development of Methane emissions measurement best-practices.
Inspiring the next generation through a new ‘CEOS in Schools’ initiative.
As Chair, an early task will be to represent CEOS on the global stage and promote its goals and objectives, starting at next month’s COP-29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, and continuing throughout 2025.
"For 40 years, CEOS has been uniting the global community to champion the transformative potential of satellites and Earth Observation," said Dr. Paul Bate, CEO of the UK Space Agency. "I’m proud to be chairing this globally-valued committee and will use the next year to demonstrate how, by working together across borders, we can harness space technology for the benefit of our societies, our shared environment, and our economies."
The UK will create opportunities for CEOS’ agencies to share their national perspectives and explore how to bridge the gap between data and public sector services, including hosting a workshop in September 2025 ahead of the UK’s CEOS Plenary 2025, in Bath, Somerset in November. This supports work to get Earth observation tools and information embedded it on UK public sector policies at the national and local scale.