AGEDI presented Harnessing Big Data on the Environment for Sustainable Development

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Mon 11 March 

Event UN Environment Science & Innovation Expo 

Session Title:  Harnessing Big Data on the Environment for Sustainable Development 

Presentation Title:   Harnessing Big Data on the Environment for  Sustainable Development:  Local to Global 

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Derek Gliddon recapped on Sustainable Development requiring information on not only environmental conditions but on the drivers and implications of change in the environment;  Derek identified the great magnitude of data and systems knowledge required to support integrated, informed decision making but also that much of the  data and knowledge already exist.  What is needed is an organizing framework by which users and providers of information, knowledge, analysis and visualization services can “plug in”.   Gliddon stated the world looks to UN Environment as the UN entity charged with Keeping The Environment Under Review to take the lead in establishing and maintaining the necessary organizing framework.   Gliddon recognised the UNEP Discussion Paper “The Case for a Digital Ecosystem for the Environment”, the Citizen Science Global Partnership, the Global Environmental Education Partnership, the Sustainable Development Goals Interface Ontology, the GPSDD API Highway, the UN Global Platform and the Eye on Earth Alliance as key elements in the necessary Digital Ecosystem  Speakers

Panelists 
Category Affiliation Name of Person (s) 
Satellite Imagery Google Earth Brian Sullivan, Deputy Director 
Mobile network operators KT Corporation Dr. Dongmyun Lee, President of Future platform Business Group 
Government Environment Agency Abu-Dhabi Derek Gliddon, Acting Director for Research and Innovation, Environmental Agency of Abu Dhabi (EAD) 
UN Environment 2018 Champions of the Earth Evocco Hugh Weldon, Co-founder of Evocco. 
Satellite Imagery and Remote Sensing Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) Margaret Nthuli, Digital Transformation, ESRI Eastern Africa 
Faith and the Environment iUmrah.world Ahmed Al Haddad, Founder & CEO 
Research Organization Estonian Environment Research Centre Mr. Margus Kört, CEO 

Moderator:  Prof. Alex Caldas:  Chief of COTI Branch, Science Division 

Arabian Peninsula Blue Carbon and Ecosystem Services Technical Working Group Meet

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The newly formed Arabian Peninsula Blue Carbon and Ecosystem Services Technical Working Group held their initiation meeting on March 20th, hosted by the current Chair AGEDI. Working Group Secretariat members came from across the region to decide multiple key decisions for the way forward of the group.

The Scope of the Group is to provide the following:

1.Act as facilitator between BC and marine/coastal ES practitioners within the region, and provide a platform for communication with the wider international community

2.Within region coordination role would be

•To share best practices, methodologies and data between regional practitioners •Help facilitate research in the region (e.g. collaboration) and capitalize on potential synergies between activities •Produce integrated papers/reviews for use in at national, regional and international levels •Prepare expert opinion towards regional and international dialogue and intergovernmental processes •Identification of experts within the region to support governments in their own reporting •Facilitate capacity building for regional experts for in-house analysis and implementation •Enhance regional awareness of blue carbon and ecosystem services of our region

The workshop came to group decisions regarding the Secretariat and its membership, working group governance structure, outcomes and way forward.

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AGEDI Presents at the UN Environment Science Business Policy Forum session entitled: Foresight and Early Warning for Decision Making

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AGEDI Presentation Title:   “Foresight: Local to Global”

Derek described how the Indicator Reporting Information System (IRIS) system (developed by the AGEDI implementation parters EAD and UNEP) enables flow of data from sub-national entities to global assessment process.  Gliddon explained how enironemntal organisations are required to report to environmental conditions and environmental management performance; how IRIS reduces the reporting burden through partial automation and how IRIS reports can be used by entities higher in the reporting hirachy as data inputs for national, regional and global assessment.  Derek also explained how IRIS ensures indicators are provided along with assessment narrative by experts who understand the local context, and thus overcomes a widespread barrier to data sharing.

Session Theme(s): Foundation for a Global Digital Platform for our Planet

Session Global context:

There is a need to highlight hotspot(s) of environmental change(s), feature emerging science topic(s), or discuss contemporary environmental issue(s). An opportunity is then created that enables policy makers to find out what is happening to the changing environment and the consequences of everyday choices, and to think about future directions for policy and action.

Moderator: Prof. Alexandre Caldas – Chief of Country Outreach, Technology and Innovation Branch , United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) ;

Speakers:

Affiliation Name of Person (s)
CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) / MIKE (Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants) Ms. Thea Carroll, CITES MIKE Coordinator.
Regional Office for Africa, UN Environment, Mr. Charles Sebukeera Program Officer
Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) Mr. Laban Ndungo, Solutions Engineer, ESRI Eastern Africa
Environmental Agency of Abu Dhabi (EAD) Mr. Derek Gliddon Acting Director for Research and Innovation