At a meeting in Darmstadt, Germany, on July 5, the EUMETSAT Council approved the organization’s Climate Services Development Plan for 2023-2027, which lays the groundwork for developing climate data records from its past, current and next-generation satellites. The new plan ensures the best use of data for climate change adaptation and mitigation of severe impacts.
“EUMETSAT’s climate data records already stretch back more than 40 years, providing the long-term homogeneous data required to assess changes in the climate,” said director-general Phil Evans.
“Our climate data records play a key role in the fight against climate change, as accurate accounts of changes in the climate over decades that are relied on by authoritative reports such those from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
“This Climate Service Development Plan contains a strengthened focus on user engagement to help enhance the use of this data for a wide range of applications, including assessing the state of the climate, monitoring greenhouse gases, increasing renewable energy use and mitigating climate risks.”
The EUMETSAT Council also approved the organization’s joining the Space Climate Observatory. The observatory is a network of agencies that aims to provide tools and studies to help make data from space accessible and useful to local entities, to inform decisions and measures to mitigate and respond to the climate crisis.
Benefits of joining the observatory include improved international coordination for the use of EUMETSAT data, joint analysis of climate risks, and enhanced cooperation. This could lead to better understanding of vulnerability and adaptation to changing patterns of severe-impact weather and the drivers of economic damage and impacts to people from weather extremes in a changing climate.