1. The systematic observation community has a vital and increasingly important yet undervalued role in supporting the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement. Understanding, monitoring and predicting weather and climate ultimately relies on observations. Systematic observations is therefore the foundation of a climate services value chain that connects observations to decision making and remains fundamental to both understand climate change and supports climate change action (mitigation and adaptation). Through this value chain, systematic observations provide the data that underpin climate models, forecasts on various timescales, tailored products and services, and early warning systems.
2. Earth Observation (EO) information does not just provide information on the state of the climate system, it enables governments and other decision makers to implement mitigation and adaptation actions (at national, sub-national and regional level). EO can also be used to monitor, report and verify those actions to support national efforts and contribute to global processes, such as the UNFCCC. EO information is also needed for the global stocktake process of the Paris Agreement where it can provide global and aggregated information on collective progress towards achieving the purpose of the Agreement and its long-term goals.
3. Global climate observation and monitoring needs to cover the entire Earth system and, equally importantly, any effort to monitor, understand and predict climate and climate-related phenomena depends on access to observations covering the entire globe. The UNFCCC definition of the climate system is "the totality of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and geosphere and their interactions." The requirement for full transparency around UNFCCC processes means that all Parties must be given free and unrestricted access to all climate-related observations.
4. The multiscale nature of the challenges of climate change requires a clear and cohesive action-based framework for an integrated observation system that optimises the acquisition and the international exchange of observations, as well as the understanding and uptake of EO information to fully implement the Paris Agreement. The GCOS implementation plan provides an overview of the basic observation requirements of this system based on regular assessments in terms of observations needs as well as of the state of the observing system.
5. Furthermore the EO community has many systems in place to support action through the work of other relevant UN organizations and activities including with the WMO, UNESCO-IOC and the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, international organizations such as CEOS/CGMS WGClimate, GEO, Copernicus and many others.
6. The role of observations from space is invaluable as part of this work. - such as the GHG monitoring service, observation for and on adaptation, understanding of hotspots of climate change and recognizing hotspots of GHG emissions.
7. The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) has a standing mandate to report progress to the Subsidiary Body on Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) - see FCCC/SBSTA/2017/7, para 56
8. Most recently - at SB52-55, the SBSTA in FCCC/SBSTA/2021/3 paragraph 70-71 70. The SBSTA encouraged Parties and relevant organizations to strengthen support for sustained systematic observations of the climate system for monitoring changes in the atmosphere, ocean and cryosphere, and on land, including by improving the density of observations in areas of poor coverage, developing and providing long-term data sets and facilitating free and open access to data.
71. The SBSTA welcomed the outcomes of the extraordinary session of the World Meteorological Congress, particularly resolution 1 on the WMO unified data policy, resolution 2 on the Global Basic Observing Network and resolution 3 on the Systematic Observations Financing Facility, and encouraged Parties and relevant organizations to support the Facility in order to enhance and sustain implementation of the Global Basic Observing Network in developing countries, including the LDCs and SIDS.
72. The SBSTA also encouraged Parties and relevant organizations to strengthen systematic observation and research, and address related gaps and needs, including with regard to:
(a) Promoting exchange of usable and accessible scientific information and other relevant knowledge and guidance at the science-policy interface, including in support of implementation of the Convention and the Paris Agreement;
(b) Connecting knowledge holders, innovators and technical experts with decision makers in an equitable and participatory manner so as to increase understanding and use of knowledge, products, tools and climate services that inform risk assessment and management;
(c) Furthering the contribution of youth and local, indigenous and traditional knowledge to understanding climate change and its consequences, and weaving such knowledge into decision-making;
(d) Understanding the opportunities for and challenges of implementing nature-based solutions in land and ocean ecosystems for supporting adaptation and mitigation action;
(e) Improving the performance, development and application of regional and subregional climate models and other downscaling methods in order to improve understanding of local climate-related risks and inform regional, national and local decision-making, including in developing countries with high mountain areas, particularly the LDCs and SIDS;
(f) Recognizing and fostering education as a means to build capacity for climate research in diverse communities, including in the LDCs and SIDS;
(g) Addressing capacity-building requirements of developing countries;
(h) Continuing to make advances in climate model simulations, analysis and methods combining multiple lines of evidence on a wider range of climate variables to improve parameterization of the physical climate system and understanding of scenarios;
(i) Addressing the sensitivities of climate simulations to scenarios and parameterizations.
73. The SBSTA noted the importance of building partnerships as a basis for strengthening understanding and collaboration at the national and regional level, including to facilitate cooperation on addressing key issues such as the ocean and cryosphere. In this regard, it recognized the work of WMO regional climate centres, and work by the Group on Earth Observations on developing relevant knowledge products, indicators, applications and services, notably biosphere observations for ocean and land.
74. The SBSTA encouraged Parties and relevant organizations to support and catalyse the strengthening of data sets for national-level impact analyses and adaptation plans, particularly for the LDCs and SIDS.
75. The SBSTA noted the need for further understanding of gaps in knowledge, including on both tipping points and incremental transformations in the climate system, including in the cryosphere and ocean, as highlighted at Earth Information Day 2021.