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23-25 May, 2023: Global Space Conference on Climate Change

Events  |  01 February, 2023

The first Global Space Conference on Climate Change, GLOC 2023, is expected to be a key showcase for climate data from space capabilities.

The conference is being organised by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) and the theme is ‘Fire and Ice – planetary extremes in a changing climate’. It will be hosted in Oslo by Norsk Romsenter, the Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA) and will include IAF Global Networking Forum (GNF) sessions.

Krupa Nanda Kumar, our Climate Services Development Manager, is presenting S4C’s interactive poster at 4.30pm (BST) on the first day, Tuesday, May 23rd. Read more about our members’ and other UK activities at GLOC here.

GLOC2023 plenaries and Global Networking Forums are being live streamed – watch here: https://iafastro.org/live/

The International Programme Committee (IPC) co-chairs are:

  • James Graf, Director, Earth Science and Technology, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  • Ole Morten Olsen, Director, Business Development and Innovation, Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA)
  • Barbara Ryan, Executive Director, World Geospatial Industry Council (WGIC).

Space4Climate Chair, Beth Greenaway, Head of Earth Observation and Climate at UK Space Agency, sits on the IPC.

Heads of agencies, industries and government representatives will feature in high level plenaries on the opening day to discuss future opportunities provided by space activities to contribute to the global climate change mitigation efforts.

The programme will be designed to offer comprehensive sessions on current topics of interest which include, but are not limited to:

  • Topic 1: Understanding and Predicting the Climate Change for our Planet – This would address the state of understanding of climate change, and the role of space-based observations and research in how we know what we know, how good is our current understanding, what does the future portend? This includes modelling and its predictions.
  • Topic 2: Climate Change Impacts and Challenges – The role of space-based observations in understanding and addressing the climate change challenges to biodiversity, ecosystems, human health, habitability, economics, disasters, infrastructure, fresh water, sea level rise, and other domains.
  • Topic 3: Earth Observing Missions and Systems to Address Climate Change and Its Impacts – What are the planned capabilities and what will they do for policy makers, governments, businesses, and the public? How do we address continuity, and long-term data sets which are critical to describing what is happening on our planet.
  • Topic 4: Weather, Climate and Environmental Intelligence – How are agencies, the commercial, and non-Governmental Organization sectors provide services that are turning data into information for decision makers from Government or the public to achieve climate security and resilience?
  • Topic 5: An Outer Space Perspective on Climate Change (Space Law and Policy) – What laws and policies are necessary and helpful to best support the space community in addressing and monitoring climate change, and what role can the space community play in supporting effective laws and policies to address climate change
  • Topic 6: Space Technology for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation – What role can space technology play in adapting to and mitigating climate change? Discuss the key emerging technologies that can make a major difference in understanding the changing planet and provide major in directions for space-based missions.
  • Topic 7: Next Generation of Climate Services – It covers commercial, public, international, and hybrid services to address everything from emissions regulation, energy efficiency, infrastructure planning, disaster mitigation and response, and climate change adaptation.
  • Topic 8: Business Models and Cooperation for Missions, Data and Services – It covers how to fund and support missions and services including cooperation across international, public / private, and NGO sectors to address the needs for climate change environmental intelligence
  • Topic 9: The Social, Communications, Economic and Cultural Dimensions of Environmental Change – How can the space community best communicate and provide its capabilities for societal action… to policy makers, media, public; how can the space community better understand and adapt to the needs of policy makers, media and the public? What role does the media play now and what should it be contributing in the future?

It is the first time the conference has been held  and you can find out more about the people behind it, its aims and ambitions by watching an introductory video.

Keep up to date with GLOC news on LinkedIn and  Twitter  or use #GLOC2023

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