UK Earth Observation community at COP27

Beyond the climate negotiations of political leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh the UK Pavilion is attracting much interest from high-level visitors to explore the Space4Climate App displayed on the PufferSphere.

Since making its debut in both the Blue Zone and the public-facing Green Zone last November, the Space4Climate App has been updated with new data content, narratives and more members’ case studies.

On the first day of COP27 it caught the attention of Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and outgoing COP President, Alok Sharma.

The UK Pavilion is hosted by the Department for International Trade who first saw the Space4Climate App in action at the UK Earth Observation Conference in September.  If you are at COP27 and want to explore the Space4Climate App, the UK Pavilion is opposite the UAE Pavilion, stand no. 21 on the Pavilion map, in Building 8, Area B.

Space4Climate members’ COP27 activities

Here is a round-up of Space4Climate members’ activities at COP27:

• GHGSat are at COP27, contributing to global transparency in methane emissions. Any members in Egypt are invited to attend the events with GHGSat CEO and other panelists from the Government of Canada, the Government of Quebec, The International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO), The Global Methane Hub, The Canadian industry and more.
• November 8^th, Canada Pavilion
• November 9^th Pavillon Climatique de la Francophonie

GHGSat has released data on thousands of methane emitters worldwide – see below. The data is available now on GHGSat’s emissions platform SPECTRA and provided to the International Methane Emissions Observatory.

• Green Festival – Reading University, until November 11^th
  An outreach event engaging the university community to create, promote, educate and celebrate sustainable actions.
• PML, Blue Zone side events, exhibition stand & poster November 7^th-16^th
  Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) is involved in ocean events as  a founding partner of the 1st Ocean Pavilion at a COP. Dr Gemma Kulk, of NCEO and PML, will be presenting a poster on Ocean Colour on Earth Information Day, November 9^th. Read the full details here.  PML is also involved with the publication on Human Health and Climate Change during the COP.
• POP22, November 10^th
  Protecting Our Planet – a live-streamed online event in the UK and activities  for primary and secondary schools. Presented by STEM Learning in collaboration with the UK’s Climate Change Educational Partnership. See the programme here.
• University of Reading’s Walker Institute & Met Office Blue Zone side event, November 12^th Rosalind Cornforth (Walker) and Richard Betts (Exeter & Met Office) are among the speakers in the Blue Zone session on water security which incorporates the launch of the Expanded Water Tracker for National Climate Plans. The full details are in the side events programme.
• ESA Climate Office videos will be on show in the Global Stocktake Creative Space, November 7th -12^th
• National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO) staff have posters. In addition to Gemma Kulk’s poster, Dr Ranjini Swaminathan is showcasing her poster ‘The Physical Climate at 2°C vs 4°C as seen in the UK Earth System Model (UKESM)’. Dr Richard Betts from the Met Office will be presenting her poster. Read more about NCEO COP27 activity.

You can see the full programme of side events here:  SEORS | Side events list (unfccc.int)

Methane Snapshot Report published at COP27

GHGSat has published a report on thousands of methane emitters worldwide, highlighting dramatic change and developments since COP26 was held in Glasgow in November last year. The report has been published to coincide with this year’s COP global climate summit in Egypt.

Some of the interesting facts from the report are:

• 85% of emissions detected since COP26 in Glasgow, November 2021, with GHGSat’s high-resolution satellites are from fossil fuel exploitation activity
• Since COP26, both the USA and the Middle East show average emission rates of ~1 t/hr.
• The constellation detected nearly twice as many methane emissions from coal mines in 2022 compared to 2021.
• Offshore emissions can be measured from space with high-resolution satellites.

• GHGSat released data on thousands of methane emitters worldwide. The data is available now on GHGSat’s emissions platform SPECTRA and provided to the International Methane Emissions Observatory.

Keep up to date with GHGSat’s news on their website https://www.ghgsat.com/en/

Useful links to follow COP27 news and updates

• Website https://cop27.eg/#/
• LinkedIn ‘COP27’
• Instagram @cop27_Egypt #COP27
• Twitter @COP27P #TogetherForImplementation

List of themed days at COP27: https://cop27.eg/#/presidency/eventsThematic

See the full programme of side events:  SEORS | Side events list (unfccc.int)

UK channels:

• Department for International Trade – Twitter @tradegovuk; LinkedIn ‘Department for International Trade (DIT)’
• Alok Sharma UK COP26 President (hands over midway through COP27) @AlokSharma_RDG

Please follow Space4Climate on LinkedIn and on Twitter  and share your  COP27 updates with us.