How to transform climate action

While we can have a positive impact in tackling the climate change crisis as individuals, collectively our voice becomes even more powerful. Policymakers, decision-takers, activists and champions all have roles to play. A new report highlights the critical importance of geospatial information in building long-term resilience by preventing disasters and better managing risk. Besides collaborating within the industry, engaging with stakeholders outside the traditional geospatial ecosystem will be key in tackling the challenges as we move towards the 2030s and beyond.

It can sometimes be overwhelming to understand what we, as individuals, can do about climate change. On our own, we can make small individual choices and changes which can have a positive impact. But collectively our voice becomes more powerful, amplifying messages, passing on good news and acting as advocates for change.

The challenge is multilayered. From intense sudden-onset events such as hurricanes and cyclones through to slow-onset challenges like the increasing fragility of food systems, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to tackling the climate change crisis. But that doesn’t mean we should work in isolation from each other. Responding to this are a host of policymakers, decision-takers, activists and champions who all have different roles to play. They could be representing communities such as geospatial, Earth observation, space, maritime or conservation. They could be involved in projects, programmes or unique pieces of work. When it comes to climate change, we all have a responsibility to work together with a common purpose to make the world a better, more sustainable place.

Amplifying the role of geospatial information

Over the last 18 months, Barbados, Tonga and the United Kingdom have been working together to amplify the role that geography and geospatial information can play to mitigate and adapt to climate challenges. Under the umbrella of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM), we have launched a report which looks at some of the ways communities, organizations and national governments are using geospatial information to inform their climate mitigation and adaptation approaches.

Launched at the UN-GGIM 7^th High Level Forum in Mexico in October 2024, the report advocates that in order to build long-term resilience, countries and communities need to build systems that can prevent disasters or better manage risk. This can include taking actions such as investing in resilient infrastructure that can withstand climate impacts, and improving economic and social opportunities to reduce underlying social vulnerability to hazards by increasing community resilience. The ability to withstand risk – and recover from disasters – in a manner that is transformative and bounces forward is at the root of that long-term resilience.

Critical component of infrastructure and knowledge economy

As the partners in this initiative, we believe that geospatial information is a critical component of any nation’s infrastructure and knowledge economy. It is a blueprint of what happens where, and the means to integrate a wide variety of government services with proven societal and economic value. The role of geospatial information as foundational data, acting as a lens to understand and mitigate the impact of our changing climate, cannot be underestimated.

As the nexus of human and physical geography, geospatial information provides the visual basis to understand the impacts of climate change on our society. It acts as a fundamental data layer which helps to reveal the uneven distribution of impacts on a nation and society. In identifying the most vulnerable locations and communities, it allows decision-makers to better understand and more effectively allocate resources where they are most needed. We argue that geospatial information is the foundation of the knowledge needed to mobilize investments to build climate resilience. It is also essential in supporting the critical decisions and actions required to achieve a net-zero increase of greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere.

Examples of geoinformation supporting climate resilience

In writing the report, we opened a short call for case studies without limiting the focus to a specific theme or geography. The examples received covered many different domains and it was great to see that geospatial information is already being used across a wide selection of climate resilience activities. We are now looking to grow this evidence base.

The examples provided include responses to acute natural hazards such as wildfires in Chile, cyclones in Mozambique, or flooding in Canada. Geospatial information also plays a role in the monitoring and preparedness for chronic/slower-onset hazard events such as coastal zone risk in Barbados, coastal erosion in Scotland or forest health in Austria. There is also a growing awareness of the potential impact of technological advancements, such as the use of digital twins in Germany or investing in foundational geospatial data such as the addressing initiatives in the US Virgin Islands.

In South Africa, the iSimangaliso Wetland Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Known for its excellent biodiversity, it is critical for delivering ecosystem services and supporting local livelihoods. However, climate change is leading to severe flooding and ecological disruption. By focusing on multistakeholder collaboration and developing geospatial tools and community empowerment, faster interventions can be implemented to overcome longstanding obstacles. In this example, geospatial technology – when combined with local knowledge – creates a powerful nexus for change where ecosystems are preserved. Meanwhile, communities gain the tools they need to be resilient, adaptive and self-sustaining.

In Austria, work has taken place to create an AI-driven forest health risk indicator. The project looked at how artificial intelligence and ecological modelling could be used to calculate the current and future risk of bark beetle infestations. In bringing together biodiversity, meteorological and ecological data and workflows from multiple sources risk maps have been created to identify and monitor forest areas with high risk of infestation.

In Chile, integration work has been ongoing to catalogue, harmonize and validate geospatial data from multiple institutions. This work is based on a technological neutral approach so relevant technologies are used as and when relevant. These efforts centralize the storage of geospatial layers so that various institutions can conduct territorial analysis, visualize the deployment of authorities and aid services, and make evidence-based decisions. Most recently this approach has been successfully implemented to respond to wildfires in the country.

Share stories, listen and learn

Such case studies demonstrate that geospatial information is being widely used for climate planning and decision-making, and that the tools, frameworks and guidelines created by UN-GGIM can be used as part of a collective effort, working in partnership towards achieving a resilient planet for all. Our first call to action to you is this: you know how you or your organization are using geospatial information. Continue to go out and share those stories, and even more importantly listen and learn from one another.

The topic of Sustainable Development Goals is a constant throughout much of our work, and we know that we still have a long way to go to meet the ambitions of the 2030 Agenda. We face pressing challenges now, and there will be plenty of challenges in the next few years. But the decisions we make today, the actions we take tomorrow and the seeds we sow for the future will continue to make the world a better place for generations to come.

Collaboration and engagement

As the world starts to edge towards the 2030s and beyond, we believe that collaboration will remain key. There is a critical need for geospatial information and statistics. As geographers and statisticians, data collectors and data scientists, policy advisors and decision-makers, thinkers and doers, we must work together and use our skills, knowledge and experiences to maximize the impact that geospatial information can have.

Equally as important is the need to engage with stakeholders outside the traditional geospatial ecosystem. By bringing our geospatial lens to the problem, we can connect local actions together to solve larger-scale problems and we can unlock the finance needed for climate change interventions. Moreover, we can highlight the importance of geospatial information and technologies, which can strengthen political awareness to pursue climate change initiatives using trusted, foundational geospatial data and services. And so, our second call to action is: reach out to other communities. Please use our report as a catalyst to start conversations so our communities can work together towards a common purpose.

Last but not least, climate change impacts us all, but we know the effects are not equal. We need to work together so our data works together, monitoring, analysing, reporting and supporting policy interventions that respond to our changing climate. Our geospatial community, in all its forms, should be advocates, enablers and agents of urgent response. Therefore our final call to action is a simple one: please join us in being the advocates and enablers of change. 

More information

The Geospatial Information for Climate Resilience report: Geospatial_Information_for_Climate_Resilience.pdf

About UN-GGIM: UN-GGIM

To have your work showcased in the latest iteration of the report, contact ggim@un.org