Big Earth Data in Support of the Sustainable Development Goals [IMAGE: CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES]

The Big Earth Data in Support of the Sustainable Development Goals report, drafted by the Big Earth Data Science Engineering Project (CASEarth) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), has been released as an official Chinese government document for two consecutive years (2019 and 2020) at the 74th and 75th United Nations General Assemblies. 

The report focuses on six sustainable development goals (SDGs) including Zero Hunger, Clean Water and Sanitation, Sustainable Cities and Communities, Climate Action, Life below Water, and Life on Land. It showcases China's efforts to use innovation-driven technologies such as big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence to establish an evaluation system for the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda. In particular, the report reveals the value as well as prospect of utilizing Big Earth Data for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the SDGs. The project has filled the gaps of SDG implementation in terms of data and methodology, serving as a successful practice for the international communities to implement the UN 2030 Agenda.

CASEarth has been designated as a partner and one of 24 technical support institutions for the online platform of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM) to help achieve SDGs. The research results of CASEarth have also laid a solid foundation for China’s move to launch an International Research Center of Big Data for SDGs to facilitate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda, which was announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his UN General Assembly address in September 2020.  

Source: Chinese Academy of Sciences