The World Economic Forum has released a report that reveals that Earth observation (EO) data has the potential to drive over US$3tn in cumulative economic benefits globally by 2030 while advancing a wide range of climate and nature solutions.
Amplifying the Global Value of Earth Observation, published in collaboration with Deloitte, integrates the perspectives of 40 industry, technology and climate leaders committed to driving sustainable value through EO applications. The report breaks down the economic potential of EO technologies across sectors and shows how increasing their adoption worldwide could propel the shift to a nature-positive and net-zero global economy.
Earth observation players
“Earth observation is a vital component of the fourth industrial revolution,” said Jeremy Jurgens, managing director and head of the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution at the World Economic Forum. “It converges with artificial intelligence (AI), digital twins and climate technology to offer a powerful toolset for economic prosperity and sustainable growth.”
According to the report, six sectors stand to capture 94% of the projected economic value of EO: agriculture; mining, oil and gas; government; electricity; supply chain and transportation; and insurance and financial services. However, it also states that organizations across nearly all sectors and industries can benefit. The key to this is reportedly the dual value that EO data offers through direct environmental benefits that translate to indirect economic ones.
For instance, the researchers point out that in the agriculture industry, equipping farmers with better information about plant health can improve crop yield while fertilizing and irrigating more sustainably. Within financial services, in particular insurance providers, EO data can help organizations better understand and mitigate environmental risks, by adapting investment decisions to favor environmentally sustainable assets, for example. These and other examples in the report show how data-driven decisions can benefit both the environment and the bottom line.
“As EO data approaches mainstream accessibility, organizations across nearly all industries stand to benefit from these valuable sustainability insights,” said Jennifer Steinmann, global sustainability leader at Deloitte. “Earth data can play an instrumental role in helping organizations understand their impacts and dependencies on nature, comply with sustainability regulations and shape strategies that contribute to a nature-positive and net-zero economy.”
According to the report, the global value of EO data could swell from US$266bn today to just over US$700bn in six years – which rivals the GDP of a medium-sized economy such as Belgium (US$628bn) – and could add a cumulative US$3.8tn contribution to global GDP between 2023 and 2030. The Asia-Pacific region was found to be poised to capture the largest share of EO’s value by 2030, reaching a potential value of US$315bn, while Africa and South America are positioned to realize the largest percentage growth.
Technological applications
In addition, EO data reportedly has the potential to eliminate 2Gt of greenhouse gas emissions every year – an amount equivalent to the estimated combined annual emissions of 476 million gasoline-powered cars, which is almost twice the total number of cars as there are in the European Union today. More broadly, an increased uptake in the use of EO data could stimulate innovation, drive efficiency and help leaders better manage risks.
Although the promise of these technologies is wide ranging, increasing their adoption across sectors and geographies is not without challenges, according to the report. Barriers include limited awareness of EO applications, a shortage of specialized talent, fragmented standards and difficulty navigating the complex EO marketplace – all of which can limit the uptake of this technology globally.
Informed, forward-thinking policymaking and leadership were found to be crucial to unlock and maximize the transformative economic and environmental opportunities presented by EO. Collaborative action across the value chain – which focuses on stimulating demand, advancing the use of AI and other enabling technologies and establishing key standards needed to make Earth data ubiquitous – will be critical to drive sustainable economic growth and benefit the planet for generations to come.
In related news, the UK Space Agency recently invested £1.8m (US$2.2m) in technologies to help satellites measure Earth’s changing shorelines, estimate levels of biomass, predict weather forecasting and manufacture medicines in space. Click here to read the full story.
