Johannesburg, 26 Nov 2007
Ministers and officials from over 70 national governments, the European Commission and 46 international organisations will meet in Cape Town from Wednesday to talk satellite.
The Department of Science and Technology says participants will advance "their shared vision of a Global Earth Observation System of Systems designed to help humankind live in harmony on an increasingly stressed planet".
Spokesperson Kristin Klose says the meeting will assess progress on constructing a comprehensive, global monitoring system. The system will enable end-users to access a vast quantity of near-real-time information on changes in the Earth`s land, oceans, atmosphere and biosphere via a single Web portal.
This emerging system will interlink the world`s widely dispersed ocean buoys, weather stations, satellites and other Earth observation instruments into one seamless system.
Klose says this will reduce humanity`s vulnerability to disasters and environmental change, while enabling countries to better manage their agricultural, energy, water and other natural resources.
The conference will consider 90 "early achievements" presented by the various participants that will also be on show at an exhibition that is open, free of charge, to the public.
A plenary meeting on Wednesday and Thursday will assess the progress made over the past year and decide on future actions. A ministerial summit on Friday will review a high-level report on progress and issue a declaration afterwards.
Share