The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), in cooperation with Austrian organisations, is organising the UN/Austria Symposium in Graz from 1 to 3 September, this year as an online event. 2020 marks the 26th anniversary of the symposium, which has been held since 1994. More than 2100 participants have attended the event since then.
Theme: "Space Applications for Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action"
In sessions, panels and project pitches participants will discuss how space technologies support climate protection.
Organised & coordinated by JOANNEUM RESEARCH
From the programme:
Climate action is one of the most pressing priorities for action within the Sustainable Development Goals framework. The last 5 years were the hottest on record and 14 of the 15 hottest years have occurred since 2000. Average sea levels have risen by 23 cm since 1880 and by 9 cm in the last 25 years. Earth observation is an essential tool to monitor these changes: out of the 50 essential climate change variables, 26 can only be measured from space. Space technologies can contribute significantly to global efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. This becomes evident when mapping contributions of space-based technologies to the SDGs: out of the 169 SDG targets, 65 are reliant on geolocation or Earth observation.
The event aims to showcase concrete climate action cases through demonstrations of applications using space solutions. Users of space applications present lessons learnt and experts discuss the role of space applications in climate-related policies.
Specific policy discussions enable exchange of experiences and know-how on how to incorporate space applications and tools for climate action in environmental policy. The overarching objective of the Symposium is to offer users, with particular focus on developing countries, an opportunity to explore tools, policies, and approaches that could be adopted in their respective regional, national or local context.