CEOS chairman addresses Johannesburg Summit

Paris, 03 Sep 2002

On Friday afternoon, José Achache, ESA Director of Earth Observation, addressed the World Summit on Sustainable Development on behalf of CEOS, the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites.

There were two main points that Mr Achache stressed in his statement. Firstly that CEOS pledges that Earth observation data will be made accessible to all, and secondly, referring to the crucial role that Earth observation satellites play, that "there can be no sustainable development without adequate information about the state of the Earth and its environment".

With reference to the first point, Mr Achache went on to describe how CEOS is encouraging the use of satellite data for sustainable development in developing countries by providing training programmes and instructors, including whenever possible, technology transfer.

At the end of his statement Mr Achache, on behalf of all CEOS members, invited delegates to the World Summit to reaffirm the need for long-term, timely and quality global information as a basis for sound decision making, and to recognise the need to integrate satellite measurements with ground information, in order to improve understanding of the Earth and contribute to protecting its environment for future generations.

CEOS addresses at Johannesburg:

http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/ESAF7HZP D4D_Protecting_0.html
http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/ESA3XJZP D4D_index_0.html

European Space Agency
http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/index.html