France – Planet Action is a non-profit initiative launched by Spot Image, a world leader in satellite imagery. Planet Action and its partners support local projects acting on climate change issues by providing geographic information, Earth observation images and expertise to NGOs, institutions and universities.
Partners in the Planet Action initiative include co-founder and leading GIS provider, ESRI, and more recently the UNESCO who joined Planet Action within the framework of the Open Initiative to support World Heritage sites using space technology. Other partners include CNES (the French Space Agency), NSPO (the Taiwanese Space Agency), DigitalGlobe and Definiens.
Awareness about climate change is now mainstream and spreading among all communities: scientific, civil, governmental, nongovernmental or business. Faced with this unique challenge, satellite imagery brings the coverage, resolution and agility that are needed to assess and understand climate change impacts and to prepare, measure and manage adapting strategies.
Planet Action aims to:
- Build capacity to understand and act upon climate change related issues and support projects from the civil society that are engaged in action
- Raise awareness and educate the public about the climate crisis, the benefits of Earth observation imagery and GIS, and the role of local NGOs and scientists as they tackle these issues.
Non-governmental organizations, institutions, universities and research organizations engaged in actions addressing climate change causes, impacts, and solutions can benefit from support from Planet Action.
5 key areas are the focus of Planet Action:
- Human dimensions & habitat
- Drought, desertification, water resources
- Vegetation, biodiversity, & ecosystems
- Oceans
- Ice & snow cover
Today, more than 30 projects are currently benefiting from satellite imagery and GIS expertise. These include projects on biodiversity changes in Indonesia, invasive plants in Madagascar, forest protection in Brazil, land cover change in Nepal, coral bleaching in Guadeloupe, and tracing toxic algae in the Mediterranean.
More information can be found on the Planet Action website : www.planet-action.org.
An international call for projects was launched last week to NGOs and institutions working on climate change issues. Planet Action is expecting to work with more than 100 non profit organizations before the end of the year.
