Environmental information exchange: Sustainability on the agenda

Vaibhav Arora
Assistant Editor
[email protected]

With the planet reeling under pressure from thoughtless human activities, the need of the hour is to create awareness by devising effective information sharing mechanisms and policies. Here’s an insight into some of the ongoing initiatives in this direction and the way forward
 

Ash, the protagonist in the 1992 Hollywood flick Army of Darkness, wakes up after his long slumber and finds himself in a post-apocalyptic future, where the world has been reduced to rubble and the human race wiped off the face of the earth. While apocalypse may not strike us in a flash as most future seers predict, the doomsday prophecy may indeed become a reality if we do not act quickly. The world today is plagued by plenty of problems and most of these issues are a result of thoughtless human actions. "I think the planet is in a mess and there is no question in my mind that human activities are behind this rapid climate change," says British primatologist, anthropologist and UN Messenger of Peace Jane Goodall. According to a report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), 2011 was one of the warmest years on record and witnessed natural calamities like droughts, floods, earthquakes and tsunamis of increased intensity resulting in huge loss of life and property around the globe.

While political leaders and environment experts around the world have been busy deliberating on the kind of efforts required to safeguard the planet, the fact, unfortunately, remains that things have been static in most cases. The good thing, however, is that we live in times of modern technology, a world of endless possibilities where the situation is much better than it has ever been till a few decades ago. We are much more informed and better equipped to deal with the global environmental challenges. Information is out there and the need is to simply identify, analyse, communicate and use it at a place where most required and in a way that is easily understood by the users.

ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES AND INFORMATION
There are several environmental challenges facing mankind today like global warming, food/potable water scarcity, species extinction, increase in natural disasters, pollution and population explosion. Credible information is critical to understand the extent of the problem. Most of the environmental challenges warrant solutions at global and regional level and so exchange of information among nations is the best way to create awareness and devise ways to tackle the issue effectively. A sneak peek at the history of information sharing will help us get started.

Although the history of environmental information dates back several decades, the 60s is considered to be a landmark era with the United States of America introducing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Formulated in 1969, NEPA was one of the first legislations that aimed to address environmental information issues like the state of environment reporting and environmental impact evaluations. Subsequently, initiatives like the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (1970), which was formed to advice the queen, government, parliament and the public on environmental issues, gave fillip to the cause of sustainability. The next major step in this direction was the formation of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1972 with the basic aim to collect data and information about the environment. Since then, a number of high-level environmental events and conventions have brought forth the need for access to information, such as the Earth Summit in Rio (1992), Aarhus Convention (1998) and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg (2002).

A major outcome of studies conducted during the last couple of decades suggests that the users are more interested in getting authentic information rather than raw data. Although there is plenty of environmental data available, most of it is old, patchy and inapt for use by experts because of lack of credibility. While improved information and communication technology gives users access to a broad range of environmental information, there is a need to develop creative information exchange methodologies and policy frameworks to reach a wider audience.
 

Information sharing mechanism

Rainforests are being demolished at a shocking pace. National Academy of Science puts the loss at 50 million acres a year, which is an area equal to the size of England, Wales and Scotland combined. Tropical deforestation around the world results in the extinction of 100 species every day. Seven out of eight years since 2000 are ranked as the hottest on record. According to estimates, 15-37 percent of the plant and animal species on the planet could be wiped out from global warming related causes by 2050. As much as 400,000 square miles of Arctic ice has melted in the past 30 years. At the current rate, the Arctic ice sheet could disappear by 2015. Over the past 100 years, the sea level has risen by 10-20 centimetres. If the polar ice sheets and glaciers melt, the world's oceans could swallow most of the low lying areas on the planet. There has been a steady increase in the intensity and duration of tropical storms during the past few decades. Although, the number of storms has not increased much, but they are getting more powerful with the warming of ocean surface. Increasing amounts of carbon dioxide absorbed by the oceans are changing their chemistry and making them more acidic.

INFORMATION SHARING MECHANISMS
In the present age of information, geographic information is amongst the most crucial elements that support decision making for various disciplines, including environment. Thus, many of the objectives that environmental agencies around the world have can be achieved through the availability of good, standardised spatial data. However, a major constraint with spatial data is that it is expensive and time consuming to gather and maintain. While organisations around the world spend millions of dollars each year on data, there still remain plenty of limitations, both monetary and at the policy level, which cannot be overcome by relying on individual data management systems.

In such a situation, it becomes imperative that different organisations on a local level, different states on a national level and different nations on a global level should reach agreements on the type of fundamental datasets required to fulfil their common interests, standards to which that data should be collected and maintained and framework for sharing data. Such a collection of data that is standardised to suit the requirements of various participating bodies is known as a spatial data infrastructure (SDI).

There are several networks around the world at the national, regional and global levels that are formed to facilitate the sharing of environmental information and thus help in the better management of biodiversity. Here are a few important initiatives:

INSPIRE An excellent example of a regional level SDI aimed at sustainable development is the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community, which aims to establish a spatial data infrastructure based on SDIs of 27 Member States of the European Union. The INSPIRE Directive addresses 34 spatial data themes needed for environmental applications.

Eionet (Environment Information and Observation Network) is a partnership network established by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and its member countries. The network aims to provide timely and accurate information for assessing the state of the environment in Europe and the pressures acting upon it. This, in turn, enables policy-makers to decide on appropriate measures for protecting the environment at national and regional level and to monitor the effectiveness of policies implemented.

GEO (Group on Earth Observations) was established in 2005 in response to calls for action by the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and the G8 countries, which recognised that international collaboration is vital to exploit the increasing potential of earth observations (EO) to support decision making in an environmentally stressed world. GEO is coordinating international efforts to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) by linking together existing and planned EO systems and supporting the development of new ones. EO is crucial for policymakers in many fields including environment.

GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) is the result of collaboration between the European Commission and European Space Agency, which aims to create an autonomous EO capacity. The objective of this proposed programme is to rationalise the use of different sources of data and get timely and accurate information in relation to environment and security. In simple terms, it will pull together all the information obtained by environmental satellites to provide a comprehensive picture of the planet’s health.

NNRMS (National Natural Resource Management System) is a national level inter-agency system that aims to fulfil the objective of natural resource management in India. NNRMS ensures full utilisation of the country's natural resources by providing a complete record of the available natural resources, using remote sensing data.

UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) acts as the voice for environment within the United Nations. Established in 1972, UNEP acts as a medium, educator and facilitator to encourage the sensible use of the global environment. To achieve this, the agency works with other United Nations entities, international organisations, the private sector, nongovernmental organisations and civil society. One of the major functions of UNEP includes facilitating the transfer of knowledge and technology for sustainable development.

AEIN (Africa Environmental Information Network) is an initiative that aims to improve access to environmental information to support the supervision of Africa's natural wealth. The multi-stakeholder programme is designed to offer a broad outline for the effective collection of information and knowledge of how environmental changes affect people.

GIK (Geographic Information Knowledge Network) is another excellent example of an information network which aims at facilitating information exchange between professionals from the geographic information community.

GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGY AND SUSTAINABILITY
Geospatial technology enables us to better understand the relationship between human beings and the natural systems around us and further evaluate how external intervention affects such interaction. It is by harnessing the information found at different locations that sustainable development policies can be evolved. Human activities have resulted in considerable damaging impact on the environment. The first step in minimising the damage caused is to quantify these changes and geospatial technology with its ability to measure even the slightest of variations has been used extensively in this field.

Geospatial technology also enables the assessment of impact of natural disasters on the environment. GIS can help compare pre and post event pictures, measure changes and thus help the decision makers in taking corrective actions. More than giving post event assessments, GIS can also help to predict the impact that a planned or unplanned event will have on an area.

The evolution of geospatial tools offers us unique opportunities to engage society in tackling various environmental issues, managing scarce resources and better adapting to environmental changes. Enhanced availability of information will not only mitigate the dangers of rapid environmental change but will also increase participation and empower stakeholders to take suitable action.

Dennis Garrity, Director General, World Agroforestry Centre explains how geospatial technology can help increase tree cover, "Geospatial technology can help us to map and interpret the tree cover that exists on African farmland, grazing lands and forest lands and subsequently monitor the changes over time as we work with people to increase tree cover in the world."

Jane Goodall is also upbeat about the prospects of technology use in this field. "Technology allows different nations to come together and share information that can be laid on maps. It reveals the current situation and allows comparison with the past. This information is shared and becomes available for recipients to click on it and look at their area and thus understand what is going on. This is the way forward," she says.

"Thanks to geospatial technology, we now have information that makes us powerful, it gives us the ability to make more informed decisions and decision making ability is what all of this data provides to us," says Rick Fedrizzi, President and CEO, US Green Building Council.
 

Tell us something about Mission Blue and its importance. Mission Blue is an organisation that aims to bring organisations and people together to inspire protection, exploration, research and care for the ocean. The world's oceans are in trouble, which means that we are in trouble. In less than fifty years, we have seen a substantial decline of fish and coral reefs. Only about five percent of the ocean beneath the surface has been seen at all, leave alone explored or mapped. We need to understand the terrain under the sea. Nature has reached a point where we seriously need to consider what it takes to protect the atmosphere. Up until now, the ocean was protected by its vastness and inaccessibility. Most creatures in the sea were safe because we could not get to them; but now we can and we are depleting the life out of the ocean. How can geospatial technology help protect the marine environment from destruction? Geospatial technology enables us to act more responsibly than we otherwise could. This technology gives us the ability to imagine the way things were decades ago and to project what the future might be. It is critically important in inspiring people to take seriously how we are impacting our life support system. With these new technologies you can show patterns, you can show before and after and you can show our relationship to nature. It is a technology which has come maybe just in time to save us. Geospatial technology relates to understanding and managing land and sea. Without such knowledge we are handicapped. The ability to view the nature of the world in layers and be able to pinpoint both in space and in time the changes that are taking place is critically important so that you can measure changes over time and thus get some idea about what the future will be. No generation before the present had the advantage of knowing. You can use that knowledge to engineer certain goals such as placing a dam in a river to maximum short term advantage or you can use that knowledge to not build a dam because of the interference it causes to natural water flow. Without the reference points that geospatial technology gives us, we could not understand how things are changing. How significant is information exchange in helping to protect the environment? Latest technology and information about our planet enables us to hold the world in our hands and see how things relate back to us. The exchange of information has created enough awareness that the world is in trouble, the ocean is in trouble and so we are in trouble. Our primary goal should be to chalk out ways to leave the world at least as good as we found it and to behave in a way that we do not destroy the capacity of the planet to support the next generations. Do you think all the damage that has been inflicted upon the environment can be reversed? We cannot reverse the damage but we can make things better than they otherwise would be. For example, if we took apart the Three Gorges Dam today and let the river flow as it is meant to flow, it would be better than keeping that dam in place because it is causing tremendous damage to the natural world. We can change course but we cannot reverse and go back. By planting and protecting trees, we can make sure that the wild things will return as best as they can. Nature heals and we can do our bit to accelerate that process. What more can the geospatial community do to promote the cause of environment protection? More attention needs to be paid to the ocean. The need is to look at the ocean not just from the surface but also at the layers and make all the information available to the world. Technology can help decision makers understand how their lives connect to the ocean and how the ocean connects back to us. There are hundreds of questions that need answers like where are all the mangroves of the world. Challenges for the geospatial community include figuring out ways to map the existence of the coastal vegetation that is lower than where aerial observations work or how to incorporate data gathered from various scientific expeditions and connect the dots about the masses of frozen methane that are on the sea floor and with global warming could release huge amounts of methane into the atmosphere thus greatly accelerating global warming. Sylvia Earle American oceanographer, former chief scientist of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND CROWDSOURCING
The augmented emphasis on environmental issues by the media has led to a substantial increase in citizens' interest in trying to safeguard the environment. Internet and social networking offer an ideal opportunity to create awareness and public participation by highlighting local issues on a global platform. The ability of the internet to channelize information to a global audience and visually present a situation leaves a lasting impact on the viewer.
 

Crowd sourced data has seen a considerable increase in the past few years because of the substantially lower costs involved and more importantly because of the power of the crowd to gather data from the most isolated places. Projects like the OpenStreetMap and Google Earth use crowd sourced data extensively.

Governments too have realised the power of crowd sourced environmental data and are making sincere efforts to tap the same. Portals like eMISK, which allow users the option to highlight environmental issues in their region by tagging it on a satellite image, have done appreciable work in this area.

Principal 10 of the Rio Earth Summit declaration states that environmental issues are best handled with participation of all concerned citizens and that states shall facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by making information widely available.

HURDLES AND WAY FORWARD
The challenge of collection, processing and dissemination of information arises at the local, national and international levels as well as across various disciplines and geographic areas. Improving public awareness by providing accurate and timely information can play an important role by enhancing participation and action. A glaring gap in the information structure is the developing countries' insufficient capacity to collect and manage data and this gap is often the result of inadequate representation of these countries at global level initiatives.

Most experts believe that the technology to create data and access existing data is already there and that the biggest hurdle is a lack of vision and political will. Access to environmental information is the cornerstone for good environmental governance. Information enables proper planning and decision making just as it enables the citizens to participate freely in day-to-day affairs and thus pave way for quality environmental management. On the other hand, restrictions on access to information can lead to mismanagement of resources. Governments around the world are realising the importance of giving access to information to their citizens and laws are being enacted to enable the same. However, most countries in Africa, Middle East and Asia are still not open to the idea of free access to information.

Traditionally, environmental information systems have been accused of being limited in their use and can benefit greatly from incorporating functions like surveillance and early warning. With biodiversity coming under increasing pressure from human activities, unexpected changes are beginning to surprise the decision makers more often. Problems like deforestation, soil erosion, illegal hunting etc can be dealt with effectively through constant surveillance. The need of the hour is to educate the policy makers about the utility of such systems.

Studies conducted over the past few years have established the fact that a good information system does not only run on the basis of software and hardware but also requires exhaustive human inputs and it is thus extremely important to build capacity in the field. Human intervention can make a system effective by maintaining direct relationship with the users, staying updated with latest advancements, summarising and analysing information, publishing data on the web etc.