Eye On Earth Summit launched under the patronage of President Sheikh Khalifa

The Eye On Earth Summit 2015 was launched yesterday at the St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort under the patronage of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The summit's launch ceremony, under the theme of "Informed Decision-Making for Sustainable Development", was attended by H.H. Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation.

The three-day summit aims to promote dialogue and drive international action that revolutionises the way we collect, access, share and use data for sustainable development, with the participation of intellectual leaders in the field of sustainability, officials of the United Nations and international experts in the fields of environment and information.

The Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi, EAD, the environmental regulator for the emirate, is a founding alliance partner of Eye on Earth.

The summit is the first international gathering of sustainability partners to follow the adoption of the Global Goals for Sustainable Development by UN members' Heads of State.

As the first international gathering of sustainability stakeholders to follow the release of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Summit will highlight the crucial role data plays in delivering the post-2015 development agenda.

The opening day saw delegates reaffirm the Eye on Earth Summit Declaration and its 14 guiding principles. An outcome of the inaugural 2011 Summit, which has since been endorsed by 48 countries, the Declaration commits signatories to enhancing and integrating environmental, social and economic data and information to advance sustainable development.

The next three days will see more than 150 prominent speakers explore in detail the supply, demand and enabling conditions of data for sustainable development, with the objective of reaching consensus on several outcomes. Other outcomes include the formation of new partnerships, the implementation of data governance frameworks and the promotion of new environmental data policies in countries where this is most needed.

"Sustainable growth and development is the only way forward. The world needs to work together to pay back our ecological debt, especially as we strive to work toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Ensuring policy makers have the information they need to make informed decisions for sustainable development has long been the goal of the Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI). Our support of the Eye on Earth movement and Summit will help advance our national efforts in transitioning to a more sustainable future and allow us to play a leadership role in this endeavour," said Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Secretary General, Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi.

"Global agreement this year on major intergovernmental commitments on sustainable development has brought into sharp focus the need for transparent, timely and accurate data and information on the state of the world's resources. These global agreements are creating a tipping point for the role of data in sustainable development and Eye on Earth will help to accelerate this transition," she added.

Addressing a gathering of more than 650 delegates from government agencies, UN organisations, NGOs, the private sector, academia and civil society, Dr. Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Federal National Council of Affairs, said the summit was being convened in the wake of the 193-member United Nations General Assembly formally adopting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

'Delivery of sustainable development goals remains a central and key priority at the heart of our vision for shaping a world where all people enjoy peace and prosperity,' he stated, adding, 'What makes me optimistic is the availability of multiple solutions that can help realise sustainable development goals in reality. Over the past years, the UAE experiment has shown that sustainable solutions can provide a basis for our investment to achieve development and growth and constitute key elements in our international relations in the broader sense.' Outlining the UAE's efforts in this respect, Dr. Gargash said, 'The UAE views renewable energy as an integral part of its international network of partnerships. The UAE pledged to offer US$840 million to 25 developing countries to push efforts aimed at mitigating the impact of poverty and creating economic opportunities through renewable energy projects. As a host of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the UAE has pumped billions of dollars into renewable energy sources across the world. The fact that the seat of IRENA is in the region underlines our commitment and leadership in renewable energy.' The UAE, he added, was working to protect oceans and hosted the first Blue Economy Summit in 2014. It will host the second such Summit during the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in January 2016.

He indicated that conserving biodiversity and protecting endangered species were key drivers for forging close international partnerships in the field, noting the efforts made by the Mohammed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund (MZSCF) which has saved more than 1,200 threatened, endangered or nearly extinct species around the world.

On climate change, the minister said addressing the phenomenon would be a major step in our multilateral efforts and the UAE will be among the most active participants at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP 21) next December, where it will work diligently to help conferees produce a positive outcome. The conference's objective is to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, agreed to by all the nations of the world.

He stressed the need for accurate, real-time data to address and tackle climate change and its impact, pointing out to the launch of the Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI) in 2002 under the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to achieve more cost-effective and relevant environmental data collection and assessment.

Taking the floor, Dr. Rashid Ahmed bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water, explained the UAE's efforts to develop a mechanism for gathering and assessing social, economic and environmental information and data and sharing them with international partners for building a sustainable future for the humanity.

The minister stated that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development stresses that quality, accessible, timely and reliable disaggregated data will be needed to help with the measurement of progress and to ensure that no one is left behind. Such data is key to decision-making.

Environmental data and information, he added, had received proper attention from the UAE in light of the rapid developmental changes it had witnessed over the past decades.

'There was a need for developing national strategies and policies to mitigate impact of development on sustainable development under the UAE Vision 2021,' he said.

He noted that advanced ICT and capacity building models were employed to set a range of policies and strategies to have accurate, reliable and latest data, citing the UAE ecological footprint (2007) and the UAE Green Agenda (2015-2030).

Noting the latest positive development in the UAE, the minister referred to the establishment of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority (FCSA), whose functions include proposing policies, strategies and plans for statistics and competitiveness in co-ordination with the government and the related entities, as well as evaluating international best practices in all areas of the statistics and competitiveness sectors.

Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Permanent Representative to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Director of Energy and Climate Change department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, underscored the importance of improving data collection and statistical systems for a sustainable future, especially in developing countries, in his remarks at the Eye on Earth Summit 2015 in Abu Dhabi.

The Summit plays a critical role in driving continued dialogue and international action to further strengthen data systems for sustainable development, and follows the recent adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

In December, at the 21st session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21), world leaders will establish a new global climate change agreement which will likely require all countries to monitor, report and verify greenhouse gas emissions, making data collection and reporting a priority in both developed and developing countries.

"Putting in place comprehensive data systems is a challenging process for any country. It requires growing both the institutions and culture for generating, reviewing and sharing data - not just on environmental issues but on all aspects of economy and society," said Dr. Al Zeyoudi.

The Summit highlighted the UAE's active role in developing world-class data systems. The country already has in place policies and actions to ensure consistent tracking and reporting of data, including greenhouse gas emissions inventory and air quality measuring and reporting.

The Summit, first held in 2011, is organised by The Environmental Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) and hosted by the Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI), in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Representing the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD), Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and new partners Group on Earth Observations (GEO), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and World Resources Institute (WRI), these global thought leaders stressed the urgency of the need to foster a culture of collaboration and find global solutions to make environmental, social and economic data more available and accessible to achieve the global sustainable agenda.

In September, the 17 new Sustainable Development Goals were unanimously adopted by 193 UN Member States. In March, the UN also adopted the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and in December the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) will, for the first time in over 20 years of UN negotiations, aim to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate change.

UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said, "If good data drives better decisions, open data drives better collaboration. We will need both to meet the challenges of a sustainable future for our planet and its peoples. When information and knowledge are made accessible to everyone across the social spectrum, informed choices and decisions can be made at all levels that support the goals of sustainable development."

The Eye on Earth Alliance expects the 2015 Summit to drive further international action to revolutionise the way we collect, access, share and use data and information for sustainable development. Themed "Informed Decision-Making for Sustainable Development", delegates will aim to identify how governments, technology, the scientific community and citizen participation can enhance access to quality data and information.

"By harnessing the data revolution for sustainable development, we have an opportunity to create a real turning point in our modern environmental history. This Summit, and the wider efforts of the Eye on Earth Initiative, will help us to pool our collective intelligence and resources to protect the future of the planet and humanity," said Inger Andersen, Director General, IUCN.

"The global reach and contributions of the major organisations that currently represent the Eye on Earth Summit Alliance will bring significant momentum to the Eye on Earth movement as we work together in engaging many more actors in decisions that affect the health of the planet and all of its inhabitants," said Barbara Ryan, Secretariat Director of GEO.

Since its founding in 2011, Eye on Earth has seen its reach and impact grow. The eight Special Initiatives created to deliver the Eye on Earth mission have brought together more than 500 scientists, government officials, academics, NGOs and ordinary citizens through projects focused on data, data analytics and decision support systems to improve decision-making for sustainable development. Members of the Special Initiatives have identified an additional 120 projects to help close the data gap that currently hampers decision- and policy-making for sustainable development. These project proposals, some of which require funding, are being presented during Eye on Earth Summit 2015. They have also been made available to nations, funding organisations and interested philanthropists.

During the three-day Eye on Earth Summit delegates, will aim to reach consensus on several outcomes, including the formation of new partnerships, guidelines for the implementation of data governance frameworks and the promotion of new environmental data policies in countries where this is most needed.

"Good decisions start with good data, but decision makers often lack the tools to gather, understand and make use of the growing quantities of information now available to them," said Janet Ranganathan, Vice President for Science and Research at the World Resources Institute. "The Eye on Earth Summit aims to spark innovations in the way people collect, use, and share data to tackle the world's biggest challenges. Through Eye on Earth, we can help bridge the gap between governments, businesses, citizens and the data they need to make better decisions."