What to note.........

United Nations General Assembly urges sharing of geospatial data to benefit people and planet

26 February, New York

The science that supports the precise pinpointing of people and places should be shared more widely, according to the United Nations General Assembly as it adopted its first resolution recognizing the importance of a globally-coordinated approach to geodesy – the discipline focused on accurately measuring the shape, rotation and gravitational field of planet Earth. Geodesy plays an increasing role in people’s lives, from finding disaster victims to finding directions using a smart phone.

The General Assembly resolution, A Global Geodetic Reference Frame for Sustainable Development, outlines the value of ground-based observations and remote satellite sensing when tracking changes in populations, ice caps, oceans and the atmosphere over time. Such geospatial measurements can support sustainable development policymaking, climate change monitoring and natural disaster management, and also have a wide range of applications for transport, agriculture and construction.

Emphasizing that “no one country can do this alone,” the General Assembly called for greater multilateral cooperation on geodesy, including the open sharing of geospatial data, further capacity-building in developing countries and the creation of international standards and conventions.