Abstract
ABSTRACT Earth Observation (EO) has been recognised as a key data source for supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Advances in data availability and analytical capabilities have provided a wide range of users access to global coverage analysis-ready data (ARD). However, ARD does not provide the information required by national agencies tasked with coordinating the implementation of SDGs. Reliable, standardised, scalable mapping of land cover and its change over time and space facilitates informed decision making, providing cohesive methods for target setting and reporting of SDGs. The aim of this study was to implement a global framework for classifying land cover. The Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Land Cover Classification System (FAO LCCS) provides a global land cover taxonomy suitable to comprehensively support SDG target setting and reporting. We present a fully implemented FAO LCCS optimised for EO data; Living Earth, an open-source software package that can be readily applied using existing national EO infrastructure and satellite data. We resolve several semantic challenges of LCCS for consistent EO implementation, including modifications to environmental descriptors, inter-dependency within the modular-hierarchical framework, and increased flexibility associated with limited data availability. To ensure easy adoption of Living Earth for SDG reporting, we identified key environmental descriptors to provide resource allocation recommendations for generating routinely retrieved input parameters. Living Earth provides an optimal platform for global adoption of EO4SDGs ensuring a transparent methodology that allows monitoring to be standardised for all countries.
Highlights
The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development represents a global agenda for participating nations to strive for economic, social and environmental sustain ability by 2030 (DESA, 2016)
We resolve several semantic challenges of Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) for consistent Earth Observation (EO) implementation, including modifications to environmental descriptors, inter-dependency within the mod ular-hierarchical framework, and increased flexibility associated with limited data availability
We present a fully implemented Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) LCCS-2 optimised for EO data; Living Earth, an open-source software package that can be readily applied using existing national EO infrastructure and satellite data
Summary
The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development represents a global agenda for participating nations to strive for economic, social and environmental sustain ability by 2030 (DESA, 2016). The SDGs include 17 thematic goals and 169 standardised targets to strive for sustainable development among all nations, with 231 indicators to monitor performance towards agreed targets (UNGA, 2015). Most targets designated for achievement by 2020 were not met, and reported indicators from participating nations suggest that many will still be some way from attainment by 2030 (Kavvada et al, 2020). A fundamental limitation in progressing the SDGs has been identified around timely, reliable, standardised and openly available information (UNGA, 2019). Nations have expressed concern that without key data to support target setting and tracking of progress, through explicit information of the performance of an indicator over time, no reasonable policy and management changes can be actioned to change current trajectories towards attainment
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
