Netherlands Space Office (NSO) recently published a study on how Earth observation can contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to monitoring and progress reporting on the SDGs. Seventeen Sustainable Development Goals were spearheaded by the United Nations in September 2015, which range from ending poverty and hunger to sustainable consumption and production, tackling with inequality and the climate change. The research was commissioned by the Netherlands Space Office (NSO) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and was carried out in the period May – June 2017.

The main benefits of Earth observation are saving of costs and time for informed decision making, quality improvement and process control. Additionally, Earth observation helps ensure that governments, businesses, NGO’s and people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development.

For further information, you can read the report ‘Earth Observation and Sustainable Development Goals in the Netherlands’ and the leaflet ‘EO contribution to the global goals for sustainable development’ here. For the related NSO news article and other publications, click here.