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With less than a decade left to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this communication aims to improve understanding of the enabling environment that is essential for Earth observations (EO) to be fully adopted within the institutional settings that drive the implementation of the SDGs and the Global Indicator Framework, an effective review mechanism for tracking progress at global to national and local levels. This paper also serves as an introduction to the Remote Sensing of Environment's Special Issue (SI) on Earth Observation for the Sustainable Development Goals. The seventeen contributions published in this SI showcase the application of EO data, methods, and tools to support countries in target setting for the SDGs, including baseline determination, as well as tracking of progress on SDG implementation and informing sustainable development planning and decision making. The majority of published articles focus on Goals 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), 14 (Life below Water) and 15 (Life on Land). We also present our own analysis of existing EO systems available to generate data for SDG indicators addressed via the SI contributions, including main resolution characteristics, and assess factors that hinder the full integration of EO solutions for the SDGs within country processes, institutions of government, and policies. We conclude that an urgent need exists for the EO community to work more closely with local and regional governments and other relevant stakeholders to promote the operationalization of EO solutions for implementing the 2030 Agenda at global to local levels. Our review also illustrates the need for transitioning towards new EO for SDG frameworks that are focused on the knowledge element of the data-information-knowledge-wisdom paradigm, rather than the data and information aspects.

Remotely sensed Earth observations (EO) have their history firmly rooted in agricultural monitoring, and more recently with applications in food production, food security, and sustainable agriculture. Still, after more than 45 years of observing the Earth's land surface, usage of EO data by operational monitoring entities concerned with global agriculture is uneven. One reason for this is a gap in continuous communication and collaboration between those who undertake research and development of methods for cropland assessment and monitoring, and those who have the mandate to report on agricultural indicators at a national, regional, and global scales. The recent international policy focus on the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development via its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is giving increased attention to measurements and indicators for monitoring and measuring progress for meeting these goals. Satellite EO provide a source of measurements beyond traditional census data collection and statistical reporting. In this vein, this overview paper describes the current and potential uses of EO data and tools that can support the SDGs, particularly highlighting the activities of the Group on Earth Observations Global Agricultural Monitoring (GEOGLAM) Initiative. GEOGLAM is composed of agricultural ministries, intergovernmental organizations, research entities, universities, space agencies, and members of industry concerned with agricultural monitoring. This GEOGLAM community has a broad portfolio of activities which provide information on the state and changes in agricultural production and land use that can be considered as contributions to both supporting the attainment of several of the 17 SDGs and many of their 169 Targets, as well as monitoring their achievement via the Global Indicator Framework. GEOGLAM contributes in particular to Goal 2: Zero Hunger, but also has less immediately apparent contributions in the realms of water (Goal 6), responsible consumption and production (Goal 12), climate action (Goal 13), life on land (Goal 15), and global partnerships for sustainable development (Goal 17). We further characterize the applicability and use of EO data products and tools as they correspond with the United Nations Interagency Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goals (IAEG-SDGs) Global Indicator Framework. This inventory will be complemented by a discussion of the intersection of other policy mandates with the SDGs in the agriculture and food security contexts, and will conclude with a discussion of approaches to improving awareness of EO value and bridging the gap between policy and EO communities, to the societal benefit of all with no one left behind.