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Earth observations (EO) have the ability to generate data that underpin local to national, regional and global efforts to monitor and drive progress on sustainable development, and make societies more adaptive to climate change and more resilient to disasters. From establishing baseline information for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators to supporting the creation and regular updating of databases and reporting mechanisms among different global frameworks to facilitating the planning and implementation of management and policy measures and assessing their effectiveness, EO data are recognized as essential for relating people to their location and place, while assisting with indicator disaggregation at various spatial scales. This paper examines existing examples of where EO data and tools are applied to generate knowledge in support of SDG implementation, monitoring and reporting, showcasing the diverse contributions of Earth observations to the 2030 Agenda. The need for information and the role of EO data, tools and services are explained, including an indication of future plans and challenges.

This paper reviews the key role that analysis- ready Earth observations (EO) play in achieving the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in monitoring, measuring, and reporting on progress towards the associated targets and the Global Indicator Framework. In response to the enhanced demand for official and complementary data with a breadth of socioeconomic applications and new opportunities for how these data can be sourced, distributed and used, the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) has launched the Open Data Cube (ODC) initiative. This initiative seeks to increase the value and impact of global EO data by providing an open and freely accessible exploitation architecture, while fostering a community of cooperation that promotes EO data and related information usage and sharing for the benefit of society. The ODC initiative is working closely with the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Earth Observations in Service of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (EO4SDG) initiative, whose primary purpose is to demonstrate and realize the potential of EO to support country-level implementation of the SDGs.