2021 Report on Big Earth Data in Support of the Sustainable Development Goals Released

On September 28, the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS) held a press conference to introduce the report on "Big Earth Data in Support of the Sustainable Development Goals (2021)" which was released on September 26 by China on the Sustainable Development Forum 2021. It is the third straight year since 2019 that China releases the Report series by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Organized by CAS, the Report is drafted by the research team from CBAS as well as the Big Earth Data Science Engineering Project (CASEarth).

Focusing on 18 targets involved six SDGs, including Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11), Climate Action (SDG 13), Life below Water (SDG 14), and Life on Land (SDG 15), the Report presents 26 case studies on harnessing Big Earth Data for developing data products, new evaluation methodologies and models to monitor progress and inform policymaking.

Furthermore, based on Big Earth Data research results for six SDGs over the past three years, the Report evaluates the 2010-2020 preliminary progress of China. The results show that China is on track to achieving these six SDGs by 2030.

The Report showcases China's efforts of using innovation-driven technologies to facilitate the implementation the UN 2030 Agenda. The implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is confronted with new challenges since the world today is under the compounded impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and profound changes, both unseen in a century.

Prof. GUO Huadong, Director of CBAS said at the press conference that it is necessary to explore more effective ways to deal with the data challenges in the progress of the 2030 Agenda. He pointed out that the Big Earth Data related technology is an effective way to close data gap and lack of information and tools.

Prof. Guo Huadong introduces the Report.

A scene of the press conference.

The Report provides a new analytical tool and accurate evaluation of SDGs-related issues in China, and it is expected to provide useful experience for the international implementation of the 2030 Agenda.