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Using Earth Observation Systems to Improve Climate Adaptation Policy and Action. Graphic by Fabio Crameri, ISSI.

Published: 11 November 2025

Perspective highlight

by Fabio Crameri

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Climate Adaptation

Climate Change

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New Perspective “Earth observations for climate adaptation”

We are pleased to feature a new and timely Perspective paper: “Earth observations for climate adaptation: tracking progress towards the Global Goal on Adaptation through satellite-derived indicators” published in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science on 11 November 2025.

Why this matters

The paper tackles the rising urgency of adaptation to climate change. Climate change impacts grow in frequency, extent and intensity. Adaptation (not just mitigation) has therefore emerged as a global imperative.
It points to how satellite-based Earth Observation (EO) data can play a more central role in tracking progress under the Paris Agreement’s Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA).
The authors show how EO offers strengths in objectivity, repeatability, global coverage, and long-term archive potential.
At the same time, the Perspective identifies key challenges: for example, linking EO data to adaptation outcomes (attribution), dealing with disaggregation (ensuring vulnerable groups are captured), and integrating socio-economic data and local contexts.
Importantly, the paper originated from a collaborative expert forum held at ISSI.

The ISSI Forum link

The work involving ISSI Director Michael Rast builds directly on the insights gathered at the ISSI Forum “Using Earth Observations Systems to Improve Climate Adaptation Policy and Action”, held 25–28 June 2024 at ISSI in Bern, Switzerland, and co-convened with representatives from the European Space Agency (ESA), NASA, the World Adaptation Science Programme (WASP), and the Griffith University.

The forum created a rich platform for dialogue across the data/space science community, adaptation researchers, and policy-makers. The resulting Perspective draws on that collaborative foundation, and helps outline how EO can feed into the adoption and operationalisation of adaptation indicators under the GGA framework.

Key take-aways for practitioners and policy-makers

1. EO needs to be part of the adaptation indicator toolbox: The GGA process is moving fast. The authors argue that EO data and expertise should be part of the indicator selection process from the outset.

2. Start small but build scalability: While adaptation is often local, the need is global. The paper makes the case for indicators that are generalisable, comparable, and scalable across geographies, yet sensitive to local conditions.

3. Multiple lines of evidence required: Earth Observation is powerful, but cannot (alone) capture qualitative, socio-economic and behavioural dimensions. The authors stress the importance of multi-data integration and warn against relying solely on Earth Observation as a solution.

4. Operational and technical maturity needed: To fulfil its potential, EO-derived indicators must be embedded in workflows, made accessible and transparent. Issues such as baseline setting, data continuity, governance and capacity building matter.

5. Equity and disaggregation matter. The paper highlights that vulnerable populations might be overlooked in coarse Earth Observation data, making disaggregation and bias audits essential.

What this means for ISSI and our community

This Perspective underscores the pivotal role that the space-science/EO community can play within the adaptation agenda. For ISSI, it reinforces our role as a convener of interdisciplinary futures-oriented dialogues that in this case was bridging satellite remote sensing, climate science, adaptation policy and practice.

For geoscientists, remote sensing specialists, adaptation researchers, and policy analysts (many of whom engage with the ISSI network), this paper is a call to action: to bring your methods, your data, your analytics, your local-to-global perspective, and to help turn evolving adaptation frameworks into operational programmes.

Practical implications to explore

Review how your existing or planned EO datasets might align with the upcoming indicator sets from the UNFCCC work on the GGA.
Think about case-studies where Earth Observation has tracked adaptation interventions (e.g., agricultural change, ecosystem-based adaptation, urban greening) and document how outcomes could feed into indicator frameworks.
Consider issues of baseline definition, attribution, and how to build workflows that are transparent, replicable, and globally comparable.
Reflect on how your research or mission might support disaggregation of data (by region, vulnerability, socio-economic group) explicitly in order to honour the “leave no-one-behind” principle.
Engage in cross-disciplinary partnerships (space agencies, adaptation policy units, climate services) so that EO solutions are framed with end-users in mind, and capacity constraints addressed.

In summary

The paper “Earth observations for climate adaptation…” is a significant contribution at the intersection of Earth observation and adaptation policy, anchored in the 2024 ISSI Forum. It invites the community to move beyond proof-of-concepts into indicator-driven, operational adaptation tracking, while highlighting both the opportunities and the hurdles ahead.

ISSI serves a focal point for advancing these conversations, and to invite all our network to engage, contribute, and amplify the adaptation dimension of Earth-observation science.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-025-01251-1 “Earth observations for climate adaptation: tracking progress towards the Global Goal on Adaptation through satellite-derived indicators | npj Climate and Atmospheric Science”

Credits ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Martel