Earth Observation and the Global Goal on Adaptation: ESA-JRC Workshop Report

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) hosted a workshop on the role of Earth Observation and the UNFCCC Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) indicators held at ESA’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) in Harwell, United Kingdom, from 23 to 25 June 2026. The workshop brought together more than thirty participants representing space agencies, European and United Nations organisations, intergovernmental bodies, academia, operational service providers, the private sector, and adaptation practitioners to address the scientific and operational requirements arising from the adoption of the UNFCCC’s Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) list of adaptation indicators at COP30 in 2025.

The workshop aimed to identify where Earth Observation (EO) could support the monitoring and reporting of the 59 GGA indicators, while also examining its wider role in adaptation planning and practice. Its format combined invited presentations with interactive discussions and a collaborative mapping exercise, enabling participants to share perspectives and assess EO’s potential contribution to each indicator.

Of the 59 indicators, 11 contain physical components that EO can measure directly, 16 can receive an indirect contribution through model inputs or proxies, and 21 can use EO as contextual information on hazards, exposure or environmental conditions. For 11 indicators, no indicator-specific EO contribution was established. None of the indicators can be measured completely through EO alone: reporting also requires combinations of in situ observations, administrative and socioeconomic data, surveys, local and Indigenous knowledge, programme records and evidence linking observed change to adaptation action. The assessment confirms that EO is an important but partial component of the evidence needed for adaptation monitoring. The degree to which EO will form a fundamental component of any of the identified indicators will be dependent on the chosen methods for indicator development. This will depend on the discussions and decisions that arise from the Belém–Addis Vision on Adaptation, which comprises a two-year policy alignment process that will progress alongside further technical work on metadata and methodologies for the indicators, undertaken by the Subsidiary Bodies.