27 June 2022: 3 years and a founding Charter

Published on 30/08/2022

There is strength in numbers, which the SCO has been demonstrating since June 2019. On 27 June 2022 at the Cité de l'Espace in Toulouse, several members met, some remotely, to salute this anniversary with not 3, but 29 candles: the first 29 signatures of the founding Charter.

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Out of the first 29 signatories, most of them present online, 7 organisations took advantage of their presence at La Cité de l'Espace to sign the founding Charter of the SCO live on 27 June 2022. © CNES/LANCELOT Frédéric, 2022

3 years of existence

Decided at the One Planet Summit in 2017 and born in June 2019, the Space for Climate Observatory has covered a considerable amount of ground in three years. Some of its members were able to visit the Cité de l'Espace on 27 June 2022 to salute the fruits of their remarkable best effort approach. The SCO is already supporting the development of 58 projects all over the world, around which it leads a collaborative network bringing together public and private players, research and associations. It has regularly welcomed new agencies and set up numerous events and partnerships for major international climate meetings. And "this is just the beginning", as Lionel Suchet, Deputy Director General of CNES, who opened the session, pointed out.

A founding Charter

The SCO now has its founding Charter, developed by all its members under the coordination of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). The Charter clearly defines the scope, activities and governance of the SCO. In particular, it opens membership to any public or private entity committed to climate action and willing to engage in some way with the SCO.

Already adopted by 29 members, the Charter will gather many more signatures before it comes into force on 1^erSeptember 2022. Indeed, as it becomes the reference document, it requires a new signature from members wishing to continue their commitment.

4 testimonials and 7 live signatures

During this anniversary event, several members expressed their convictions in the SCO: "what the SCO does is credible", "it bridges a gap", "I see great cooperation with the SCO, to act both globally and locally".

Speakers included David Sadoulet, Secretary General of the One Planet Summit, Maurice Borgeaud, Director of Science, Applications and Climate Activities at the European Space Agency, Niklas Hedman, Acting Director of UNOOSA, and Shereen Zorba, Head of the Secretariat of the United Nations Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment.

To close the sequence, Maurice Borgeaud (ESA) and Niklas Hedman (UNOOSA) were invited to sign the Charter in person, as were representatives of five French agencies that are members of SCO France (AFD, Cerema, CNRS, INRAE, ONF).

The TropiSCO platform for real-time monitoring of tropical deforestation was made public on the Internet on 27 June 2022! Watch the video broadcast during the session or go directly to https://www.tropisco.org.