The third meeting, “Towards a Big Data Revolution for the Planet: From Uncertainty to Opportunity,” concluded on July 10. It was the Third Meeting of the High-Level Expert Group on Big Data, co-hosted by ISPRA, the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, and ESA, the European Space Agency.
The event built upon the work of the Second Expert Group on Big Data, held in Vienna in September 2023, and organized by the UN Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment and the Data for the Environment Alliance (DEAL).
High-integrity environmental data is essential for understanding the state of the global environment and for developing science-based tools that can help countries and businesses navigate fragmented regulatory frameworks while upholding their environmental commitments.
These tools enable real-time monitoring, cross-sector integration, and independent validation of environmental impacts and claims.
Experts from around the world had the opportunity to share perspectives and promote strategies for harnessing Big Data in support of global environmental sustainability.
Among them was INFO/RAC, which plays a key role in managing environmental data and information within the framework of the Mediterranean Action Plan.
In her intervention, Annalisa Minelli from INFO/RAC emphasized the crucial role of the Centre, which aims to ensure data is as widely accessible as possible and placed at the heart of decision-making processes.
Greater interoperability among digital platforms thanks to the use of internationally agreed standards – while respecting data privacy and sovereignty – can serve as a vital bridge between science and policy, essential for socio-economic growth and development rooted in environmental sustainability.
Also, the importance to interact and share principle and practices, to raise needs from the Contracting Parties plays a crucial role in UNEP-MAP and, thanks to this agreed framework among the parties, we adopted an Open Data Policy, and we drafted a Knowledge Management Strategy, which is in process of definition. Finally, the fact that UNEP-MAP experience has been cited in the first draft of the Global Environmental Data Strategy acknowledge that regional experience can serve the global good.
During the meeting, experts discussed and outlined the main objectives, each addressing a key aspect of the role of Big Data in environmental sustainability in a rapidly changing world.