Presentation by Mick Wilson to the GEO/GEOSS Science and Technology Stakeholders Workshop in Bonn, Germany, 21-24 August 212

1. GEO and the other GEO:
UNEP-Live at the science/policy interface:
a Progressing Tale of Discovery
and Practical Convergence
Mick Wilson, Division of Early Warning and Assessment
United Nations Environment Programme

3. UNEP participating in GEOSS AIP-5
Attempting to integrate broker technology
into UNEP-Live
Goals are numerous but primarily to expand
semantic space to incorporate concepts of
environmental treaties (MEAs) alongside
environmental and science data.
Spanning data and knowledge

4. Why?

5. United Nations Environment Programme (1972)
UN General Assembly resolution 2997
“...to keep under review the world environmental
situation in order to ensure that emerging
environmental problems of wide international
significance receive appropriate and adequate
consideration by Governments...”

6. United Nations Environment Programme (1972)
“...to keep under review the world environmental
situation...”
UNEP's flagship product
Our GEO –
Global Environment Outlook

7. By design UNEP GEO is:
•
Consultative – wide range of stakeholders
•
Participatory - all regions
•
Integrative – multi-sectoral
1997
2000
2003
GEO-5 emphasis on appraisal of
policies that help countries reach
internationally-agreed goals

8. UNEP GEO is unique,
as much a political process as a scientific analysis
High-level text negotiated during
inter-governmental/ multi-
stakeholder meetings
Hundreds of topic specialists
contribute (some Government
nominated)

9. UNEP at the science/policy interface
Formulate the questions to
Analysis of policy needs
request relevant scientific
for scientific information
information
Demand
Science Provide alerts and early Policy
Community warnings Community
Supply
Conduct policy-
Assess information Communicate
relevant
responding to assessment
research and review
identified needs findings
of information

10. UNEP-Live to be UNEP's platform for
supporting all future environmental
assessments (not just GEO)
Evidence-based
More timely information
More accessible
More effective with greater impact
Prototype at www.uneplive.org

11. Topic Questions:
How to enrich UNEP assessment
products with scientific context?
How to increase discoverability of UNEP
assessment products in scientific
contexts?
How to contribute to improving the
scientific basis of UNEP assessment
products?

12. UNEP-Live by design

must operate at the science/policy
interface

must span many communities of practice
both within sciences and in social and
political domains

must be inclusive and therefore
technologically agnostic
Brokerage services offer a means to
addressing these goals in practice
Eye-on-Earth provided my opportunity for
discovering this possibility

13. About Eye on Earth:
Not the EEA platform nor any other
infrastructure
Partnership between UNEP and
Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD)
Addresses the crucial importance of
environmental and societal information
to decision making
Summit in 2011 spawned 8 Special
Initiatives inc. “Eye on Global Network of
Networks” (GNoN)

14. Current UNEP-Live prototype limited by

fragmented, silo-based discovery

not integrating all UNEP assets

not utilizing partners' contextual resources
Using involvement in AIP-5 to attempt to
correct these
AIP-5 activity also part contributes to EoE
GNoN Global Network of Networks

15. Eye on Earth working group
brought together participants from
… and they begat....
GNoN

16. Eye on Earth working group
brought together participants from
… and they begat....
GNoN
NOT just data and engineering,
but also institutional, information,
knowledge, skills etc.

17. ...and GNON proponents were
enthused by...
The Broker
AIP-5

18. About AIP-5
The GEOSS
Architecture Implementation Pilot (AIP)
develops and deploys new process
and infrastructure components for the
GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI)
and the broader GEOSS architecture.

19. The Milestones for UNEP in AIP-5

Demonstrate 'joined up' discovery across
diverse UNEP information sources

Demonstrate 'joined up' contextual discovery
across UNEP and GEOSS assets

Demonstrate enhanced searches – semantic
expansion and multi-lingual discovery

Integrate broker into UNEP-Live prototype

Demonstrate integration of UNEP-ish
semantics/ontologies - InforMEA

20. A vision (hallucination?) for end 2012
CITES, the treaty CITES, the conference
of parties (COP)
The decisions of the
CITES COP
Data relevant to
WDPA decisions do exist!!
CITES
red list
GEOBON sources

21. Earth Observation
Community
Earth Observation
Science stuff
GIS Assessment
Observation
Measurement
Monitoring
Models

22. Earth Observation Treat/ Law/ Policy
Community Community
Treaty
Earth Observation Motivation
Science stuff Policy
Societal impacts
GIS Assessment Legislation
Observation Incentive
Measurement
Compliance
Monitoring Regulation
Models

23. Earth Observation Treat/ Law/ Policy
Community Community
– two communities with common ground .....
Treaty
Earth Observation Motivation
Science stuff Policy
Societal impacts
GIS Assessment Legislation
Observation Incentive
Measurement
Compliance
Monitoring Regulation
Models
science
policy

24. Earth Observation Treat/ Law/ Policy
Community Community
– two communities with common ground
but different vocabularies
Treaty
Earth Observation Motivation
Science stuff Policy
Societal impacts
GIS Assessment Legislation
Observation Incentive
Measurement
Compliance
Monitoring Regulation
Models
Vocabularies, semantics
describe and ontologies describe
GEMET, GEO/GEOSS, INSPIRE etc. InforMEA, FAOLEX etc.

25. Earth Observation Treat/ Law/ Policy
Community Community
– two communities with common ground
but different vocabularies which possibly can be made to work together
Treaty
Earth Observation Motivation
Science stuff Policy
Societal impacts
GIS Assessment Legislation
Observation Incentive
Measurement
Compliance
Monitoring Regulation
Models
Vocabularies, semantics and ontologies
GEMET, GEO/GEOSS, INSPIRE etc. InforMEA, FAOLEX etc.
←brokerage service now on trial→
In conjunction with GEO/GEOSS and CSIRO

26. Earth Observation Treat/ Law/ Policy
Community Community
– two communities with common ground
but different vocabularies which possibly can be made to work together
Treaty
Earth Observation Motivation
Science stuff Policy
Societal impacts
GIS
Data Assessment
Knowledge
Legislation
Observation Incentive
Measurement
Compliance
Monitoring Regulation
Models
Vocabularies, semantics and ontologies
GEMET, GEO/GEOSS, INSPIRE etc. InforMEA, FAOLEX etc.
←brokerage service now on trial→
In conjunction with GEO/GEOSS and CSIRO

27. Biodiversity as case study
Links to GEOSS SBA
Links to GFW 2.0
Aichi goals
Needs future capacity for regeneration

28. InforMEA database of Environmental Treaties (MEAs)

29. InforMEA database of Environmental Treaties (MEAs)
'knows' all about decisions, compliance etc. ….

30. … but nothing about the data that underpin and
validate those decisions

31. GEOSS Portal also 'knows' something
about data associated with Environmental Treaties (MEAs)

32. ...and the SBAs know even more....

33. … but nothing about where those data
might have been applied to underpin and
validate MEA decisions

34. InforMEA pilot Vocabulary Service

35. The Milestones for UNEP in AIP-5
 Demonstrate 'joined up' discovery across

diverse UNEP information sources
 Demonstrate 'joined up' contextual discovery

across UNEP and GEOSS assets
 Demonstrate enhanced searches – semantic

expansion and multi-lingual discovery
 Integrate broker into UNEP-Live prototype


Demonstrate integration of UNEP-ish
semantics/ontologies - InforMEA

36. Next Steps:
Get the InforMEA vocabulary service
stabilized
Detach GI-portal client and have UNEP-
Live interrogate broker directly a la GEO
geoportal
Develop and deploy UNEP broker profiles i.e.
climate change, ecosystem services etc.
Establish more vocab/ ontology services e.g.
environmental law, geopolitical entities, assessment
methodologies, analytical methods for water quality
etc.

37. GEO-5 appraised 90 international
environmental goals and objectives
Significant progress
Insufficient data / too
4 goals
soon to assess
14 goals
Further deterioration
8 goals
Some progress
40 goals
Little or no progress
24 goals

38. Summary—areas with the least progress
• Access to food
• Climate change
• Corals
• Desertification and drought
• Ecosystem services
• Extinction risk of species
• Extreme events
• Fish stocks
• Groundwater depletion
• Indoor air pollution
• Invasive alien species
• Marine pollution
• Natural habitats
• Species harvested for food and medicine
• Sustainably managed production areas
• Traditional knowledge
• Wetlands

39. What is not measured
is not managed!
Specific, measurable targets appear to increase chances of
success in meeting goals
They can also spur efforts to address data gaps