Giving Compass' Take:

• The United Nations teams up with German aerospace to access satellite technology that will help in tackling water and food security and plan disaster response to further along SDGs.

• How can funders work to address climate change and the SDGs together? How does climate change impact your philanthropic issue areas of interest? 

• Here are seven reasons why we need to step up action on the SDGs. 

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will have greater access to a suite of powerful space science tools to help countries meet the Sustainable Development Goals after signing a cooperation agreement with the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

The new partnership will enable UNDP and its partners to leverage high-resolution satellite imagery and sophisticated computer modelling to address local issues such as flooding, and health and education needs.

More accurate floodwater mapping and modelling can inform urban planning practices, while more precise population and settlement maps could show where schools and hospitals need to be built, the agencies said.

Pascale Ehrenfreund, chairman of DLR’s executive board, who spoke at the signing of the agreement at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday (13 December), said: “The fast pace of technological change in recent years—in robotics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and related areas such as big data—all have a broad impact on the economy, society, and environment. And this is all over the world, not only in more developed countries.”

Read the full article about using space technology to reach SDGs by SciDev Net via Eco-Business.