The European Union Delegation to the Philippines will introduce for the first time the EU Earth Observation Copernicus Programme to the Philippines through a national conference on Copernicus Systems and Applications in Makati City on March 11.
The conference is a platform for scientists, technologists, development workers and policy-makers and business people to discuss ways on how to maximize the use of the Copernicus Programme to address various challenges besetting the country.
It will also bring together international, local scientists and experts, who will present local and regional case studies that demonstrate the use of Copernicus.
The Copernicus Programme is a cornerstone of the European Union’s efforts to monitor the Earth and its many ecosystems from integrated space and ground-based data.
Copernicus’s amazing flexible technology is user-driven and provides six free-of-charge operational services in the areas of atmosphere monitoring, marine environment monitoring, land monitoring, climate change, emergency management and security.
To top these all, the Copernicus Programme can be used by all interlocutors: national and regional government institutions, international development partners, and the private sector from all over the world.
Since Copernicus became operational in 2014, the EU has invested approximately €9.6 billion in the program with an additional €5.8-billion allocation proposed from 2021 to 2027.
The program is already generating economic benefits two to three times higher than the original investment (excluding the nonmonetary benefits such as environmental, societal and strategic).
“Copernicus presents huge opportunities as it provides information on our environment, it monitors and helps mitigate climate-change impacts and improves security for citizens and communities faced with the threat of natural disasters. Copernicus also triggers investments in space technology and infrastructure, and it encourages downstream industry, namely the people who develop innovative applications and services thus helping creating growth and jobs,” said EU Ambassador Franz Jessen.
“We hope the conference will allow participants to see the potential benefits of applications of Copernicus for Filipinos and that it will inspire future know-how exchanges and collaboration opportunities between the European Union and the Philippines for the benefit of the Filipino society.”
This European system uses satellites for monitoring the Earth and is able to provide high-resolution imagery daily generating precise information with immense potential to be utilized in multiple fields.
Data provided by the Copernicus system helps in handling some challenging issues many countries face—such as food security, deforestation, climate change, pollution and natural disasters. The high-resolution data provided by Copernicus is also used by innovative businesses to develop satellite-enabled products and services.
The program is coordinated and managed by the European Commission and implemented in partnership with the EU member-states, the European Space Agency, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, EU agencies and Mercator Océan International.
