Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi is set to host the Eye on Earth Summit, to be held from October 6 to 8. The summit will be the world’s leading event dedicated to identifying solutions for greater access to, and sharing of, environmental, social and economic data to address sustainable development.
Gathering thought leaders, policy makers and innovators from government, United Nations agencies, non-government organisations, the private sector, academia and civil society, the Eye on Earth Summit 2015 will seek to better understand the supply and demand of data necessary to secure the future of our planet.
Despite technological and scientific advancements, decision makers often lack vital data on the state of the world’s resources. This problem is known as the “data gap”, and filling it is critical to the post-2015 development agenda, the shared framework for global action and cooperation on development for the next 15 years.
The Eye on Earth Summit 2015 will cast a spotlight on the role that governments, technology, the scientific community and citizen participation play in closing the data gap and enhancing access to quality data. With close to 30 sessions over the course of three days, delegates will learn about the potential for ‘big data’ to save the planet and how it can drive the necessary institutional change governments need to make in order to decouple economic growth from the rate of natural resource consumption.
“Lending our support to international initiatives like Eye on Earth is necessary to help us realise the sustainable development goals globally and locally under the UAE Vision 2021 National Agenda and the Abu Dhabi Environment Policy Agenda,” said Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Secretary-General of the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi.
