The sixth plenary session of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO-VI) convened in Washington, DC, US, from 17-18 November 2009, to assess and promote the partnership’s progress towards making information about global environmental change readily available to those who need it.

Among the issues addressed were: GEO Data Sharing principles, including open access to space data; global carbon monitoring, including the GEO Forest Carbon Tracking task, which is estimating trends in the spatial extent and carbon content of the world’s forests; and the GEO Biodiversity Observation Network, which involves approximately 100 organizations working to support the Convention on Biological Diversity’s establishment of biodiversity baselines to support future targets, including the 2010 target. A Ministerial Summit will convene in Beijing, China, from 3-5 November 2010, at the mid-point in implementation of the GEO partnership, to highlight and assess its outputs.
GEO is a voluntary partnership of governments and international organizations that provides a framework within which these partners can develop new projects and coordinate their strategies and investments. Participating organizations include the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Educational , Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UNFCCC, the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), the UN University (UNU), and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Links to further information
IISD RS sources
GEO-VI website
PRNewswire news report, 17 November 2009