Space for Net Zero

The report highlights that over 50% of essential climate variables are only measurable from space, making satellites indispensable for tracking carbon dioxide and methane. While current public and private missions provide vital data, the authors identify gaps in integrated modelling and coordination. To address this, they propose the creation of an Earth Operations Centre (EOC)—a multidisciplinary research and decision-support facility designed to integrate Earth system science with economic engineering to guide world leaders toward net-zero emissions.

• Space-based observations are indispensable for climate science, as more than half of the essential climate variables required to understand the Earth system can only be measured from space.
• Current satellite capabilities allow for the monitoring of carbon dioxide and methane, though nitrous oxide cannot yet be measured with the same accuracy. Atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and CH4 are increasing at annual average rates of 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.
• There is a significant disparity between public and private satellite missions: government missions focus on long-term global baseline data with coarse resolution, while private entities target 'super-emitters' (such as coal mine vents and abandoned wells) using high-resolution sensors to attribute emissions to individual facilities.
• A 'tiered remote sensing approach'—combining satellite, airborne, and ground-based sensors—is recommended to improve the identification of emission sources. This is exemplified by studies in Kern County, California, where some steam injection wells were found to leak methane at rates over 200,000% above EPA estimates.
• The report identifies a critical gap in decision-support infrastructure, noting that no single organization, including in the United States, can provide leaders with a complete, reliable model of emissions and mitigation to drive optimal outcomes.
• The authors propose the creation of an Earth Operations Centre (EOC), a multidisciplinary facility that would integrate Earth systems modelling and economic engineering modelling into a physical visualization environment to support global net-zero decision-making.

APA

World Economic Forum (2021). Space for Net Zero. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Space_and_Net_Zero_2021.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Space for Net Zero. 2021. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Space_and_Net_Zero_2021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Space for Net Zero |date=September 2021 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Space_and_Net_Zero_2021.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2021space, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Space for Net Zero}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Space_and_Net_Zero_2021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }