City2City
FAO – Google Partnership Earth Map and the Hand in Hand Geo-spatial Platform

9 September 2024 - Earth Map and the Hand in Hand geospatial data platform bring the Google Earth Engine power and the large FAO data catalogue to everyone’s computer, enabling any user to undertake complex analysis of earth observation, environmental and climate data in a very simple manner and without the need of coding.

9 September 2024 - The virtual event “Hand-in-Hand, Earth Map, Google Earth Engine: a new way to big data” is to be hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The virtual event will mark the launch of Earth Map tool which was developed in the framework of the FAO global project "National Land Monitoring and Information System for a transparent NDC reporting", supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) for the international financing of climate change mitigation and biodiversity.

In 2015 in Paris, when the historic Paris Agreement was signed, FAO and Google signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The objective of the partnership is to work closely together to make geospatial data and mapping products more accessible, providing a high-technology assist to countries tackling climate change, food security, forest sustainable managements and land-use policies.

Cloud technologies and free satellite data are revolutionizing the way countries can assess, monitor and plan the use of their natural resources, including monitoring of fishing, deforestation and desertification.

In the last five years, more than forty countries have benefitted from this partnership by knowledge transfer, capacity development and capacity building activities.

In the framework of the FAO - Google partnership, a new innovative, free and open tool, Earth Map, has been developed. It is based on Google Earth Engine technology and it is built in synergies with the Hand in Hand geospatial data platform. Together these tools support countries, research institutes and even farmers with internet access to monitor their land in an easy, integrated and multi-temporal manner. It allows them to easily access all the freely available satellite imagery, information, trends and statistics related to climate, vegetation, fires, biodiversity, geosocial elements and others, in their area of interest. It allows everyone to easily explore their environments through the “big data” dimension. Earth Map can thereby provide a holistic vision on implementation of the RIO+ goals. Users need no prior knowledge of remote sensing or Geographical Information Systems.

Earth Map and the Hand in Hand geospatial data platform bring the Google Earth Engine power and the large FAO data catalogue to everyone’s computer, enabling any user to undertake complex analysis of earth observation, environmental and climate data in a very simple manner and without the need of coding.

This project builds on the FAO and Google partnership to work closely together to make geospatial data and mapping products more accessible to countries.

In the context of our project, we look forward to providing training and capacity building on Earth Map and its integration with the Hand-in-Hand Geo-spatial platform to you.

In this respect, I hope you will be able to participate as your institution has a key role to play in climate change action, land monitoring, and sustainable forest management.

Date and Time: Sep 16, 2024 04:30 PM Central European Time (CET) in Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna

You will find the announcement for the virtual event attached to this email. The link for registration for the event is the following: https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_oogAzatjRxW5U0Iw55ZHWg

The web streaming of the event can be accessed here: http://www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/item/5347/icode/

UNGA High-Level Event: Green Cities to build back better for SDGs

4 September 2024 - The main objective of the “FAO Green Cities Initiative” and its action programme is to increase people’s wellbeing through better availability of and access to products and services provided by urban and peri-urban forestry, agriculture and food systems.

4 September 2024 - FAO is hosting “Green cities to build back better for SDGs - A new powerful venture”, to be held on the occasion of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The virtual event will launch the “FAO Green Cities Action Programme”, a new initiative focusing on small, intermediate, and metropolitan cities that aims to improve people’s wellbeing through increased availability of and access to products and services provided by green spaces, including urban and peri-urban forestry, agriculture and by sustainable food systems.

The High-Level Event will kick-off a dialogue with key actors at the national and international level and will be an opportunity to call on cities, donors, and partners to join the initiative. 

Date and Time: Friday, 18 September 2024 | 12.00–14.00 (GMT-4) / 18.00–20.00 (GMT+2)​

Registration Link: https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_IaD38vZNSPmn44zR6CChfw

Keynote address: 

  • Mr QU Dongyu, Director-General, FAO - "FAO’s vision for Green Cities and innovation" 
  • Mr Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (to be confirmed)

Opening remarks:

  • Ms Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)
  • Mr Jürgen Rigterink, Acting President, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  • Mr Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, Chief Executive Officer, Global Environment Facility
  • Mr Rémy RiouxChief Executive Officer, Agence Française de Développement

Testimonials from Cities:

  • Mr Manuel de Araujo, Mayor of Quelimane, Mozambique
  • Ms Souad Abderrahim, Mayor of Tunis, Tunisia
  • Mr Wen Guohui, Mayor of Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China
  • Mr Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan, Italy
  • Mr Daniel Quintero, Mayor of Medellin, Colombia
  • Mr Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York, United States of America
  • Mr Lucsonne Janvier, Mayor of Port-au-Prince, Haiti

The event will be moderated by Ms Lana Wong, award-winning communicator (Moderate the Panel), and broadcast live with simultaneous interpretation in Chinese, English, French and Spanish.

For the event concept note and more information: http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/fao-green-cities-initiative/en/