ReportsIJRG

International Journal of Global Risks and Governance

Publisher of record: GCRI for the Nexus Consortium
Editor: Saeed Valadbaygi, Chief Steward and Managing Editor, GCRI
Licence: CC BY 4.0, open access
Report series: 17
Networks: 10

Draft, not yet released. In stewardship review. Not indexed until the first approved release.

Sector profile

Earth observation: sector profile

Abstract. Earth observation in the global baseline: strong global observing systems. Exposure: continuity of key missions.

Code: GS-12
Edition: Global Systems 2026
Coverage: partial
Status: Draft in stewardship review

01Reading

strong global observing systems

02Exposure

continuity of key missions

03Evidence coverage

Partial coverage of the baseline evidence. This describes the evidence, not the performance of the sector.

04All sectors in the edition

Sector screen
Code	Sector	Baseline evidence	Exposure	Coverage
GS-00	Cross-system	entangled crises; six of nine boundaries transgressed [20]	compound and cascading shocks	PARTIAL
GS-01	Water	2.2 billion without safely managed water [8]	drought and flood extremes	GOOD
GS-02	Energy	record CO₂; about 41% clean power [4] [6]	heat demand; mineral concentration	GOOD
GS-03	Food and agrifood	673 million facing hunger [7]	concurrent breadbasket failure	GOOD
GS-04	Health	6.7 million air-pollution deaths a year [14]	heat, pandemics, antimicrobial resistance	PARTIAL
GS-05	Finance and economy	US$102 trillion public debt [13]	debt distress after disasters	GOOD
GS-06	Development	123.2 million forcibly displaced [12]	conflict–climate compounding	PARTIAL
GS-07	Climate	1.43 °C in 2025 [1]	extremes and tipping risk	GOOD
GS-08	Disaster	US$224 billion losses in 2025 [2]	frequency of medium events	GOOD
GS-09	Infrastructure	chokepoint concentration	shipping, power and cable outages	PARTIAL
GS-10	Cities	most people now live in cities [11]	urban heat and flooding	PARTIAL
GS-11	Biodiversity	−73% wildlife populations [9]	land-use change and fire	GOOD
GS-12	Earth observation	strong global observing systems	continuity of key missions	PARTIAL
GS-13	Cyber and digital	concentrated cloud and network dependence	systemic outages	THIN
GS-14	Policy and institutions	new pandemic and ocean agreements [27] [32]	implementation and finance gaps	PARTIAL
GS-15	Science and engineering	deep research base; AI adoption rising [37]	translation and dual use	THIN

Cite

Saeed Valadbaygi, Chief Steward and Managing Editor, the Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI) (Ed.). (2026). Earth observation: sector profile. In Global Systems 2026 [Draft under review]. GCRI for the Nexus Consortium.

Review copy. The DOI is issued at deposit. Text under CC BY 4.0.

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