Abstract

The Paris Agreement and its associated Global Stocktake are designed to assess progress towards emissions reduction. Individual countries report on the evolution of their emissions. Satellite observations can provide independent estimates of emissions but their relation to geographical location is extemely complex both in terms of the suite of observations required and the inverse modelling process.

Stephen Briggs is the former Head of EO Science, Applications and Future technologies at the European Space Agency and was Chairman of the Global Climate Observing System during 2013-2019. He is the assessor for the EU Copernicus CO2 emissions programme and is a visiting Professor at Reading University Meteorology Dept and a visitor to the Cambridge University Chemistry Department. He is on the Board of the Cambridge Centre for AI and Environmental Risk. He has worked on the use of satellite observations for, inter alia, climate studies for more years than he would care to remember.