Sustainable Earth

By 2030, the UK will be a leading provider and adopter of space-enabled capabilities to advance nature restoration, reduce emissions and to build inclusive and resilient communities.

Why This Mission?
What We Do
Interventions
Get In Touch

MISSION STATEMENT

The goal of the Sustainable Earth mission is to maximise the growth potential for sustainable applications for the UK, focusing on those non-space sectors that both support sustainable outcomes and where the UK is globally competitive.

We will do that by increasing the integration of space data, technology and services that monitor and measure status and change within the natural and built environments, enabling better management and mitigating of the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss on the wellbeing and livelihoods of humans.

As a result, by 2030 the UK will be a leading adopter and provider of space-enabled capabilities that advance nature restoration and emissions reduction, including embedding space data in our economy and public services.

View of trees reflecting on a glass building facade, creating a serene blend of architecture and nature.

WHY SUSTAINABLE EARTH?

The demand for sustainability solutions is rising due to climate change, environmental issues, and economic pressures, with the market projected to reach $140 billion by 2030. Space technologies play a key role in addressing sustainability challenges, and the UK is well positioned to lead in this area due to its strengths in Earth Observation (EO), satellite communications, AI, and sustainability leadership.

The EO industry’s global economic value is expected to grow from $270 billion in 2023 to $700 billion by 2030, with UK opportunities exceeding $20 billion annually. Key sectors include finance, infrastructure and renewable energy. The UK is also a leader in environmental policy, especially in areas like climate action, emissions reduction and biodiversity conservation.

BARRIERS

The mission will focus on tackling four key barriers to the uptake of space data and technology into the wider economy thereby unlocking better data, insights, evidence and resilience:

Potential users face difficulties in accessing and utilising space data
Unclear customer needs and insufficient absorptive capacity lead to imperfect match with space enabled products and services
Technological developments are needed to unlock further value and applicability of space technology
Current policy environment does not maximise the demand for space products and services

KEY IMPACTS

The Sustainable Earth Mission will deliver the following outcomes:

Improved management of our natural environment.
Accelerated progress towards low carbon industry and infrastructure.
UK economic growth via productivity gains, cost avoidance and, later, exports.

INTERVENTIONS

Scroll to explore our missions

Nature Restoration

Emission Reduction

Space Data Building Blocks

Nature Restoration

This intervention will drive the development and adoption of space data and technology to enable better monitoring of natural ecosystems and the built environment.

Emission Reduction

This intervention will drive the development and adoption of space data and technology to enable better detection and measurement of greenhouse gases (GHG) and better information for infrastructure planning, monitoring and management. This will support accelerated progress towards low carbon industry and infrastructure via better visibility of industrial and infrastructure GHG emissions and enablement of more efficient infrastructure systems.

Space Data Building Blocks

This intervention will drive development of the fundamental building blocks that are necessary, but not sufficient, to integrate space data into the wider data driven economy. This will support progress on data infrastructure, standards and AI capability as well as embedding geospatial data into UK public policy.