Scientists Plead With Gordon Brown To Honor Funding Promises For Earth, Environment Observation

[hatrack]

Earth observation scientists have made a last-minute plea to Gordon Brown to put the UK's weight behind Europe's environmental monitoring project, GMES. The 2bn-euro venture will build a full picture of the state of the planet from satellite and ground-based data.

But despite the UK's oft-stated claim to lead the world on climate policy, it has so far been lukewarm on GMES. Three leading scientists have now sent a letter to the PM urging him to back GMES at a critical meeting next week. Member states of the European Space Agency (Esa) will decide at a gathering in The Hague how to fund the next phase of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme, also known as Kopernikus.

Britain will have to put up well in excess of 100m euros if it wants to have a major influence on the project. At previous opportunities, Britain has declined to play a major role and the researchers fear the outcome of the Dutch meeting will be the same.

"We strongly believe that a major UK contribution to Kopernikus is necessary to support the UK's wish to be a world leader in responding to climate change and its consequences," the scientists write. "However, it is our current understanding that the UK may not contribute at a level concomitant with its position as one of the world's leading economies."

EDIT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7737425.stm