More than 20 space agencies from around the world are set to take part in a conference being held at Cop28.
Discussions on how space activities could play a role in combating climate change will be discussed at the Space Agencies’ Leaders’ Summit.
Cop28 will take place from November 30 to December 12 at Expo City in Dubai.
“At a time when we are facing unprecedented challenges due to climate change, the space sector is emerging as a vital tool to monitor and understand these changes using advanced technologies in space exploration,” said Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technology and Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency.
“This helps us in developing effective strategies to combat the effects of climate change and provide sustainable solutions to the environmental challenges we face.”
There will be a series of panel discussions and activities on sustainable technologies and supporting space-climate initiatives.
The summit will focus on enhancing data sharing between established and emerging space nations.
It will discuss allocating resources and funding towards climate research initiatives within the space sector and supporting climate monitoring initiatives by establishing new programmes.
Updates on the UAE Space Agency’s projects will also be given, including on the Space Data Centre, the Geo-Spatial Analytical Platform and the Space Analytics and Solutions programme.
Salem Butti Al Qubaisi, director general of the space agency, said its projects are focused on combating climate change by monitoring Earth’s environment.
“Our use of satellites and other space-based technologies provides accurate data that help scientists and policymakers better understand environmental impacts and develop innovative strategies to adapt to and mitigate climate change,” he said.
“We believe that space technology has the potential to bring significant benefits to Earth by providing sustainable solutions in agriculture, water resource management and biodiversity conservation.”
The agency will also organise the Climate Innovation Sprint – Earth Observation Solutions hackathon, with the participation of entrepreneurs, data scientists and programmers to address sustainability challenges.
Themes for the hackathon include loss and damage, food security, land use and climate-induced disasters.
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One in four Americans don't plan to retire
Nearly a quarter of Americans say they never plan to retire, according to a poll that suggests a disconnection between individuals' retirement plans and the realities of ageing in the workforce.
Experts say illness, injury, layoffs and caregiving responsibilities often force older workers to leave their jobs sooner than they'd like.
According to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research, 23 per cent of workers, including nearly two in 10 of those over 50, don't expect to stop working. Roughly another quarter of Americans say they will continue working beyond their 65th birthday.
According to government data, about one in five people 65 and older was working or actively looking for a job in June. The study surveyed 1,423 adults in February this year.
For many, money has a lot to do with the decision to keep working.
"The average retirement age that we see in the data has gone up a little bit, but it hasn't gone up that much," says Anqi Chen, assistant director of savings research at the Centre for Retirement Research at Boston College. "So people have to live in retirement much longer, and they may not have enough assets to support themselves in retirement."
When asked how financially comfortable they feel about retirement, 14 per cent of Americans under the age of 50 and 29 per cent over 50 say they feel extremely or very prepared, according to the poll. About another four in 10 older adults say they do feel somewhat prepared, while just about one-third feel unprepared.
"One of the things about thinking about never retiring is that you didn't save a whole lot of money," says Ronni Bennett, 78, who was pushed out of her job as a New York City-based website editor at 63.
She searched for work in the immediate aftermath of her layoff, a process she describes as akin to "banging my head against a wall." Finding Manhattan too expensive without a steady stream of income, she eventually moved to Portland, Maine. A few years later, she moved again, to Lake Oswego, Oregon. "Sometimes I fantasise that if I win the lottery, I'd go back to New York," says Ms Bennett.
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