September 15, 2020

CNES PRESENTS ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY TO EPE

Tuesday 15 September, at the invitation of environmental non-profit association EpE (Entreprises pour l’Environnement), CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall gave a talk on the environment strategy the agency applies across its space missions and its commitment to curbing its own environmental footprint.

CNES is engaging the ecological transition to achieve the key goals France has set for itself. To this end, the agency is mobilizing its partners and suppliers in pursuit of an eco-friendly approach with the following ambitions:

⦁    Achieve energy efficiency and transition to renewable energies at its field centres
⦁    Reach zero net emissions in 2050 and chart a course towards reducing carbon gas emissions by 40% by 2030
⦁    Play a driving role to establish virtuous practices throughout the value chain in the management of its projects
⦁    Meet its Act4Nature biodiversity commitments with respect to its science missions and field centres, which, particularly in French Guiana, are key storehouses of biodiversity

Besides reducing its environmental footprint, CNES’s strategy also covers the conduct of its missions. The agency is marshalling its expertise to help territories and populations manage their resources as they adapt to climate change, with a specific focus on three areas:

⦁    Emergency response and risk prevention, by encouraging uptake of space-based tools like the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters, which pools satellite data for agencies and teams organizing disaster relief efforts
⦁    Climate change coping strategies with the inception of the Space Climate Observatory (SCO) under the umbrella of the One Planet Summit, which is supporting operational projects to help territories to adapt
⦁    Preservation of resources, especially water resources, through numerous scientific partnerships like the SWOT mission with NASA to extend and improve the record of satellite altimetry data

Jean-Yves Le Gall noted: “Space scientists have long been motivated by the prospect of exploring galaxies and fascinated by Mars, but they also have their sights on this Earth that is our only home. We face two challenges: first, to engage all of our employees to devise new ways of working, which can only be achieved with support from the highest level; and second, to get our value chain and manufacturers to move towards an integrated eco-design approach and see it as an opportunity rather than a constraint.”

CONTACTS
Pascale Bresson    Press Officer    Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 75 39    pascale.bresson@cnes.fr
Raphaël Sart    Press Officer    Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 74 51    raphael.sart@cnes.fr

cp101-2020_-_epe_va.pdf (pdf - 252.29 KB)
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