NEWS
The International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) today unveiled its Digital Earth Initiative for Climate Governance and Regenerative Economics at COP30 in Belém, Brazil – establishing Digital Earth as a trusted global infrastructure for high-integrity climate finance, transparent governance, and evidence-based decision-making.
Framed around the COP30 priorities of ambition, transparency, and resilience, the initiative positions Digital Earth as a digital backbone for global climate action – linking science, policy, and finance to accelerate the world’s transition toward a sustainable and regenerative economy.
“The world is entering a decisive decade,” said Richard Simpson, President of the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE). “COP30 marks a turning point for collective ambition, transparency, and cooperation. The Digital Earth vision provides a shared foundation for understanding our planet as an interconnected whole that links science, policy, and finance in the service of regeneration and resilience. It offers a trusted framework through which every commitment can be understood, every outcome verified, and every investment aligned with the health of the Earth itself. By giving governments, markets, and citizens a common frame of reference grounded in knowledge and fairness, Digital Earth helps transform global intent into enduring progress.”
A Global Infrastructure for Climate Action
Originally envisioned by Al Gore in 1998, Digital Earth is now being realised through a federated global knowledge system that integrates data from satellites, sensors, and models with local and Indigenous insights.
ISDE’s initiative transforms this vision into a functioning global architecture for sustainable development as a “digital twin of the planet” that makes the Earth’s processes observable, measurable, and governable in real time.
Through twelve interconnected thematic frameworks, Digital Earth unites geospatial intelligence, predictive modelling, and ethical data governance to help nations monitor emissions, track climate commitments, and align investment with verifiable outcomes.
From dynamic simulation environments to Decision Theatres for ministers, mayors, and multilateral agencies, the Digital Earth frameworks transform scientific complexity into decision intelligence for enabling policies that are evidence-based, adaptive, and coordinated across scales. By integrating geospatial analytics with climate-finance pathways and national reporting systems under the UNFCCC, a Digital Earth will help governments align investment, adaptation, and accountability within a single transparent framework for planetary stewardship.
Bridging Science, Policy, and Finance
At the heart of the COP30 launch is Framework 6 – Digital Earth as a Value Exchange Infrastructure, which connects verified environmental performance with financial systems to support transparency, disclosure, and investor confidence.
Together with Framework 5 (Trust and Compliance) and Framework 7 (Ethical Governance), it offers a blueprint for a new generation of climate-finance mechanisms aligned with both the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) and the Risk Cost of Carbon (RCC) – integrating scientific data into economic decision-making.
Research such as the Carbon Reward Policy by Dr Delton Chen has demonstrated how regenerative finance could internalise systemic risks and accelerate a just transition. The Digital Earth Initiative complements this work by providing the data integrity and verification infrastructure required for transparent, cross-border climate finance.
“A Digital Earth makes the invisible visible, the intangible tangible, and the complex comprehensible. It reveals the living systems that sustain us and the consequences of our choices in real time. Yet knowledge alone will not alter our trajectory. Only when the world’s financial systems are coupled to the transparent intelligence of Digital Earth can value and responsibility be joined. In that union, finance becomes an instrument of regeneration, rewarding verified stewardship and directing capital toward measurable planetary stability. When our economies account for the true costs and benefits of life on Earth, prosperity and preservation cease to be opposing aims, they become one continuous act of intelligent design.” - Richard Simpson, President, International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE)
Aligning with COP30 Priorities
COP30 in Belém marks a turning point in the global response to climate change – shifting focus from pledges to delivery. The Digital Earth Initiative directly supports this agenda by embedding transparency, foresight, and inclusivity into climate governance.
· Transparency: Federated digital architectures and open-data protocols enable traceable, verifiable climate reporting.
· Ambition: Interactive Decision Theatres help policymakers building greater situational awareness and test integrated pathways for adaptation, mitigation, and finance.
· Resilience: Federated high-resolution models support anticipatory responses to climate and ecological risks.
· Equity: Adoption of FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and CARE (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, Ethics) principles ensures that developing nations and Indigenous communities shape and benefit from digital cooperation.
· Economic Transformation: By linking geospatial data to financial markets, Digital Earth helps internalise the full costs of carbon and align incentives with planetary stability.
Commitments Announced at COP30
The ISDE announced a coordinated programme of four coordinated actions designed to operationalise the Digital Earth Initiative for Climate Governance and Regenerative Economics and to accelerate delivery:
Global Value Exchange Forum (Q1 2026): The ISDE will convene ministries of finance, central banks, multilateral development banks, and standards bodies to establish the Framework 6 Value Exchange Forum. This inaugural dialogue will explore how a Digital Earth infrastructure can support transparent, high-integrity climate finance, carbon accounting, and systemic risk management.
Regional Trust and Compliance Pilots (Q2–Q3 2026): Under its Framework 5 (Trust and Compliance), ISDE will launch two regional pilot programmes to demonstrate transparent Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) processes aligned with FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and CARE (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, Ethics) data principles. These pilots will showcase how Digital Earth provenance and consent systems can strengthen accountability and public confidence in climate reporting.
Exploration of a Digital Earth Carbon Incentive Protocol (DECIP) (Q4 2026): In collaboration with interested Parties and the Global Carbon Reward (GCR) project, ISDE will undertake a structured scoping study to assess the feasibility of sovereign or regional incentive mechanisms grounded in verified environmental performance. This exploration remains conceptual and policy-supportive, not a financial instrument.
Digital Earth Value Exchange Reference Architecture (Q1 2027): Building on insights from the Forum and pilots, ISDE will publish a comprehensive Reference Architecture for Framework 6, providing a practical “data-to-value” blueprint for converting climate and sustainability data flows into trusted financial value streams. The architecture will define interoperability between registries, investment models, and verification systems to support transparent, auditable climate finance.
All activities will be implemented through dedicated ISDE Task Forces with regular reporting to the ISDE Council and open participation for governments, institutions, and partners worldwide.
Invitation to Collaborate
ISDE invites national governments, multilateral institutions, research communities, and civil society to join this collaborative programme through:
· Pilot partnerships to strengthen national monitoring and modelling systems;
· Participation in Digital Earth Task Forces;
· Adoption of Digital Earth simulation and Decision Theatre tools; and
· Integration of Digital Earth principles into national and international climate frameworks.
These efforts will help inform the next generation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs 3.0) and strengthen adaptation, resilience, and regenerative development.
Towards a Shared Planetary Future
Digital Earth advances the ambition of COP30 by enabling societies to move beyond fragmented approaches and toward a continuous cycle of observation, learning, and improvement.
Together with the Digital Earth Initiative for the Sustainable Development Goals, launched in Beijing in October 2025, this COP30 statement forms a coherent strategy linking the long-term scientific vision of the SDGs with the operational mechanisms for climate governance and regenerative finance.
“Digital Earth is a step change in how humanity can understand and govern our shared risks and shared futures,” said Richard Simpson, President of the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE). “It is a vision grounded in science, guided by ethics, and designed for generations. It invites governments, institutions, and citizens everywhere to help shape a common planetary framework that transforms knowledge into care, and global cooperation into lasting stewardship of the Earth.”
About the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE)
The ISDE is a global scientific organisation dedicated to advancing digital innovation for planetary stewardship.
Through its flagship journals, the International Journal of Digital Earth and Big Earth Data (Taylor & Francis), and the Manual of Digital Earth (Springer Nature), ISDE connects scientists, technologists, and policymakers across more than 70 countries.
ISDE partners with UNESCO, GEO, UN-GGIM, and the International Science Council (ISC) to promote open, ethical, and interoperable data systems that support the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Media Enquiries
ISDE Secretariat – isde@radi.ac.cn
Richard Simpson, President of ISDE – richard.simpson@metamoto.com.au
Website – www.digitalearth-isde.org
ISDE Website link to Digital Earth Initiative for Climate Governance and Regenerative Economics Document
