The Case for a Geospatial Multidimensional Vulnerability Index Data Observatory

The impacts of climate change are being felt across the world, but countries of the Global South are disproportionately affected by geophysical hazards, inadequate and fragile infrastructure, supply chain deficiencies, and inefficient public health services. While such vulnerabilities are monitored in isolation, the imperative is an efficacious integration of independently measured vulnerabilities to create a composite Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI), as proposed by the United Nations in 2020. Integrating datasets derived from monitoring vulnerabilities from ground- and aerospace-based platforms is a massive challenge, but it is crucial for preparedness against diverse socio-economic, geophysical and climate change vulnerabilities. In turn, preparedness will help alleviate the devastation from catastrophes and conflicts, and assist in recovery. This Policy Brief proposes that the G20 initiate a geospatial MVI Data Observatory to aggregate diverse satellite-based remote-sensing- generated vulnerability datasets and supply multidimensional, universal, exogenous, and standardised vulnerability indices. This observatory could aid governmental policies, enabling technology development and deployment and serving as a collaborative platform. The observatory would complement concepts such as Living for Environment (LiFE), One Health, and G20-2023’s ‘Liveable Earth’ goal.