Environmental Data as Digital Public Goods within a Digital Ecosystem for the Planet - UNEP’s Contribution to Round Table 1B on Digital Public Goods

This paper builds a case for a governance framework that will support the development of an equitable, open-access digital ecosystem of environmental data as a digital public good. Credible multidisciplinary environmental data, and the applications of this data, are digital public goods which are necessary conditions for an equitable, sustainable and resilient society. The pace and rapidity of the development of data technologies, both in terms of scale,scope and quantity of data gathered, requires a governance framework to ensure that this data enhances and does not undermine planetary wellbeing. Concerted efforts are needed to establish and implement a digital ecosystem governance framework.