Foreword As organizations face increasing economic uncertainty, resource constraints, environmental pressures and intricate operational risks, Earth observation (EO) offers virtually unparalleled insights. With rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and escalating global temperatures – 2024 surpassed 2023 as the hottest year on record1 – the world is on a path to more extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, wildfires and droughts, which disrupt economies, devastate communities and strain resources. Melting ice caps and rising sea levels are threatening coastal cities, while shifting climate patterns are endangering food and water supplies for millions of people. The cost of inaction is escalating, forcing businesses and governments alike to improve resilience and adapt quickly. In this new normal of simultaneous environmental, social and economic crises, the need for accurate, responsive information about the Earth’s physical, biological, chemical and anthropogenic systems is clear. With over half of global GDP (gross domestic product) dependent on natural resources today,2 accurately understanding and predicting risk is not only important for long-term strategizing, but is also critical for business operations today. Organizations that effectively leverage insight- rich technologies are poised to unlock previously unconsidered opportunities, proactively manage risks and drive sustainable growth. EO reveals the layers and interdependencies in complex systems that other data sources do not express. By capturing multiple dimensions – tracking not only what occurs but precisely where and how events interact across time and space – spatial insights offer a full-spectrum view of reality and deliver actionable intelligence at an incomparable scale. In early 2024, the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Deloitte, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab and a group of 50 industry, technology and climate leaders, studied the future of EO technologies3 as well as the transformative economic and environmental value they can generate.4 Notably, they estimated that EO can contribute $3.8 trillion to global GDP from 2023 to 2030 and eliminate 2 gigatonnes of GHG emissions every year. Yet, despite this potential and the EO innovations occurring on the “supply-side” of the market, much of the value remains unrealized. The EO industry finds itself at a crossroads. Yes, commercial providers of EO capabilities continue to enter and disrupt the market, with an estimated 90% of EO satellites launched in 2023 being commercially owned,5 up from only 15% in 2014. However, even with this boom in commercial EO providers, many uses of EO data still tend to centre around traditional public sector-focused applications. To help accelerate the adoption of EO technologies across high-value commercial and public-sector uses, their value proposition should be more systematically illustrated in organizational contexts, and implementation considerations broken down so that all leaders – and not just technologists – feel confident in taking steps to adoption. This EO playbook, created by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Deloitte, provides a practical guide to adopting EO, outlining the types of problems that can most benefit from EO solutions. Furthermore, it outlines the key considerations for effectively implementing these solutions in a way that empowers executives across an organization, by breaking down technical contexts for non-technical users while offering technical users a broader perspective of the overarching framework within which they operate. By the conclusion of this playbook, champions of EO will be equipped to clearly articulate a compelling business case for EO’s adoption and begin implementing a solution that generates greater economic and environmental value for organizations, people and the planet.Helen Burdett Head, Technology for Earth, World Economic ForumBrett Loubert US Principal and Deloitte Space Leader, Deloitte The Executive’s Playbook on Earth Observation: Strategic Insights for a Changing Planet 3

The Executive%E2%80%99s Playbook on Earth Observation 2025