AFD Gabon visits AGEOS to boost environmental governance through space data

By:  Nana Appiah Acquaye

The Gabonese Agency for Space Studies and Observations (AGEOS) has welcomed the Director of the French Development Agency (AFD) Gabon for a strategic visit aimed at strengthening cooperation in Earth observation and climate finance.

The visit provided an opportunity for AFD Gabon’s CEO to review AGEOS’s technical infrastructure, service capabilities, and ongoing initiatives, highlighting the agency’s central role in environmental monitoring. Key areas of focus included sustainable forest management and CO₂ reduction, the development of a national mangrove monitoring system, marine environment and fisheries oversight, oil pollution mitigation, climate change assessment, and monitoring of Gabon’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Discussions emphasized the mobilization of financing to ensure AGEOS’s long-term viability and its integration into innovative climate finance mechanisms, particularly Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES). Accurate monitoring of forest cover dynamics and degradation was identified as critical for ensuring the credibility of carbon offsetting and PES systems.

By linking space-based observation with climate finance, AGEOS positions environmental data as a sovereign asset, enhancing transparency, strengthening public policy, and supporting Gabon’s ecological and climate commitments.