Senator the Hon Matthew Canavan, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, welcomes Philippine Ambassador to Australia Ma. Hellen B. De La Vega as the Philippines’ Head of Delegation to the Group on Earth Observations Ministerial Summit on 07 November at the National Convention Centre Canberra.

Canberra, Australia (08 November 2019) – Philippine Ambassador to Australia Ma. Hellen B. De La Vega represented the Philippine government at the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Ministerial Summit on 07-08 November 2019 in Canberra. The Philippines, through the Department of Science and Technology, has been a member of GEO since it was formed in 2005.

GEO is a global network of governments and organizations that envisions a future where decisions and actions to benefit humankind are informed by coordinated, comprehensive and sustained Earth observations.

Ambassador De La Vega said, “The Philippines places great importance in building our resilience and national efforts are being undertaken to strengthen capacities on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. International cooperation on earth observations provides further opportunities for us to address these challenges.”

The Philippines launched its first Earth observation microsatellite, Diwata-1, in 2016 and its second microsatellite, Diwata-2, in 2018. These microsatellites provide space-borne imagery, which creates opportunities for the country to be both responsive and proactive to environmental changes through real-time surveillance and continuous monitoring.

The Ambassador added, “We congratulate Australia on a successful hosting and welcome the new commitments announced by other governments. We congratulate GEO and commit our continued support.” The GEO Ministerial Summit adopted the GEO Canberra Declaration, which may be accessed at the GEO website. – END

H.E. Ma. Hellen B. De La Vega, Philippine Ambassador to Australia, (5th from right), joins the Ministers and Heads of Delegation of other participating governments in the Group on Earth Observations Ministerial Summit held on 07-08 November at the National Convention Centre Canberra.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Secretary Frances Adamson greets Philippine Ambassador to Australia Ma. Hellen B. De La Vega at the Group on Earth Observations Ministerial Summit hosted by Australia on 07-08 November 2019.