Phil Evans

Director-General, Eumetsat European Organisation For The Exploitation Of Meteorological Satellites

Search every verified Phil Evans interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Phil Evans, Director-General of Eumetsat, spoke at the European Space Forum 2024 about the role of space-based observations in weather forecasting. He stated that "currently about 70% of their accuracy 70% is derived from space-based observations and that is increasing and increasing dramatically." Evans discussed the impact of weather on areas including disease spread, retail footfall, military activities, and global security. He noted that the World Economic Forum's annual risk assessment consistently identifies weather and climate-related risks among the top concerns for member countries. Evans outlined Eumetsat's upcoming satellite programs, including the Metop Second Generation Leo satellites expected to launch next year, which he said will have a "revolutionary impact on the quality of longer term forecasts." He also mentioned that Eumetsat is piloting the purchase of data from private sector providers and exploring new programs such as the ISA Arctic weather satellite constellation. Evans described the organization's assessment of the return on investment for the Sterer program as "over 50 to 1." He emphasized that artificial intelligence techniques are now outperforming traditional methods in utilizing Earth observing data, and called for a "tightly integrated well aligned ecosystem with a very strong focus on users and applications" for the future of European meteorological services.