The UK Space Agency is providing £38 million in funding to use satellite technology to help deliver innovative solutions to global issues.

It has announced grants for 10 projects, worth £38 million in total, which include work into climate change mitigation, forestry, carbon emissions reduction and disaster management.

Leatherhead-based technology firm CGI received £2 million to assess peat and forest conditions in Indonesia and Malaysia.

It will use satellite observations and measurements to map peat conditions, monitor water levels and improve hydrology. This aims to reduce the frequency and severity of tropical forest fires, which occur over drained peatland areas.

These fires contribute to global carbon dioxide emissions and other negative environmental impacts.

Didcot’s eOsphere Limited aims to improve climate and disaster resilience for Mongolian herding communities using satellite images – it has received £1.6 million to do so.

Around a third of the population are dependent on livestock herding and highly exposed to extreme weather events, which are increasingly being exacerbated by climate change.

The project will help herders avoid and prepare for storms with better knowledge and equipment.

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research has received £9.6 million to improve resilience towards climate change in Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

The project will use earth observation data to provide stakeholders with access to important information including disaster risk planning, food security, climate risk and other environmental concerns.