The establishment of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) was visionary. It was formed as a direct response to the call made at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable development (WSSD) in 2002 for cooperation and coordination among global observing systems. It has, over the last 10 years, made major progress in building the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). This year GEO comes to the end of its 10 year mandate and we are here to endorse a programme for another decade.

A special thanks to all those who had worked tirelessly over the past year to ensure the successful completion of this assignment. Our most sincere appreciation is extended to our GEO Co-Chairs, the GEO Secretariat and its Director, the members of the GEO Subgroups, the 2015-2025 Strategic and Implementation Plan working group and all others who had contributed to this historic enterprise. This plan will qualitatively improve our understanding of the Earth system, markedly enhancing global policy - and decision-making abilities to promote human health, safety and welfare.

Like few other partnerships before, the GEO has succeeded in bringing together a diverse group of peoples and views, united in a concerted effort with a common vision, to advance the global sustainable development agenda.

Our responsibility is now to ensure that the targets we have committed to are met. The full support of Ministers will be imperative to sustain the implementation and monitoring processes, which will ensure the compact we conclude today is respected.

To achieve our goal we require an unequivocal commitment to international cooperation - collaboration in improving systems coordination, addressing gaps in observations, supporting interoperability, sharing data and - critically - facilitating the delivery of information to users.

Should we respect these commitments, the GEOSS vision of a future where decisions and actions for the benefit of humankind are informed by coordinated, comprehensive and sustained Earth observations, will be achieved.

However, we should not take science for granted. We must appreciate that the future success of GEOSS depends on the health of national and global science systems. We need to provide adequate funding for scientific research as well as political support for global collaboration.

The message, which should resonate strongly from Mexico City, is that we, the participants in the fourth ministerial Earth Observation Summit, stand ready, and are prepared to be judged, not by the number or the eloquence of the statements we have made, but by the speed and the commitment with which we implement the next GEOSS Ten Year Implementation Plan. Nothing, whatsoever, can justify failure on our part to meet this responsibility.

On matters pertaining to sustainable development, the voices of our citizens in recent years have been loud and clear. They expect unambiguous responses from their leaders to the pressing challenges facing planet Earth. With GEOSS, we are presented with a unique opportunity to implement a practical and visible global development initiative, which supports poverty eradication and human advancement within the context of the protection of the ecology of our planet.

Finally, it has been an immense honour for South Africa to lead this extraordinary global undertaking as one of the Co-Chairs. We are most thankful and indeed indebted to all those who have encouraged, advised and supported us in this task.

We pledge our ongoing, wholehearted commitment to the work of GEO and to AfriGEOSS. We will continue to provide resources to the GEO Secretariat and to the implementation of AfriGEOSS.