The UN General Assembly in its resolution A/RES/65/271 of 7 April 2011, declared 12 April as the International Day of Human Space Flight “to celebrate each year at the international level the beginning of the space era for mankind, reaffirming the important contribution of space science and technology in achieving sustainable development goals and increasing the well-being of States and peoples, as well as ensuring the realization of their aspiration to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes.”
The role of space technologies in achieving the SDGs is multi-facet. Art 76 of the UNGA resolution on Agenda 2030 specifically refers to space technologies and promotes public-private cooperation to exploit the contribution to be made by a wide range of data, including Earth observation and geospatial information. Earth Observations from space directly contribute to almost all SDGs. (UNOOSA, 2018) Space Exploration is important for innovation, technological advancement.
Cooperation in outer space is of great importance for sustainable development, research, innovation, and world peace. Space Treaties and related legal system sustain peace and equality. Space enables the designs of the Earth’s complex systems and therefore contributes to advancing justice (UNCTAD, 2018). Space-technologies enable achieving the SDGs in a cost-effective manner, they can effectively support and inform cross-sectoral policies and decision-making.
There is a growing relevance of space technologies, actors and institutions in enabling sustainable development ( European Space Policy Institute). They directly contribute to implementing three independent, but interlinked agendas: the 2015 Paris Agreement, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 2015-2030 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Space-related technologies can facilitate improving the human condition throughout the globe. However, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) admits that space-related infrastructure, data, information, and integrated services will play crucial roles in implementing 2030 Agenda and achieving the SDGs only if they become an essential and integral part of the entire humanity’s effort to achieve the SDGs. Space as an innovative approach to facilitating the SDGs should answer to countries needs.
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs is putting together a global partnership for the SDGs as a mechanism where different actors can express their needs, develop their systems and set up services that will result in worldwide collaboration in the monitoring and achievement of the SDGs for the benefit of humankind and each country. Major UN entities and other global/regional organizations dealing with space assets are considered to be the main Partners: UNOOSA – United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, CEOS – Committee on Earth Observation satellites, GEO – Group on Earth Observations, ICG – International Committee on GNSS, ITU – International Communication Union, WMO – World Meteorological Organization, UNITAR – United Nations Institute for Training and Research, UNDP – United Nations Development Programme. Other public institutions can join the Partnership through specific agreements.
Space technologies play a crucial role in boosting economic growth especially in the context of fast development and deployment of the cutting-edge technologies, ICTs and GNSS services that are essential for Social Inclusion, Environmental, and Urban Sustainability.
Space technologies are becoming more affordable, diverse and fundamental for economic growth, research, and development. It is a critical resource of economic leadership, a critical resource of the Globalization 4.0., the factor that determines competitiveness and human development for developed nations. Therefore, there is a need not only to deploy space for achieving the SDGs but also to ensure the sustainability of space activities that are increasingly becoming the factor of economic growth and a field of economic competition.
There is a need in a sustainable approach to space activities that would mitigate damage (Boley,2018) and ensure the equitable access and sharing the benefits from the space activities for achieving the SDGs. There is a need of establishing legal and regulatory frameworks for space activities under the leadership of the UN, strengthen the capacity of developing countries to use space technology for development by helping to integrate space capabilities into national development programmes.
UNOOSA identified four pillars to address the future of space in the context of sustainable development: (i) space society; (ii) space economy; (iii) space diplomacy; (iv) space accessibility.
According to UNOOSA, there is a need of the global space governance through the UN in order to: (i) effectively identify countries’ needs (“space assets users’ needs”) and foster the availability of Space Systems capacity to meet them. At the Policy level, Space Assets are recognized as key components for SDGs implementation and that this is explicitly referred to in high-level documents; (ii) direct innovations to address new and emerging sustainable development challenges; (iii) promote and encourage partnerships, stakeholder participation for global space governance and the common good.
For developments in the topic, follow the agenda and shortcomings of the past and future events: (i) September 2018, Graz, UN/Austria Symposium on Space for the Sustainable Development Goals: stronger partnerships and strengthened cooperation for 2030 and beyond. (ii) 24-27 April 2019, Changsha, UN/China Forum on Space Solutions: Realizing the Sustainable Development Goals. Featured with match-making among space users and providers. Provide opportunities to engage more with Asia-Pacific.
See also the presentation On global space partnership for sustainable development:
