Long-Term Sustainability of Outer Space: Role of Sustainable Development Goals and Its Legal Consequences

Main Article Content

Vijay Kumar
K D Raju
S R Subramanian

Abstract

Celestial phenomena have historically contributed to natural processes, but their collision paths and debris generation have increasingly threatened outer space. Human activities in space exacerbate these risks, prompting concerns over the preservation of the space environment. The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) has responded by initiating sustainable space initiatives. In 2010, UNCOPUOS's Scientific and Technical Subcommittee established a Working Group on the Long-Term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities. This group aims to develop voluntary guidelines for states, international organizations, and private entities to ensure sustainable space practices. The collaboration between Avio, an Italian aerospace company, and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), forged during the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2019, is a notable step towards enhancing space accessibility, particularly for developing nations. This paper examines various aspects of sustainable space practices, including their alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Part one introduces sustainable development principles and the global imperative for environmental protection. Part two explores the role of space technologies in advancing the SDGs. Part three investigates whether the SDGs encompass space-related objectives and proposes strategies for achieving sustainable space practices. Finally, part four advocates for a robust regulatory framework for sustainable space activities, emphasizing the need to learn from past environmental mistakes and protect the integrity of outer space.

Article Details

How to Cite
Kumar, V., Raju, K. D., & Subramanian, S. R. (2023). Long-Term Sustainability of Outer Space: Role of Sustainable Development Goals and Its Legal Consequences. Indonesian Journal of Environmental Law and Sustainable Development, 2(1), 123-150. https://doi.org/10.15294/ijel.v2i1.62006
Section
Articles

References

Anand, R P. Confrontation or Cooperation? International Law and the Developing Countries. Hope India Publications, 2011.

Barbosa, Gisele Silva, Patricia Regina Drach, and Oscar Daniel Corbella. "A conceptual review of the terms sustainable development and sustainability." Journal of Social Sciences 3.2 (2014): 1.

Baumgart, André, et al. "Space for the Sustainable Development Goals: mapping the contributions of space-based projects and technologies to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development." Sustainable Earth 4.1 (2021): 6.

Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring (1962). Houghton Mifflin Company.

Emas, Rachel. “The Concept of Sustainable Development: Definition and Defining Principles”, Brief for GSDR, 2015. Available: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5839GSDR%202015_SD_concept_definiton_rev.pdf

Federal Office for Spatial Development ARE, Brundtland Report 1987. Available: https://www.are.admin.ch/are/en/home/media/publications/sustainable-development/brundtland-report.html

General Assembly Resolution 55/2 of 18 September 2000 “United Nations Millennium Declaration”, Fifty-fifth Session, pp. 1-9.

General Assembly Resolution 70/1 of 21 October 2015, “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, Seventieth Session Agenda items 15 and 116, pp. 1-35.

General Assembly Resolution A/59/174 of 23 July 2004 “Review of the implementation of the recommendations of the Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space”, Fifty-ninth Session, Item 23 of the provisional agenda. Available: https://www.unoosa.org/pdf/reports/unispace/A_59_174E.pdf

International Labour Organization, Millennium Development Goals. Available: https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/millennium-development-goals/lang--en/index.htm

ITU, Should space become the 18th SDG?, (1 June 2021). Available: https://www.itu.int/hub/2021/06/should-space-become-the-18th-sdg/

Johnson, Christopher. The UN COPUOS Guidelines on the Long-Term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities – A Secure World Foundation Fact Sheet, (2014). Available: https://swfound.org/media/189048/swf_un_copuos_lts_guidelines_fact_sheet_december_2014.pdf

Leepuengtham, Tosaporn. The Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in Outer Space Activities. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017.

Lu, Yonglong, et al. "Policy: Five priorities for the UN sustainable development goals." Nature 520.7548 (2015): 432-433.

Martinez, Peter. "Development of an international compendium of guidelines for the long-term sustainability of outer space activities." Space Policy 43 (2018): 13-17.

Moyer, Jonathan D., and Steve Hedden. "Are we on the right path to achieve the sustainable development goals?." World Development 127 (2020): 104749.

The UN General Assembly as an Annex to the document A/42/427 – Development and International Cooperation: Environment.

The United Nations (UN) Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), with inputs from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the five UN Regional Commissions, “Country Classification” https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/wesp/wesp_current/2014wesp_country_classification.pdf

Tomislav, Klarin. "The concept of sustainable development: From its beginning to the contemporary issues." Zagreb International Review of Economics & Business 21.1 (2018): 67-94.

UNCOPUOS STSC, A/AC.105/C.1/2015/CRP.15 of 2 February 2015, Fifty-second Note by the Secretariat. Available: https://www.unoosa.org/pdf/limited/c1/AC105_C1_2015_CRP15E.pdf

UNCOPUOS STSC, A/AC.105/C.1/2015/CRP.26 of 4 February 2015, Fifty-second Session, Note by the Secretariat. Available: https://www.unoosa.org/pdf/limited/c1/AC105_C1_2015_CRP26E.pdf

UNCOPUOS STSC, A/AC.105/C.1/2020/CRP.16 of 13 February 2020, Fifty-seventh Session, Revised Draft “Space2030” agenda and implementation plan – Working paper submitted by the Bureau of the Working Group on the “Space2030” Agenda. Available: https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/oosadoc/data/documents/2020/aac.105c.12020crp/aac.105c.12020crp.16_0.html

UNCOPUOS STSC, A/AC.105/C.1/2020/CRP16 of 13 February 2020, Fifty-seventh Session, Revised Draft “Space2030” agenda and implementation plan, Working paper submitted by the Bureau of the Working Group on the “Space2030” Agenda. Available: https://www.unoosa.org/res/oosadoc/data/documents/2020/aac_105c_12020crp/aac_105c_12020crp_16_0_html/AC105_2020_CRP16E.pdf

UNCOPUOS STSC, A/AC.105/C.1/L.382 of 6 November 2019, Fifty-seventh Session, Draft “Space2030” agenda and implementation plan – Working paper submitted by the Bureau of the Working Group on the “Space2030” Agenda. Available: https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/LTD/V19/108/08/PDF/V1910808.pdf?OpenElement

UNCOPUOS, – Report of the Expert on Space Applications to the United Nations General Assembly, A/AC.105/1085 on 23 December 2014. Available: https://www.unoosa.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_1085E.pdf

UNCOPUOS, A/AC.105/1097 of 28 August 2015, Fifty-ninth Session, Report on the United Nations/Germany International Conference on Earth Observation: global solutions for the challenges of sustainable development in societies at risk (Bonn, Germany, 26-28 May 2015). Available: https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/V15/061/40/PDF/V1506140.pdf?OpenElement

UNCOPUOS, A/AC.105/2015/CRP.13 of 10 June 2015, Fifty-eighth Session, Note by the Secretariat. Available: https://www.unoosa.org/res/oosadoc/data/documents/2015/aac_1052015crp/aac_1052015crp_13_0_html/AC105_2015_CRP13E.pdf

UNCOPUOS, A/AC.105/2015/CRP.9, of 10 June 2015, Fifty-eighth Session, Note by the Secretariat. Available: https://www.unoosa.org/res/oosadoc/data/documents/2015/aac_1052015crp/aac_1052015crp_9_0_html/AC105_2015_CRP09E.pdf

UNCOPUOS, A/AC.105/2019/CRP.12 of 13 June 2019, Sixty-second Session (Vienna, 12-21 June 2019), Operating in space: towards developing protocols on the norms of behaviour. Available: https://www.unoosa.org/res/oosadoc/data/documents/2019/aac_1052019crp/aac_1052019crp_12_0_html/AC105_2019_CRP12E.pdf

UNGA Official Records Seventy-fourth Session Supplement No. 20, Report of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Sixty-second session (12-21 June 2019). Available: https://www.unoosa.org/res/oosadoc/data/documents/2019/a/a7420_0_html/V1906077.pdf

UNGA Official Records Seventy-fourth Session Supplement No. 20, Report of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Sixty-second session (12-21 June 2019). Available: https://www.unoosa.org/res/oosadoc/data/documents/2019/a/a7420_0_html/V1906077.pdf

UNGA, A/AC.105/1166 of 13 December 2017, (Advanced Edited Version), Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, The “Space2030” agenda and the global governance of outer space activities, Note by the Secretariat. Available: https://www.unoosa.org/res/oosadoc/data/documents/2018/aac_105/aac_1051166_0_html/AC105_1166AEVE.pdf

UNISPACE+50, (18-21 June 2018). Available: https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/unispaceplus50/index.html

United Nations General Assembly A/7285, Official Records Twenty-third Session Agenda item 24 of 15-18 October 1968 “Report of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space”.

United Nations Report on Millennium Development Goals 2015. Available: https://www.unoosa.org/res/oosadoc/data/documents/2015/mdg/mdg2015rev_0_html/MDG_2015_rev_July_1.pdf See also: MDG Monitor, Millennium Development Goals. Available: https://www.mdgmonitor.org/millennium-development-goals/

UNOOSA – Space4SDGs, Space Supporting the Sustainable Development Goals. Available: https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/space4sdgs/index.html

UNOOSA, Benefits of Space: Sustainable Development. Available: https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/benefits-of-space/sustainable-development.html

UNOOSA, Documents relating to Space and Socioeconomic Development in the context of Rio+20 and the Post-2015 development Agenda. Available: https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/copuos/sust-dev.html#oosaacts

UNOOSA, UN-Space. Available: https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/un-space/index.html

UNSOOSA, ST/SPACE/79 of 7 June 2021, Guidelines for the Long-Term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Available: https://www.unoosa.org/res/oosadoc/data/documents/2021/stspace/stspace79_0_html/st_space79E.pdf

Wealth, Linus. “The Brundtland Report”, Sustainable Environment (2018). Available: https://www.sustainable-environment.org.uk/Action/Brundtland_Report.php

Yan, Yongliang. "Maintaining long-term sustainability of outer space activities: Creation of regulatory framework to guide the Asia-Pacific space cooperation organization and selected legal issues." Space Policy 47 (2019): 51-62.