PRESS RELEASE – SDG18 Space For All, on Earth and Beyond: 65 Space Entities held a session for the U.N. General Assembly on the 15th of September, 2023 United Nations Plaza, 777 – The Final Recommendation

—— 29.09.2023 – For immediate release ——

Final Recommendation of the Space 18th SDG workshop, at United Nations Plaza 777, the 15 of September 2023

Distinguished State Members of the United Nations,

We, representatives of 65 organizations convened on the 15th of September 2023 at U.N. Plaza 777, in concomitance with the U.N. General Assembly 78, recommend developing and introducing a resolution for an 18th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), called “Universal and Sustainable Space Development”.

We note that the Earth is in space, it has always been in space, and it will always be in space. Space is the context in which the 17 SDGs exist. Earth is the domain of life, and only by expanding this domain beyond Earth can we fulfill the 17 SDGs in the long term. Our proposed 18th SDG aims to accelerate humanity’s united expansion into the solar ecosystem to create sustainable capabilities for living and working in human communities in LEO and beyond, harnessing the lessons learned there to benefit people both on Earth and in Space. Collectively, we believe that the space environment should be available to benefit all of life.

We, the Space 18th SDG Coalition, want to underscore the tremendous social significance of the 17 SDGs and of 2030 – a critical date. We believe that the five years from 2025 to 2030 could be the most crucial period in human history, in which numerous social, economic, and environmental processes will come to a combined crisis point. To face and overcome such extreme challenges, the Peoples of Planet Earth need a perspective capable of giving them hope and fortitude, to reverse the growing social fear and to restore confidence in the future. This perspective is available through the Overview Effect, the view of Earth from space and in space. Before 2030, meaningful steps must be taken to ensure full sustainability for human development, launching the expansion of life, communities, civilian activities, and the earthly ecosystems beyond the limits of planet Earth. These steps will require a strong and sustained global commitment to a strategy that fosters research and financial support to further reduce the cost of space flight, protect human life and health in Space, and design closed ecosystems to develop enhanced agricultural technologies, and cycles of vital gases, water, and waste re-processing. As a substantial beneficial side-effect, the lessons learned in space on such matters will enhance sustainability on Earth as well. Expanding outside Earth’s boundaries will also allow defending Planet Earth, the Moon, and beyond from cosmic hazards, specifying Near Earth Objects’ risk mitigation (Planetary Defense).As stated in the 1986 U.N. resolution, “development” is a universal civil right [1]. Accordingly [2], we urge the Peoples of planet Earth now to decisively collaborate to expand wholesome development into space, populate the solar ecosystem with communities, progressively move our industrial development beyond Earth’s surface, and thus allow the restoration of Earth’s ecosystems.

Thanks to the development of reusable rockets, 2015 marked a turning point in history. The cost to orbit is plunging, and the new space economy is now a leading industrial sector, approaching half a $trillion and with $1 trillion in sight. Such a disruptive development could not have been predicted before 2015 and now represents the key pathway to overcome combined multiple crises – social, economic, environmental, and resource — gripping civilization. Moreover, the new space economy is relaunching global economic development at an unprecedented rate, creating millions of jobs on Earth, and soon in Space.

A review of the U.N. 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development [3] is opportune and urgent. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, was conceptualized during the traditional aerospace age. Outer space was not considered a dimension that helps to increase the sustainability of development on Earth, even though space science and technologies had been supporting terrestrial economic, social, and environmental goals for many years. Yet the current use of the space environment is not enough to engender long-term and thriving sustainable development anywhere. For this goal to be reached, it is indispensable and urgent to bring the domain of Earth life beyond traditional Earth boundaries. Therefore, the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals needs to be updated to include civilian-led space development, with human communities living and working in outer space to expand and multiply benefits to the Peoples on Earth and beyond.

With a Space 18th SDG as its beacon, the United Nations could foster a cooperative and inclusive international process to ensure that the people of Earth will use space resources equitably within bottom-up governance frameworks based on adaptable best practices. But this can only happen if U.N. State Parties recognize the surging interest in space activities leading to the inevitability of human life beyond Earth. Consequently, we propose that the State Parties submit a resolution to adopt an 18th SDG, focused on the expansion of human life into space, to live and work there for the benefit of humans everywhere.

15 September 2023

The co-promoter organizations:

[1]    Declaration on the Right to Development adopted 04 December 1986 by General Assembly resolution 41/128 https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/declaration-right-development

[2]    “We are committed to making the right to development a reality for everyone and to freeing the entire human race from want.” Resolution adopted by the General Assembly 55/2. United Nations Millennium Declaration https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/docs/globalcompact/A_RES_55_2.pdf

[3]    https://sdgs.un.org/goals

 

Learn how to join the Space18thSDG coalition and support the proposal: https://space18thsdg.space/

Watch the recorded 15th September Workshop on YouTube:  https://youtube.com/live/3dyrsT5jtaM

Sign the petition for #Space18SDG on Change.org:  https://www.change.org/space18sdg

Contacts:  adriano.autino@spacerenaissance.org +39 335 8244435

alfred.anzaldua@nss.org +1 520 4095797

Download a pdf version of this press-release

 

Adriano Autino

Posted by Adriano