UNOOSA
SPEAKING NOTES
For the Director of the Office for Outer Space Affairs
to the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-19)
The General Assembly in its annual resolution on ?international cooperation in the
peaceful uses of outer space? requests the Office for Outer Space Affairs, which
serves as Secretariat to the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
(COPUOS), to participate in the Commission on Sustainable Development. This is
done in view of a recommendation of the Third United Nations Conference on the
Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III) held in 1999, by
which Member States of COPUOS seek a closer coordination with CSD.
Since 2004 COPUOS has submitted reports contributing to the work under the
thematic clusters of CSD. These reports, covering the thematic clusters 2006-2007;
2008-2009; and currently 2010-2011, highlight the benefits of space science and
technology and their applications with regard to the thematic clusters being
addressed by CSD in those periods. These reports, which are official United
Nations document in all official languages, are endorsed by the 70 Member States
of COPUOS. The present report, which is available on the website of CSD-18,
addresses the role of space technology in transport; space technology solutions for
sustainable resource management, consumption and production; and capacitybuilding
and training opportunities for developing countries in space science and
technology and their applications.
As agreed by the General Assembly in its resolution 65/97 of 10 December 2010,
COPUOS is currently preparing its report to the United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development (UNCSD) - Rio+20 - with the theme of harnessing spacederived
geospatial data for sustainable development. The report, which will be
adopted by COPUOS in June this year, addresses governance and the institutional
framework at the international level in the strengthening of mechanisms to use
space-derived geospatial data in areas of sustainable development.
This year, COPUOS is celebrating its 50th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of
human space flight, in particular commemorating the first human space flight of
Yuri Gagarin on 12 April 1961, and looking into future prospects of human space
flight research and exploration for meeting challenges to humanity in particular in
the areas of climate change, food security and global health. Emphasis is placed on
the need for closer coordination between COPUOS and intergovernmental bodies
involved in the global development agenda of the United Nations.
The Office for Outer Space Affairs is serving as Secretariat to the United Nations
wide Inter-Agency Meeting on Outer Space Activities (IAM), which is the central
coordination mechanism in the United Nations system related to space-related
activities. Last year in 2010, the IAM issued a special report on space benefits for
Africa. This year, the 31st meeting was held in March 2011 hosted by UNHCR. A
special report on Space and Climate Change has been prepared by the IAM
focusing on the need for coherency and strengthened coordination among UN
entities, including through the Chief Executive Board (CEB) Climate Change
Action Framework. From next year, 2012, the IAM will issue its regular Secretary-
General report on coordination of space-related activities in the United Nations
system, on a biannual basis, with special focus on the forthcoming thematic cluster
of work of CSD.
For the Director of the Office for Outer Space Affairs
to the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-19)
The General Assembly in its annual resolution on ?international cooperation in the
peaceful uses of outer space? requests the Office for Outer Space Affairs, which
serves as Secretariat to the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
(COPUOS), to participate in the Commission on Sustainable Development. This is
done in view of a recommendation of the Third United Nations Conference on the
Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III) held in 1999, by
which Member States of COPUOS seek a closer coordination with CSD.
Since 2004 COPUOS has submitted reports contributing to the work under the
thematic clusters of CSD. These reports, covering the thematic clusters 2006-2007;
2008-2009; and currently 2010-2011, highlight the benefits of space science and
technology and their applications with regard to the thematic clusters being
addressed by CSD in those periods. These reports, which are official United
Nations document in all official languages, are endorsed by the 70 Member States
of COPUOS. The present report, which is available on the website of CSD-18,
addresses the role of space technology in transport; space technology solutions for
sustainable resource management, consumption and production; and capacitybuilding
and training opportunities for developing countries in space science and
technology and their applications.
As agreed by the General Assembly in its resolution 65/97 of 10 December 2010,
COPUOS is currently preparing its report to the United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development (UNCSD) - Rio+20 - with the theme of harnessing spacederived
geospatial data for sustainable development. The report, which will be
adopted by COPUOS in June this year, addresses governance and the institutional
framework at the international level in the strengthening of mechanisms to use
space-derived geospatial data in areas of sustainable development.
This year, COPUOS is celebrating its 50th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of
human space flight, in particular commemorating the first human space flight of
Yuri Gagarin on 12 April 1961, and looking into future prospects of human space
flight research and exploration for meeting challenges to humanity in particular in
the areas of climate change, food security and global health. Emphasis is placed on
the need for closer coordination between COPUOS and intergovernmental bodies
involved in the global development agenda of the United Nations.
The Office for Outer Space Affairs is serving as Secretariat to the United Nations
wide Inter-Agency Meeting on Outer Space Activities (IAM), which is the central
coordination mechanism in the United Nations system related to space-related
activities. Last year in 2010, the IAM issued a special report on space benefits for
Africa. This year, the 31st meeting was held in March 2011 hosted by UNHCR. A
special report on Space and Climate Change has been prepared by the IAM
focusing on the need for coherency and strengthened coordination among UN
entities, including through the Chief Executive Board (CEB) Climate Change
Action Framework. From next year, 2012, the IAM will issue its regular Secretary-
General report on coordination of space-related activities in the United Nations
system, on a biannual basis, with special focus on the forthcoming thematic cluster
of work of CSD.