SPACE TECHNOLOGY IN SUPPORT OF THE UN SDG

Hello and welcome to the blog!

On today's post, I shall be discussing the relevance of space technologies, more particularly in the implementation of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal.

To lay the background, The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 global goals designed to be a "blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all". 

The SDGs, set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly are intended to be achieved by the year 2030.

                                                     

Although, not internationally binding, the SDG's were born with the objective to produce a set of universal goals to meet the urgent environmental, political and economic challenges facing the world.

Here is how these goals are impacted by space technology:


                                         

GOAL 1: NO POVERTY

  
Space technology allows natural disasters to be forecast and provide a better coordination with the subsequent aid provisions that follow

 Space technology optimizes sustainable utilization of natural resources provide efficient support to vulnerable populations and maps populated areas and their access to basic services

           

GOAL 2: ZERO HUNGER

Space technologies facilitate optimizing crop productivity through informed management process and increased efficiency in the use of existing resources, including:

Land

Seeds

Fertiliser

                                     Plant protection agents  

                                                              Water

Space technologies improve livestock management through enhanced monitoring and identification of suitable grazing.

                                 

GOAL 3: GOOD HEALTH AND WELL BEING

Space technologies are essential in a range of health applications, including, but not limited to:

Studying disease epidemiology, by enabling increased use of spatial analysis to identify the ecological, environmental and other factors that contribute to the spread of vector-borne diseases

Monitoring disease patterns

Defining areas that require disease-control planning

Addressing issues related to vision, cognition and disability assistance

Monitoring factors that affect human health and well-being like air quality and traffic

Supporting health promotion and disease prevention, through the use of wearable monitoring devices

Enabling remote healthcare

Overall, space technologies can contribute to the prevention of people falling below the poverty line and help target specific support to those in need.
               

                                

  GOAL 4: QUALITY EDUCATION

UNOOSA provide precious hands-on opportunities for students in universities

Space technologies can provide, among others:

High-speed internet connectivity 

Tailored online educational content delivered via satellite

Electronic attendance monitoring

Provision of incentive for parents to reduce dropout rates

Remote/e-learning

Life-long learning opportunities for remote and isolated communities

                        

       
 GOAL 5: GENDER EQUALITY

 
Space technologies support women’s empowerment through access to quality education (even in remote communicates) 

Offering support for female entrepreneurship: access to training, soft infrastructure, information and safety in the work environment 

Providing career development opportunities (often within STEM) 

UNOOSA’s Space 4Women project helps empower women in space and STEM, by creating an online mentoring platform for young women in STEM to network with experienced “Space4Women Champions”

                          
                                       
                              

GOAL 6: CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION

Space technologies enable:

Water quality monitoring

Meteorological forecasting

Access to infrastructural support and technical know-how

UNOOSA have launched a portal for focusing on space for water management known as the Space4 Water Portal

It is a multi-stakeholder platform for interdisciplinary knowledge exchange on space technologies and water-related topics

It serves stakeholders of both the space technologies sector and water sector

It aims to strengthen the links between the various actors and communities 

 

 

                           

GOAL 7: AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY

 

Space technologies are central in:

Critical infrastructure monitoring, particularly with regards to energy networks

Power grid synchronisation

Seismic surveying

Identification of optimal sites for the production of renewable energy

Solar and wind energy production forecasting to estimate the amount of energy that is needed from other sources

Every hour, the sun beams onto Earth more than enough energy to satisfy global energy needs for an entire year

Spacecrafts in the inner solar system usually rely on the use of photovoltaic energy and different Space Agencies are financing research to increase the efficiency of solar cells

Satellites can be used to collect solar energy and distribute the energy for use all over earth.

                                  

GOAL 8:  DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

Space technologies support:

Global economies and GDP growth, contributing to a range of sectors, particularly service delivery, utilities, banking and finance, agriculture and communications

Lone workers monitoring, establishing safe and secure working environments

The space sector is estimated to grow to 1 trillion+ USD by 2040

The progress in open data policies has made possible that many start-ups could benefit from space data for their applications

Space technologies are contributing to establishing a safer and more secure working environment, enabling the monitoring of lone workers

This depends very much on the topics of sustainability of outer space activities and space debris

Without legislation on these topics, humankind cannot continue benefiting from space as the province of all humankind

                                   

GOAL 9: INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE

UNOOSA offer the opportunity for developing countries to develop space technology domestically and build basic elements for a potential space industry and inspire innovations in the countries.

Provides free high quality EO data for countries by cooperating with multi-stakeholders such as DigitalGlobe, Airbus Defence and Space, Copernicus and others

                                    

GOAL 10: REDUCED INEQUALITIES

UNOOSA reduce the “Space gap” between space-faring nations and non-space-faring nations

Countries benefitting from the programme become space-faring countries

Space technologies can contribute in various ways: this includes connectivity in remote and isolated areas, remote participation in democratic processes and reliable access to information.

Developing countries have already begun tapping into the growth of the space sector which is set to generate revenues of 1.1. trillion USD by 2040 and currently employs 900,000 people.

Space education and capacity development on space exploration is enabling more developing countries to take part in this booming sector and leverage its potential for inclusive economic growth

Competition in the sector increases = price of launch and other space-related technology is falling

Through COPUOS, all countries to have representation and an equal voice in influencing global decision making in outer space

Satellite communications technologies are helping remote and rural communities to access education and thus close the inequality in education

                                  

                                       

GOAL 11:  SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES

Space technologies are utilized for:

Urban planning, to pinpoint structures and reference points for cadastral and urban planning purposes

Smart Cities, through the application of Global Navigation Satellite Systems, Earth Observation and Satellite Telecommunications

Improvement of city services, such as smart waste management systems

Air quality monitoring

Disaster management

Infrastructure monitoring

Search and rescue operations

EOs and GNSS data support urban mapping and infrastructure monitoring to help plan and manage city services and structures

They help create smarter, sustainable cities by optimising traffic management, reducing energy consumption, improving urban mobility, and monitoring air pollution

                                   

GOAL 12:  RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION

Space technologies can assist with:

Natural resources management

Food and dangerous goods traceability

Monitoring of endangered species trafficking and products of human slavery

Smart Agriculture by combining Earth observation, satellite telecommunications and Global Navigation Satellite Systems

Spin-offs in In-situ resources utilisation, such as 3D printing technologies to create structures in orbit could have applications on Earth 

93% of the water on ISS is reclaimed

40% of oxygen in the ISS is recycled (NASA is looking to increase it to 75%)

10 tonnes+ of urine has been recycled (saving 225 million USD if fresh water had been supplied from Earth)

Smart streetlights have been equipped with low-cost GNSS receivers 

                                

 GOAL 13: CLIMATE ACTION

 

Space technologies play a crucial role in:

Climate change monitoring

UNOOSA work with key partners from the Space, Earth Observation and Civil Protection communities to promote the adoption of space-based technology applications (including Earth observation, global navigation satellite systems and satellite telecommunication for Disaster Risk Reduction in accordance with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction)

Weather forecasting

Disaster management

Search and rescue operations

Following the COP21 Agreement in Paris, the One Planet Summit facilitated discussion among public and private leaders on concrete actions against climate change = the Space Climate Observatory was founded to boost collaborative work by improving long-term sustainability and accessibility of climate data from satellites and facilitate raising global awareness about climate change 

                             

GOAL 14:  LIFE BELOW WATER

Space technologies support:

Mapping and monitoring of natural and protected areas

Fishing vessel tracking and navigation

Monitoring of illegal, unregulated and unreported fisheries

Fishery product traceability 

Assessment and monitoring of marine and coastal resources

Climate change monitoring, particularly water temperature

Identification of algal blooms

                               

GOAL 15: LIFE ON LAND 

Space technologies can be utilised for:

Bio-geophysical land surface monitoring

Terrestrial biodiversity monitoring

Monitoring of poaching and identification of smuggling routes

Satellites enabled the measurements of fires in Australia in 2015

Space can help monitoring forecasts and drylands to understand the effectiveness of the policies to combat desertification and deforestation 

                            

                                   

GOAL 16:  PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS

UNOOSA acknowledges that cooperation in outer space is of great importance for world peace

UNOOSA ensure the compliance of international space law and play an important role in supporting new space-faring nations to develop national space law

Space technologies are pivotal in:

Conflict monitoring

Enabling participation of remote and isolated communicates in democratic processes

Enforcement of legislation

Access to reliable information

COPUOS plays a significant role in the legal process relating to space law; it further provides a unique platform at the global level to monitor and discuss these developments 

                      

GOAL 17:  PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE GOALS

UNOOSA supports triangular cooperation (Japan-Kenya-Italy-UNOOSA), south-south cooperation, technology transfer

Space technologies enable:

International cooperation initiatives

Exchange of data and information

Open source databases

Sharing of infrastructure and exchange of technical know-how

Conclusively, The SDGs are extremely important because they are a powerful advocacy platform to support the implementation and the monitoring of the UN Convention. Therefore, quality implementation should be universal.

Thank you for taking out time to read and share this post. Should you have any questions, comments or suggestions, do not hesitate to use the comment box.

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