Director-General/Executive Director
12 June 2014
Mr. Chairman, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates and Representatives,
It gives me great pleasure to address the fifty-seventh session of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
My message today is clear:-this is the time to make the overall governance of the peaceful uses of outer space an integral part of the international community's global commitments on sustainable development.
Your Committee, as well as its Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and Legal Subcommittee, provide a unique platform at the global level. They have, for many decades, helped deliver extraordinary advances in international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space.
We are now steadily moving towards the post-2015 development agenda, including a review of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, and the launch of new sustainable development objectives.
It is, therefore, important to demonstrate to the international community the essential role of space in development, particularly within the context of the outcome of the Rio+20 Conference and the emerging post-2015 development agenda.
The post-2015 development agenda requires effective and innovative tools to support its implementation. Among those tools are the ones offered by space science and technology.
Space technology can catalyse development in virtually every sector, and it can help bridge the gap between developing and developed countries. The benefits of space technology must be harnessed for the benefit of all; but there is a lack of awareness among policy makers, local authorities and planners about its practical application for development.
Agricultural planning and crop monitoring; water resource management; adaptation and mitigation; rural and urban planning; disaster management and response; global navigation, and telecommunications, among many others, can all enable and support sustainable development.
There is also a need to fully recognize the importance of space tools and geospatial information to meet the objectives of the global development agenda. Space tools are an important means of implementation of development objectives and goals. Access to information and the ability to use data to support decision making at all levels is absolutely fundamental.
The GA Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals is now completing its work, and the post-2015 agenda is taking shape. We need to ensure that Spatial Data Infrastructure is recognized as a means of achieving those development objectives.
Political commitment also needs to be mobilized to increase understanding of the role played by scientific and technological cooperation in eradicating poverty and accelerating the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
UNOOSA is also the main resource of the UN Secretariat in:
The Office has a fundamental role to play in the overall space affairs of the UN system, and OOSA and the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space jointly work to ensure that we continue to bring the fruits of space activities to people around the world.
A dynamic, inclusive dialogue on how we can work together to build on the Millennium Development Goals and create a shared vision for sustainable development in the future is exactly what is needed.
We should also remember that we are carrying out this work not only for those who live today, but also for the generations who follow.
Thank you.