Director-General/Executive Director
11 June 2015
Mr. Chairman,
Excellences,
Distinguished Delegates
and Representatives,
It gives me great pleasure to address the Fifty-eighth session of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
2015 is a major milestone in the history of the United Nations. This year, we will agree on creating a new development agenda to further the work already achieved by the Millennium Development Goals.
And later in 2015, we also have the opportunity of a new climate agreement at COP21 in Paris.
Space plays an important role in these developments, particularly on the outcome of the Rio+20 Conference, which recognized the importance of space tools and space-derived information to assist with the post-2015 development agenda.
The development agenda requires effective and innovative tools to support its implementation, including those offered by space science and technology applications.
Addressing the challenges to humanity and sustainable development, protecting the space environment and securing the long-term sustainability of outer space activities, require continuous attention, and the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space is at the centre of this work.
There is a need for stronger space governance at all levels, including improved spatial data infrastructure.
In March this year, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 was adopted, paving the way for more resilient societies through an effective disaster risk management.
UNOOSA has played a role in this through its UN-SPIDER programme. UN-SPIDER will mark its 10th Anniversary in 2016, and it continues to be an important gateway to space information for disaster risk reduction.
For over 50 years, and for the benefit of every country, COPUOS has also fostered international cooperation in space activities.
As a result, another milestone is reached in space diplomacy this year, as the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems-ICG-to which UNOOSA serves as the Executive Secretariat, celebrates its Tenth anniversary.
The work of ICG benefits the global community by promoting the enhancement of space-based navigation and positioning systems . ICG is the direct result of recommendations from the Third UN Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, which was held in Vienna in 1999.
I also note that 2018 marks the Fiftieth anniversary of the First UN Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, which was also held in the Hofburg Palace in 1968. This will be a fitting time to take stock of the contributions of all three UNISPACE conferences to global space governance.
As we move towards 2018, there will be a number of other milestones in the work of the Committee and its subsidiary bodies where governance structures are addressed.
In 2017, we will commemorate the Fiftieth anniversary of the Outer Space Treaty. The Committee continues to take the lead in promoting the universal acceptance of the UN treaties and principles on outer space. These have been instrumental in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, and the rapid evolvement of space activities witnessed today.
The importance attached by the international community to cooperation in the area of peaceful uses of outer space is undoubtedly increasing.
This year, the General Assembly, will hold a joint ad hoc meeting of the First and Fourth Committees on possible challenges to space security and sustainability. The report of the Group of Governmental Experts on Transparency and Confidence-building Measures in Outer Space Activities will be at the centre of those considerations.
At this session, the Committee is considering how those measures relate to the safety of space operations and the long-term sustainability of outer space activities. These are all crucial issues that are closely linked to sustainable development on Earth.
The Office for Outer Space Affairs is also continuing to implement its evolving space agenda, which is becoming increasingly complex.
UNOOSA plays a fundamental role under the legal regime on outer space by discharging the responsibilities of the Secretary-General under the UN treaties on outer space. This includes the maintenance of the UN Register on Objects Launched into Outer Space, which is a core treaty-based mechanism for transparency and confidence-building.
The organization also plays a central role within the UN system through its leadership of the UN-Space inter-agency coordination mechanism, and in fostering capacity-building in the use of space science and technology.
UNOOSA is also embarking on new projects to raise awareness of the benefits of space for humanity in the context of post-2015 development agenda. I commend UNOOSA for launching its new website, as another good example of its increasingly forward looking approach.
All of these activities demonstrate the importance of strengthening the coordinated role of COPUOS and UNOOSA. I am committed to supporting the Director of the Office for Outer Space Affairs in fostering the unique platform of COPUOS at the global level.
Last, but certainly not least, at this session, the Committee will host a very special guest, cosmonaut Alexey Leonov, who fifty years ago was the first human to perform a spacewalk.
His presence here, at this Committee's session, reminds us all of the extraordinary development of space activities over the past fifty years, as well as the many challenges that lie ahead of us, in utilizing space for the benefit of all humankind and for our planet's sustainable future.
Thank you.