The Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice. The Goals interconnect and in order to leave no one behind, it ís important that we achieve each Goal and target by 2030. Click on any specific Goal below to learn more about each issue (United Nations, 2018)
With an inspiring history of more than 60 years, space science, technology and applications are now closely connected with our life on Earth. Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) provide us with global location service that has become fundamental to our modern life. Direct-to-Home (DTH) TV services and global TV broadcasting are made available by communications satellites. Earth observation satellites are indispensable for meteorological and geospatial services, and also play an important role in, among others, disaster management, the monitoring of the effects of climate change, food security and urban development planning, while space science and exploration bring technology innovation and inspiration to humankind (United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, 2018).
It is generally accepted that space activities, technologies and applications, as innovative approaches, can help countries achieve the SDGs and comply with commitments taken within UN conventions. A study jointly conducted by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the European GNSS Agency (GSA) in 2018 shows that all the SDGs are positively impacted by the benefits stemming from the use of European Global Navigation Satellite Systems (EGNSS) and Copernicus applications and, out of the 169 targets associated, 65 (almost 40 percent) directly benefit from using the EGNSS and Copernicus services, either helping monitor the status of achievement of a given SDG or actively contributing to its fulfilment (United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, 2018).
However, the importance of space has not been fully recognized by the international community and the potential of it has not been fully unlocked for sustainable development. Space contributions can play a crucial role only if they are an integral part of the global effort for sustainable development and when they are integrated into the whole-society effort that is expected to take place in each country to achieve the SDGs (United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, 2018).
United Nations (2018). https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (2018). IAC Paper.
