On September 15, I was honored to participate, representing the Human Space Program, in a meeting held in New York City (and virtually), launching a campaign to ask the United Nations to add an 18th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to the 17 SDGs already adopted by the organization. This new SDG would be related to the space domain and was seen by many of the participants as essential to achieving the other 17 by 2030 (the UN’s goal). Here is a portion of the press release recently issued by the sponsors of the initiative, which is led by the National Space Society and Space Renaissance International:
Distinguished State Members of the United Nations,
We, representatives of 65 organizations convened on the 15th of September 2023 at U.N. Plaza 777, in concomitance with the U.N. General Assembly 78, recommend developing and introducing a resolution for an 18th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), called “Universal and Sustainable Space Development”.
We note that the Earth is in space, it has always been in space, and it will always be in space. Space is the context in which the 17 SDGs exist. Earth is the domain of life, and only by expanding this domain beyond Earth can we fulfill the 17 SDGs in the long term. Our proposed 18th SDG aims to accelerate humanity’s united expansion into the solar ecosystem to create sustainable capabilities for living and working in human communities in LEO and beyond, harnessing the lessons learned there to benefit people both on Earth and in Space. Collectively, we believe that the space environment should be available to benefit all of life.
We, the Space 18th SDG Coalition, want to underscore the tremendous social significance of the 17 SDGs and of 2030 – a critical date. We believe that the five years from 2025 to 2030 could be the most crucial period in human history, in which numerous social, economic, and environmental processes will come to a combined crisis point. To face and overcome such extreme challenges, the Peoples of Planet Earth need a perspective capable of giving them hope and fortitude, to reverse the growing social fear and to restore confidence in the future. This perspective is available through the Overview Effect, the view of Earth from space and in space. Before 2030, meaningful steps must be taken to ensure full sustainability for human development, launching the expansion of life, communities, civilian activities, and the earthly ecosystems beyond the limits of planet Earth…
…With a Space 18th SDG as its beacon, the United Nations could foster a cooperative and inclusive international process to ensure that the people of Earth will use space resources equitably within bottom-up governance frameworks based on adaptable best practices. But this can only happen if U.N. State Parties recognize the surging interest in space activities leading to the inevitability of human life beyond Earth. Consequently, we propose that the State Parties submit a resolution to adopt an 18th SDG, focused on the expansion of human life into space, to live and work there for the benefit of humans everywhere.
The United Nations may or may not support this effort and add an 18th SDG to the current list. However, the campaign will be a success in disseminating the message that space exploration and space migration is critical to the future of humanity.
Excerpts are from: PRESS RELEASE – “SDG18 Space For All, on Earth and Beyond: 65 Space Entities held a session for the U.N. General Assembly on the 15th of September, 2023 United Nations Plaza, 777 – The Final Recommendation”
—— 29.09.2023 – For immediate release ——
About the Author
Frank White is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and a Rhodes Scholar. He earned an M.Phil. in Politics from Oxford University, where he was a member of New College. The fourth edition of Frank’s best-known book, The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution, was published by Multiverse Publishing, a division of Multiverse Media LLC, in 2022. Frank is president of The Human Space Program, Inc., a nonprofit organization based on an idea initially proposed in The Overview Effect. The Overview Effect® is a registered trademark owned by Frank White.
(c) Copyright Frank White, 2024, All Rights Reserved. Published with permission by Above Space
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