Space activities are ever-increasing, with growing numbers of space actors and stakeholders — both States and non-governmental entities — that seek to benefit from all that the space environment has to offer, thus bettering life on Earth.
As a consequence of this increased interest in space, the need to ensure space security has never been greater, leading States to tackle this issue with renewed vigour. States and other stakeholders have been working on establishing effective mechanisms to keep space peaceful and sustainable through processes such as the currently ongoing Open-ended working group for reducing space threats through norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviour (OEWG), and laying the foundation to continue working on space security mechanisms through future processes after the conclusion of the OEWG. As States work towards these goals, it is essential to acknowledge that to achieve them, reaching a common understanding on space security is necessary.
Achieving such common understanding can be made easier with practical tools and approaches to building space security that can complement and support multilateral processes. UNIDIR and Secure World Foundation have developed a toolkit to assist in the development of multilateral measures and contribute to the creation of the common understanding necessary for their success and effectiveness. The Lexicon for Outer Space Security aims to serve as an accessible global reference point for terminological issues related to space security. Moreover, the Space Security Portal will serve as a one-stop hub of national, regional, and international-level policies, processes, laws and structures that are relevant to the development and activity surrounding outer space security.
During this OEWG side event, both of these tools were presented by some of the experts involved in their development in order to showcase how they can contribute to the work carried out by UN Member States and ensure that space is kept a peaceful and secure environment.
AGENDA
13:00 – Light lunch
13:30 – Opening remarks
- Hellmut Lagos (Chair of the OEWG on reducing space threats through norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviour)
- Eunjin Park (Director of Disarmament and Non-proliferation Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea)
13:50 – Presentation of UNIDIR’s tools (including Q&A with the audience)
- Almudena Azcárate Ortega (UNIDIR)
- Sarah Erickson (UNIDIR)
14:40 – Closing remarks
- Cécile Aptel (UNIDIR)
WHEN & WHERE
Wednesday 30 August 2023 | 13:00–15:00 CET | Room XXII, Palais des Nations, Geneva.