Exploring the interface of Earth and Space governance
Space governance is gaining increasing policy and scholarly attention given the exponential rise in activities and discussions since the last decade, ranging from satellite constellations to colonization on Moon, Mars, and asteroids. These developments promise new solutions to sustainability problems on Earth but they also bring new environmental challenges such as Space debris and resource extraction for Space programmes, while raising questions on societal equity and justice on a planetary scale. Global Space governance therefore needs new conceptual and analytical tools to manage these fundamental trade-offs.
The aim of this session is to generate interest in this topic among the community of the Earth System Governance Project and brainstorm key research themes from the perspective of ESG, which will lead to setting up a task force in the coming months.
Our overarching question is: how would an integrative model of Earth-Space governance look like from the ESG perspective? We see great potential to build a new research agenda with Anthropocene as a core contextual condition:
(1) Architecture and agency: How to consider the complex configurations of institutional rationalities among different actors in Space, and how do they steer the development trajectories of Space;
(2) Justice and allocation: How to address planetary justice and equity when it comes to governing and distributing benefits from Space;
(3) Anticipation and imagination: In what ways can Earth-Space governance relate to studies on emerging technologies, and to what end “Earth-Space” should be governed?
Yap and Kim will start by giving an introductory presentation. We will also share some early insights on the interrelations between Earth- and Space governance. The session will proceed to the roundtable discussion, with speakers from the Space sector and leading scholars of the ESG Project. We will end with a Q&A session involving the audience.