On 10 and 11 November 2023, ESPI was proud to be invited to contribute to this year’s Paris Peace Forum at the Palais Brongniart. The Forum convened key players in global governance around this year’s theme, “Seek Common Ground in a World of Rivalry”, against a backdrop of increasing global polarization.
In a world dominated by geopolitical re-balancing, it is as urgent as ever to find common ground on the governance of global commons and global public goods in domains such as climate change and outer space amongst others. Facilitating dialogue, creating action-oriented coalitions and defining norms is the Forum’s way of delivering efficient responses to the urgent challenges of our time.
ESPI Director, Hermann Ludwig Moeller, and Associate Manager and Lead on International Engagement, Marco Aliberti attended the Forum, with Marco moderating the panel, “To Gauge or not to Gauge: What Unified Paradigm to Assess Sustainable Use of Outer Space?”.
Reviewing the Forum’s 2023 priorities: Protecting the Planet and the People; Ensuring Trust and Safety in the Digital World; Addressing Inequalities and Accelerating SDGs; Crafting Peace and Building a Safe World, it becomes clear that the role of space and space-based assets are paramount to achieving these goals.
As outlined in ESPI’s landmark policy vision, ESPI2040: Space for Prosperity, Peace and Future Generations, space continues to play an outsized role in promoting peace and facilitating international cooperation beyond traditional security and defence applications. Undoubtedly, space-based assets have had a tremendous impact on energy, food and water security, and climate crisis monitoring amongst others. Indeed, space often acts as a harbinger of such a changing landscape and will continue to play a critical role in addressing the most pressing issues of our time.
