STATEMENT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF UNOG AT HANDOVER OF SATELLITE IMAGE OF EARTH AS SEEN FROM SPACE

Following are the remarks made by Sergei Ordzhonikidze, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, on the occasion of the handover of the ENVISAT satellite image of the earth as seen from space:

“It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the Palais des Nations on this very special occasion of the handover of an ENVISAT satellite image of the earth seen from space. Allow me to take this opportunity to express our appreciation to the European Space Agency (ESA) for this valuable donation to the United Nations Office at Geneva as a testimony of the state of our planet today to be passed down to future generations. I would also like to thank the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Operational Satellite Applications Programme and staff at UNOG for their efforts in making this donation possible.

The message conveyed through this image is of development that meets the needs of the present not compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Expanding human requirements and economic activities are placing ever-increasing pressures on land resources, creating competition and conflicts and resulting in sub-optimal use of both land and land resources. Desertification affects as much as one-sixth of the world’s population, seventy percent of all drylands, and one-quarter of the total land area of the world. It results in widespread poverty, as well as in the degradation of billion of hectares of rangeland and cropland. The Earth’s climate system has demonstrably changed on both the global and regional scales since the pre-industrial era, with some of these changes attributable to human activities. When we look at this image and see the world from this perspective, we don’t see the 1 billion people living on less than 1 dollar a day. Neither do we see the seriousness of the degree of degradation of our planet, the number of hectares of forestation lost every year or the number of people suffering from HIV/AIDS. We must look closer. This image urges us to do so. The Earth is itself part of the world’s cultural heritage and so are its citizens – present and future generations.

This image is also testimony to the enormous technological developments of our times that benefit all of us. Indeed, the use of outer space for scientific research is an indispensable part of addressing today’s most urgent problems. The use of space has yielded unparalleled achievements in modern communication, weather forecasting, environmental protection, humanitarian assistance and planning of sustainable development. With it, our collective dependence on space-based assets has grown, as well as concerns about the security of these assets. There is little chance of protecting our planet and finding sustainable solutions to global challenges without a greater sense of mutual responsibility, especially in an age of interdependence. This is equally applicable to outer space activities. The ENVISAT image is also a vivid reminder of the importance of preserving our planet and of outer space for peaceful purposes.

The youth of today are the adults of tomorrow. The footprint that we leave for them will determine their future. As we look at this image, let us be reminded of our responsibility towards future generations and let us leave them a planet that is liveable and thriving”.



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For use of information media; not an official record


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