Annual UNIDIR Space Security Conference 2013
“Enhancing confidence, securing space stability”

Director Hitchens,
Distinguished Ambassadors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a pleasure to welcome you all to the Palais des Nations for this annual UNIDIR space security conference.

Over the past two decades, the benefits that space activities provide humanity have increased and improved to the point that they are now indispensable. Such benefits include telecommunications, enhanced warnings of extreme weather events and other natural hazards, support to disaster management, agricultural and fisheries planning and natural resource protection. Increasingly, daily routine activities here on earth, such as navigation, banking transactions and weather forecasts, among other services, are all supported or enhanced by space systems. Simply put, we can no longer live without space!

Yet, after more than half a century of space exploration and activity, space remains a fragile environment - with around 21,000 monitored pieces of debris and over 1,000 operational satellites - that is at risk of becoming so congested that its utility may be lost to humanity just when we need it most.

Present dangers include the growth of orbital debris, accidental spacecraft collisions, and the potential hostile actions of State or non-State actors.

Activities in space are often the source of uncertainty, suspicion, and mistrust. This is in part due to the inherent difficulty in monitoring space related activities, deployments and operations.
It is clear that space-related Transparency and Confidence Building Measures (TCBMs) can enable us to address critical aspects of space interactions such as military miscalculation, space situational awareness, and collision avoidance, and through them help to increase familiarity and trust and encourage openness among space actors.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The current lack of norms, institutional structures, and legal framework for space has led some Member States to look to a military or security approach for the protection of space systems. This approach opens the door to an unnecessary and costly arms race in space, jeopardizes the progress made so far, as well as the actual and potential benefits we receive from space.
It is clear that space security is a cross-cutting issue. It cannot be broken down or neatly categorized into exclusively civil or security components. It needs instead to be approached in a comprehensive and holistic manner, which despite considerable efforts here at the United Nations, has remained a challenge.

Speaking to this issue, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated at the beginning of his mandate on 18 July 2007:
“The prevention of an arms race in space must remain a high priority for all of us; any such contest would prove a grave blow to the preservation of space for peaceful purposes”
As the benefits of space activities grow, keeping outer space available for peaceful activities and free from conflict will become ever more important. At this point, just a half century after the dawning of the space age, we are at a critical crossroads and must work collectively to safeguard the secure and sustainable use of the space environment.

While declarations of national intentions or pledges of responsible behaviour in the future are certainly desirable, they must be considered as pragmatic stepping stones to progress. Today, the international community increasingly recognizes the usefulness of TCBMs, as a way to promote openness and to reduce tensions between nations, particularly in areas where misperceptions exist.

After all, confidence building measures have been used successfully in bilateral, regional and multilateral settings for a very long time. The successful history of TCBMs in areas such as strategic nuclear and conventional forces, suggests that TCBMs can also make an important contribution in space.

As we are all aware, there are a number of on-going efforts to establish multilateral TCBMs. I would like to highlight the constructive work of the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) – in its second session here in Geneva. Under the able chairmanship of Mr. Victor Vasiliev of the Russian Federation, the GGE labours on Outer Space TCBMs and offers a unique opportunity to advance international consensus on a range of voluntary and non-legally binding TCBMs in space.
While the GGE may not reach consensus to endorse all TCBMs proposed by Member States and NGOs, the GGE can produce a valuable list of voluntary, pragmatic TCBMs that work to solve concrete problems.
Obviously, this is only the first step and the next challenge is to articulate an effective implementation and a framework for future work.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Never before has humanity been so interconnected with the technological advantages that space systems provide. The stage is set to design and implement comprehensive new international cooperative mechanisms and build agreement that will provide a secure future for space.
The time is now. It is important that all Member States consider and review the role of space in meeting many of the most pressing global challenges such as disaster management, health, education and communication.

Second, all Member States must understand both their mutual interest in keeping space safe to ensure that the benefits of its use can be sustained, as well as their mutual vulnerability in space given the characteristics of the space environment.

Third, for the global community to face up to this new complex security challenge in space, building the knowledge base of the international community as a whole is essential. Only then can effective discussions take place.

For over a decade the annual UNIDIR space security conference has sought to build this knowledge base to support multilateral initiatives to prevent or mitigate the growing threats to outer space security. It has done so by hosting key stakeholders and experts from all over the world for the purposes of exploring solutions to these issues. This 2013 UNIDIR Conference is no exception.
Geneva remains an ideal venue to discuss such cross-cutting matters in an inclusive and holistic manner. The resident wealth of experience and knowledge in the humanitarian, scientific, security and human rights fields is embodied in the pivotal international institutions, academia, NGOs and business stakeholders based here. This community is what ensures that all aspects of this very important work can be brought together and yield concrete results.

I wish you a successful Conference and also a productive session of the GGE.

Thank you for your attention.