Talk:Environmental governance

Wiki Education assignment: Public Writing

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 17 January 2022 and 30 April 2022. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Annikachun (article contribs).

Removed content on outer space

I've removed this content on outer space because I would argue it goes beyond the scope of this article. This article should be about the environment on Earth. We have various space articles that deal with this content already, e.g. space law, space debris. If needed, we could link to one of them under See also.

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Outer Space Environmental Governance

Since space travel and activities began in the 1950s, more nations have engaged in the race to use space more rigorously. More specifically, USA and Russia launched the world's first artificial satellite. The other new nations entering the space race lack the comprehensive space abilities similar to the US and Russia. The need and desire to expand into space creates numerous problems, none more prominent than the concern of space wreckages. Various organizations, including the Committee of Space Research, continue to implement ways to successfully and effectively govern the global sphere. Laws like the Planetary Protection Policy are meant to regulate the use of space, specifically, the issue of space debris. As each launch becomes more and more dangerous, the policy development of various countries is unbalanced, and there is a lack of unified international standards and norms. Space is at risk of permanent damage or "Kessler syndrome" (an on-orbit collision chain reaction caused by major debris events). It increases the risk of paralyzed global space services, including GPS, the global financial system, and daily weather forecasts. Although the Planetary Protection Policy law is not enforceable, it helps protect against the Moon's contamination and other celestial bodies. The space governing organizations implement laws that help regulate space use, thus, lessening space contamination. For instance, the 65% post-mission-disposal still falls well short of the 90% target, which China looks to increase to 95%. However, more countries are implementing additional measures to increase that number. Space Situational Awareness (SSA) is important because it monitors the conditions in space and helps improve Safety-of-Flight (SoF), increasing its comprehensiveness, timeliness, accuracy, and transparency.

Outer space is part of the environment because it is linked to the Earth's environment in numerous modest ways. For instance, the day-to-day changes in the weather system are closely related to outer space conditions. The solar wind repeatedly hits Earth's magnetic field, including its upper atmosphere, resulting in Earth's electrical properties. Furthermore, Earth sits at the center of the 'gale' of particles that emanate from the outer parts of the Sun's atmosphere. Like the solar wind but of much deeper space origin, cosmic rays also strike the Earth penetrating its lower atmosphere, where it is believed to help form low-level clouds. Lastly, outer space is part of the environment because its conditions affect the operations of spaceships, the health of astronauts, and the state and functioning of any other objects and satellites circumnavigating Earth. The international space order is amid an upheaval, adjustment, and reconstruction period. The global space economy will be worth $360 billion by 2018. However, as costs decline, it is expected that the entry barrier to space will continue to decrease. Countries are increasingly focusing their attention on space not only for national security but also for commercial opportunities. As a result, outer space environmental governance is being introduced gradually.

The space governance methods incorporate the issues provided in the Montreal Declaration, which requires the following elements. The inspection of the shifting international fiscal, social, and political environments and space infrastructure dependence; the identification and valuation of all known space threats and dangers; the inspection of all space prospects and the need for maintainable and diplomatic use of outer space, including the study and manipulation of space for the advantage of man; the recognition of safety, technical, and operative alterations requiring resolutions; and the endorsement of relevant space governance treaties, arrangements, guidelines, ethics, and apposite established mechanisms, inventions and procedures pertinent to existing and developing space events. Many countries aspire to be leaders and responsible actors in space and therefore support the international community's ongoing efforts to develop responsible behavior and norms for space operators. Countries such as Brazil, China, France, Japan, and South Africa are all working to establish standards of behavior in space, hoping to protect space assets through better space situational awareness and space traffic management.

Below are examples of policies from three different countries.

• Australia does not have a national space policy but emphasizes COPUOS standards for space debris mitigation while creating official guidelines for international launches. Australia has activated a C-band space surveillance radar system for the purpose of tracking space debris. These data from the southern hemisphere will help increase worldwide awareness of the state of the world's space and sustainable practices.
• France's outer space environmental governance policy is mostly seen in the 2011 Technical Regulations Decree, which focuses on launch and orbital licensing. The Technical Regulations Decree requires that rail systems be designed, manufactured, and implemented in such a way that debris is avoided during regular operation. At launch, the likelihood of disintegration in orbit must be less than one in 1,000. Additionally, it must be capable of safely deorbiting and re-entering the atmosphere once the mission is accomplished. If it cannot deorbit, it must adhere to the ITU's standards for geosynchronous orbits.
• Canada's government has established a regulatory framework aimed at reducing the formation of space debris. Operators must give an evaluation and plan for disposing of projected orbital debris. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has adopted the IADC principles for space debris mitigation and aims to implement them across all CSA activities. Additionally, the Canadian government requires licensees of spacecraft that operate in the radio frequency to submit a space debris mitigation strategy as part of the licensing process. Simultaneously, if the satellite is in a geosynchronous orbit, it must adhere to ITU standards. EMsmile (talk) 11:11, 11 October 2024 (UTC)

References

EMsmile (talk) 11:11, 11 October 2024 (UTC)