Shishukunj MUN 2022:

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Contents
Letter from the Bureau .................................................................................................. 3
Introduction to the Committee ...................................................................................... 4
Introduction to the Agenda ........................................................................................... 5
Key Terms ..................................................................................................................... 6
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ............................................................. 7
Food and Agriculture ..................................................................................................... 8
Access to Telecommunication ..................................................................................... 12
Disaster Management ................................................................................................. 15
Natural Resource and Environment Management ........................................................ 17
Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 19
Questions a Resolution Must Answer .......................................................................... 20
Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 21

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LETTER FROM THE BUREAU

Delegates, congratulations on getting the opportunity to participate in the Shishukunj MUN 2022. We,
as the bureau, promise you an enriching debate and are truly excited to be a part of your new voyage.

As the world looks to space for achieving new horizons of development and mutual cooperation, the
importance of being ready enough to accept various challenges that lie ahead of us can hardly be
overstated. The space sector with its wide-ranging applications stands at the fore to resolve the
impending threat. Therefore, the agenda for this committee is - Space Technology for Sustainable and
Socioeconomic Development.

We expect the delegates to respect disparities and differences of opinions, and work around these, while
extending their own foreign policy so that it encompasses more of the others without compromising
their own stand, thereby reaching a unanimously acceptable practical solution.

The following pages intend to guide you with the nuances of the agenda as well as the committee.

The guide chronologically touches upon all the different aspects that are relevant and will lead to fruitful
debate in the committee. It will provide you with a bird’s eye view of the issue. However, it has to be
noted that the background guide only contains certain basic information which may form the basis for
the debate and your research. You are the representative of your allotted country and it is our hope that
you put in wholehearted efforts to research and comprehensively grasp all important facets of the
diverse agenda. All the delegates should be well prepared in order to make the committee’s debate
productive. After all, only then will this edition of the MUN bear fruit. We encourage you to go beyond
this background guide and delve into the extremities of the agenda to further enhance your knowledge
of it.

We wish you the best of luck for the conference.

Aaheli Roy- Chairperson

Arhant Doongarwal- Vice Chairperson
Priyank Surana- Rapporteur
Committee Email ID- uncopuos@shishukunj.in

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INTRODUCTION TO THE COMMITTEE

The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS) was established by
the General Assembly in 1959 under the Economic and Social Council comprising 24 members. Over
time, it has grown to 95 members and is one of the United Nations' largest committees. Besides States,
various international organizations, both intergovernmental and non-governmental, are accorded
observer status with COPUOS and its subcommittees.

The Committee looks after & governs international cooperation in peaceful uses of outer space, study
space-related initiatives & endeavors that can be undertaken by the United Nations, stimulate space
research programs, and assess legal problems arising from the exploration of outer space.

Initially, it formed a platform for international cooperation in regards to the use of space, based on the
tenants of the United Nations of restricted violence but peaceful uses of scarce resources. At the same
time, it served the member states as well as the secretariat with technical advice regarding the activities
and resources that both United Nations & the UN registered specialized agencies could set for the
peaceful uses of Outer Space.

The space agenda is constantly evolving due to rapid advances in space technology. The Committee,
therefore, provides a unique platform at the global level to monitor and discuss these developments.

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INTRODUCTION TO THE AGENDA

Outer space is a treasure trove of resources and opportunities both discovered and mysterious to Man.
Countries have been increasingly turning to our solar system to find solutions to the present need of
mankind through the development of space technology. In June 2018, the UN even declared space
science to be a ‘fundamental pillar’ of human development.

Space technology is the technology used for outer space, in astronautics or other activities beyond
Earth's atmosphere, for purposes such as spaceflight, space exploration, and Earth observation. Many
things are common every day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 and the Paris Agreement on
Climate Change—the international community has pledged to address the biggest challenges defining
our era. Space-based technologies play an ever-increasing role in accelerating the achievement of those
pledges.

Each year, hundreds of technical innovations generated by space programs make their way into our
earthly technology such as advancements in farming equipment, faster communications, more precise
maritime and aerospace technologies, safety through dangerous weather warnings, and other
innovations in everyday life. These applications already benefit countries at various income levels and
regardless of whether they have their own space agencies and space programs.

Space-based technology often reduces infrastructure requirements and offers more cost-effective
service delivery options, so instead of constructing a series of transmission and relay towers to broadcast
important messages from governments to far-to-reach places, one satellite dish could be provided to a
remote community to pick up broadcast signals sent from a satellite. Also, remote sensing satellites
provide key data for monitoring soil, snow cover, drought and crop development. Rainfall assessments
from satellites, for example, help farmers plan the timing and amount of irrigation they will need for
their crops. Accurate information and analysis can also help predict a region's agricultural output well
in advance and can be critical in anticipating and mitigating the effects of food shortages and famines.
In addition to the need for mankind’s technological advancement, these developments are required if
we want to continue to improve human living conditions on our ever-crowding Earth.

As a committee you must ensure that innovation in outer space is encouraged while emphasizing
providing access to telecommunications, agriculture, disaster management and environmental
monitoring to countries, especially emerging and less developed ones, through space technology. As in
other areas of potential growth, private industry has become ever more curious about the possibilities
of space. The committee is expected to discover sustainable and comprehensive solutions to utilize
space technology for the socio-economic development of all nations.

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KEY TERMS
(i) Agronomist: a scientist who studies the growing and harvesting of crops

(ii) Logging: a process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport

(iii) River ice jams: an accumulation of ice forming where the slope of a river changes from steeper to
milder or where moving ice meets an intact ice cover

(iv) Sand flux: the volume (or mass) of dune sand passing through a line of unit length perpendicular to
the wind direction per unit time.

(v) CubeSat: a square-shaped miniature satellite weighing about 1kg, a CubeSat can be used alone (1
unit) or in groups of multiple units (maximum 24 units)

(vi) Biomass: plant-based material used as fuel to produce heat or electricity; examples are wood and
wood residues, and energy crops, like Jatropha and Jojoba

(vii) Global Agro-Ecological Zoning: provides comprehensive information for rational land use planning
and decision-making for food security and agricultural development on the basis of an inventory of land
and water resources and evaluation of the biophysical limitations and production potentials of land

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THE 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Human Development enhancements still face many societal challenges that need to be overcome,
despite the growing global economy and the technological progress that has taken place in the past
decades. The United Nations has developed the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in order to
address these challenges, by involving more than 190 Member States in the form of 17 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), which shall serve as a "blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable
future for all".

The 17 SDGs include climate action, good health and well-being, clean water, affordable energy,
protecting life below water and on land, zero hunger, partnership for the goals and many more.

The UN recognizes the importance of the role of Earth Observation (EO) and geolocation (provided by
GNSS) in supporting the achievement of the development goals. However, the potential of space in
supporting the SDGs is much larger. Making use of & harnessing space contributes positively to a
plethora of policy areas, such as climate and weather monitoring, access to health care and education,
disaster and environment management, efficiency in transportation and agriculture, peacekeeping,
security and humanitarian assistance. The list of earth-impacting space applications is vast, and many
other valuable contributions are currently in development or being researched.

All countries should be supported in accessing the benefits of space-based technology that facilitates
sustainable development as space has far-reaching applications. From the onset of the space age,
effective international cooperation has been instrumental in ensuring the safe, secure and sustainable
use of space. The governance of space, which has been termed as humanity’s most expansive global
commons, has become increasingly mature due to the increasing number of participants, both
governmental and non-governmental, as well as new technologies and approaches such as public-
private partnerships and private funding initiatives.

Therefore it is essential to find out how Space Technology can be used as a way to support the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

Space technologies can play a vital role in modern agriculture, precision agriculture (a farming
management concept based on observing, measuring and responding to inter and intra-field variability
in crops) and agricultural innovation. Space-based technologies could valuably contribute to farmers,
agronomists, food manufacturers, and agricultural policymakers who wish to simultaneously enhance
production and profitability. Besides that, accurate information and analysis can also help predict a
region’s agricultural output well in advance and can be critical in anticipating and mitigating the effects
of food shortages and famines. An efficient system can help more developing countries to tap into
science, technology and innovation solutions to monitor crops.

Satellite data can and is being used for:

● Farm water management

● Crop fertilization

● Autonomous tractors and harvestors

● Farm season planning

● Farm animal tracking

● Fisheries

● Global crop monitoring

● Crop insurance

Related Technologies

(i) Remote-sensing satellites provide key data for monitoring the soil, snow cover, drought and crop
development. One of the examples of such technology is the Crop Watch system which provides an
overview of the status of crops and agro-climatic conditions in each country and assists in countering
the effects of Climate Change. Afghanistan, Algeria, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nigeria, South
Africa, Syria, Thailand, Turkey and Zambia have come together to learn and benefit from the same.

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(ii) Rainfall data analysis and assessments from satellites can help farmers plan the timing
and amount of irrigation needed for crops.

Role of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)

The partnership between governments and private enterprises in space applications areas is one of the
major topics of investment. However, the underlying motivations for the individual partners may be
widely divergent: one is driven by a profit motive, the other by the desire to deliver social services to
the people. These joint projects are undertaken in an attempt to bring the benefits of technological
efficiencies to society, taking advantage of the strengths and interests of each partner.

Recent advances in ICST (Information, Communication and Space Technology), especially space
technology, are expanding the opportunities for developing countries to apply them effectively to
achieve sustainable development, build an information society, and attain Development Goals.
Integration of space technologies with other information and communication technologies (ICTs) has
made their applications more accessible and affordable, particularly in those countries where
appropriate national ICST policies and an enabling environment for the promotion of the public-private
partnership (PPP) supporting such activities are in place.

PPPs bring the efficiencies, innovations and alacrity of the Private Players and combine them with the
Capability & massive infrastructure, reach and capacities that the Government has. The public-private
partnership (PPP) pattern helps the government to raise project profits directly through supporting
measures to make project financing succeed, and on the other hand, the entry of private capital
decreases the risks of government investment and improves operating efficiency.

(i) The World Meteorological Organisation

The World Meteorological Organization provides weather and drought forecasting services to farmers,
herders and fishermen that assist in promoting sustainable agricultural development, increasing
agricultural productivity and contributing to food security through its Agricultural Meteorology
Programme (United Nations General Assembly, 2018). At the national level, it can support the
monitoring of crops from space using publicly available sources of satellite data as well as algorithms for
land use and land cover.

(ii) The Global Agricultural Disaster System

The global agricultural and disaster assessment system, also supported by the United States Department
of Agriculture, is a web-based GIS for the analysis of global crop conditions and the impacts of disasters
on agriculture. The famine early warning systems network, developed by the United States Agency for

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International Development in 1985, provides early warning and analysis on acute food
insecurity in 28 countries. Along with these assessments, the systems provide reports on a plethora of
important and correlated topics like weather and climate, markets and trade, agricultural production,
livelihoods, nutrition and food assistance.

(iii) United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization

Furthermore, there are other initiatives targeted at farmers and national Governments. Earth
observation data can support regional and international efforts to target those with the highest food
insecurity risk. In agriculture, the use of remotely sensed data by the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations plays a pivotal role in the effective monitoring of agricultural production. The
Organization implements its mandate to assist and empower countries with knowledge, tools and
methodologies to enable them to undertake reliable assessments by promoting the use of medium-
resolution and high-resolution Earth observation data, combined with already available observations,
to provide reliable information to support decision-making in agriculture. In that regard, the global agro-
ecological zones data portal and the integrated land resources information management system are
used in key activities of the Organization (United Nations General Assembly, 2016).

Actions taken by countries

(i) Precision agriculture is an advanced technology championed by the Dutch Government. It delivers
higher productivity, lower environmental footprint, transparent production and smart production
methods. Its motto is ‘Twice as much for twice as little,’ which it is developing for not only domestic use
but also for worldwide sharing.

(ii) Another initiative of the Dutch Govt. is Geodata for Agriculture and Water (G4AW), the aim of this
program is to stimulate sustainable food production, efficient use of water in developing countries, and
alleviate poverty through enhancing sustainable economic growth and self-reliance by providing food
producers with relevant information, advice or (financial) products.

(iii) The Switzerland-based free-to-use private initiative, “One Soil” platform helps to remotely monitor
crops, increase yields, and reduce seed and fertilizer costs. It helps farmers and agricultural companies
be more profitable and sustainable.

(iv) Another Private Initiative “Nimbo” from France aids in the exploration of land evolution with feed
from the Copernicus program and includes a large-scale crop monitoring option.

Hitherto, high costs had limited the use of space technologies for agriculture in developing countries.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of funds, expertise, equipment or awareness, developing countries are not

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using satellite technology to its full potential, many such come from the African Continent.
The African continent may not have a Roadmap for Space research whereby they could share and learn
from each other synergistically rather than in a fragmented manner. Poverty, lack of funding, lack of
human skills, lack of a Robust Legal and Regulatory framework, etc have all contributed and of the 54
countries in the continent only South Africa, Egypt, Algeria and Nigeria have their own satellites while
other countries like Angola, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia and Ghana have nascent space programs
and have not launched satellites.

It is essential that this committee finds practical solutions on how we can build capabilities and improve
infrastructure in the field of agriculture not only through scientific research and technology but also
through multi-stakeholder actors and public-private partnerships.

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ACCESS TO TELECOMMUNICATION
Access to all forms of telephony i.e. voice, video, and data is practically non-existent in many parts of
the world, if at all it is, it is very rudimentary & unreliable, particularly in sparsely populated rural or
remote areas. Satellite technologies are an optimum & effective means for the delivery of broadband
services in those areas, either on their own or in combination with other technologies that are extant
viz terrestrial networks as the last mile, wireless networks as the last mile, localized WANs and other
such combinations where satellites can provide the core input while the others can be a distribution
system. Expanding access to rural areas is challenging, as populations are sparse, remotely placed from
the core networks and have viability issues due to less purchasing power.[h3]

Instead of the conventional network layouts and architecture used for broadband connectivity, a new
set of network technologies can often reduce infrastructure requirements and offer more cost-effective
service delivery options. High-Throughput Satellites (HTS) and Non-Geostationary Orbit Satellites
(NGSO) are two of the most recent and effective innovations in satellite broadband that are good
examples of it at a higher level besides the other mentioned methods and combination innovations that
are now capable of cost-effectively achieving the goal of connectivity.[h4]

Initiatives by Public-Private Partnerships

Several developments in satellite broadband are leveraging these technologies and other innovations
to prove useful connectivity to rural and remote regions:

(i)Intelsat announced a joint managed services solution with Gilat Satellite Networks to provide 3G
infrastructure in remote locations around the globe.

(ii) Inmarsat has partnered with InStrat Global Health Solutions to bring training videos and medical
service applications to medical workers in Nigeria in remote areas using BGAN (Broadband Global Area
Network) technology.

(iii) SES announced its partnership with Facebook to provide Wi-Fi connectivity in sub-Saharan Africa
through Ku-band capacity.

(iv) Facebook has partnered with Eutelsat for a Ka-band satellite in 2019 to cover 30 African nations and
provide 75 Gbps of capacity.

(v) O3b Networks has partnered with Google’s Project Loon to provide high-throughput, low latency
broadband Internet in Peru for remote regions affected by El Niño.

Private Satellite Service Providers

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In addition to the efforts of national Governments, private satellite data providers release
proprietary Earth observation data for humanitarian and development purposes. For example, Project
Kuiper (Amazon), Starlink Constellation (SpaceX), Project Loon (Google), and others plan to provide
global Internet access through Nano-satellite constellations and high-altitude balloons.

Google – Project Loon

Google’s Project Loon with its balloon-based internet network, was in an ideal position to provide much-
needed infrastructure support. Loon balloons float in the stratosphere at an altitude of 20km and can
extend connectivity to where it is needed regardless of any situation below. It had already been flying
Loon balloons over Latin America for several months, running connectivity tests with
telecommunications partners. So when ground infrastructure began to be impacted by the flooding, the
Project Loon team reached out to the government to offer its innovative solution—providing basic
internet and mobile connectivity over the Loon balloons already aloft.

SpaceX – Starlink Constellation

SpaceX is a privately held rocket and spacecraft company founded by Elon Musk. Starlink is a SpaceX
initiative to create a global Broadband network by using a constellation of low-earth orbit satellites. The
goal of Starlink is to create a low-latency network in space that will facilitate edge computing on earth.
The challenge of creating a global network in outer space is not a small one, especially because low
latency will be critically important and to achieve this SpaceX proposes a constellation of almost 42,000
tablet-size satellites circling the globe in low orbit. The small CubeSats will create tight network
coverage, and their low earth orbit will facilitate low latency.

Case Study: Bangladesh’s Bangabandhu-1

The telecommunications satellite Bangabandhu-1 recently launched by Bangladesh also broadcasts

television and radio programs and will soon provide internet, telemedicine, and distance learning
facilities for people in remote areas.

Bangabandhu Satellite-1 is the first geostationary satellite of Bangladesh. This satellite was
manufactured by Thales Alenia Space and launched on May 11, 2018. The total cost of the satellite was
248 million US dollars. This satellite will offer video and communications coverage over Bangladesh as
well as in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Indonesia. It will also provide broadband
connectivity to rural areas throughout the country. According to estimates Bangladesh had to spend
$14m for satellite connectivity yearly which it would save now. Besides private TV channel operators
and Direct-to-Home (DTH) service, the weather department, as well as the defense sector, will benefit
from the satellite and it will also help telecommunication systems during natural disasters.

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Bangladesh could achieve it by combining its Intellectual resources, judiciously planning and
arranging for its funding, and also by developing the relevant technologies and technical assistance
partners besides having a clear objective on what it wants to develop and for what purposes. This, as an
integrated task is a herculean one for a less developed & resource-strapped nation and it did an
incredible job with great perseverance to keep pushing it since its early days of independence despite
financial, technical, political and bureaucratic bottlenecks; something that other nations can learn from.

New and emerging technologies may shape the evolution of telecommunications access, including low-
altitude and medium-altitude satellites, other aerial devices, and innovative uses of unused portions of
the radio frequency spectrum

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DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Disaster management refers to the conservation of lives and property during natural or human-made
disasters and they are one of the single largest causes of important loss of lives and assets around the
world with not only short-term but also long-term to very long-term impacts. According to the United
Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, between 1998 and 2017, disasters killed 1.3 million people
globally, while they displaced, injured, left homeless, or in need of emergency assistance a further 4.4
billion people.

Analyzing this data, the question arises - Could these calamities have been prevented if there were
better and more efficient space technology provided to countries, especially developing ones? Space-
enabled technologies are an extremely important element of local, regional and national disaster risk
reduction strategies. The promotion and enhancement of the same, through geospatial and space-based
technologies and its collection and analysis, if available widely and cost-effectively to all may have
assisted those countries in predicting, preventing and better handling these disasters thereby reducing
the casualties and damages.

Stages in Disaster Management

Disaster management usually involves one or a combination of these five stages:

1) Prevention: This entails identifying potential risks and creating safety measures to lessen their effects.

2) Mitigation: Mitigation is defined as sustained action that reduces or eliminates long-term risk to
people and property from natural hazards and their effects. Building construction codes; vulnerability
analysis updates; zoning and land use management; building use regulations and safety codes;
preventive health care; and public education are some strategies for executing this phase.

3) Preparedness: By enhancing the technological and managerial capabilities of governments,

organizations, and communities, disaster preparedness aims to reach a suitable degree of readiness to
respond to any emergency event

4) Response: The objective of emergency response is to deliver quick aid to people to save lives and
restore health.

5) Recovery: Emergency relief in the immediate aftermath of the disaster is rapidly followed by longer-
term measures to restore normal levels of health, safety, and economic activity.

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In relation to the cycle of disaster management, there are several technologies available
that have developed infrastructures. The delegates need to work on the ways in which space
technologies can aid in achieving these stages in disaster management.

Case Studies

Case Study 1: Earth Observation to Detect/Monitor Disaster Risks

Earth observation, involves remote-sensing satellite images (provided by satellites such as the United
States Landsat satellites and the Sentinel satellites of the European Union Copernicus Earth observation
program) and increasingly high-technology pre-existing instruments (e.g. floating buoys to monitor
ocean currents, temperature, and salinity; land stations to record air quality and rainwater trends;
SONARs and RADARs to observe fish and bird populations; seismic stations to monitor earthquakes, and
environmental satellites to scan the Earth from space) helps to detect and monitor disaster risks,
especially natural hazards, and exposure to vulnerability. Volcano hazards, for example, can be observed
through land deformation due to tectonic forces. Drought hazards can be monitored by observing soil
moisture, precipitation and vegetation indices. Earth observation can also be used to map urban and
rural areas that have been impacted by natural, technological and biological disasters, as well as to
assess damages and losses. Flooding and tsunami impacts can be directly measured based on the size
of the flooded areas visible in satellite images.

Case study 2: Japan Aerospace Exploration

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has developed “GSmap” which is a precipitation monitoring
system. It provides global rainfall maps using satellite data such as the global precipitation measurement
mission and the global change observation mission. Working along with international partners like the
ADB (The Asian Development Bank) and the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization). These organizations work with Japan to provide input about the utility of such
technologies across the globe as well as funding of these initiatives. Japan attempts to contribute to
lessening & mitigating damage from water-related disasters. Japan also acts as an active enabler in the
field of supporting atmospheric observation like greenhouse gasses and aerosols and learning about
climate change issues.

Such programmers help in a common knowledge pool and resource base in mitigating disasters and a
better understanding of the same.

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NATURAL RESOURCE AND ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT

The availability of satellite data and signals for observing the Earth has grown at an explosive rate. As of
September 2019, there were 170 Earth observation satellites in operation, including around 30 weather
satellites, by 62 different operating agencies (Committee on Earth Observation Satellites, 2019).
Satellites are operated by national Governments, multinational agencies (e.g. the European Space
Agency (ESA)), private companies (e.g. Planet and Twenty-First Century Aerospace Technology) and
universities and research institutes (e.g. Republic of Korea Aerospace Research Institute and University
Corporation for Atmospheric Research). Most environmental satellite images and data, which are now
owned by private companies and non-government organizations rather than by Governments and
multinational agencies, are provided free of charge to users around the world.

Earth observation is an essential tool for managing natural resources and the environment. It is highly
relevant for both monitoring and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (Anderson et al., 2017;
Wood and Stober, 2018). It is used to provide information—for example, about soil, water and air
quality—that may benefit agriculture, fisheries and forestry, and it can also be used to monitor illegal
activities such as logging, mining and poaching. For example, Australia is also using satellite observations
to monitor drought conditions and illegal water diversions in the Murray-Darling Basin.

Water Management, Air Pollution and Forest Preservation

Earth observation data from satellites are also used to surmount various challenges such as in water
management, air pollution and forest preservation. One instance is the observation of precipitation,
which is useful for addressing water-related disasters such as floods, typhoons and landslides.

One of the best examples of water management is Bangladesh’s Geospatial agency which aims to
empower government, academia, private enterprise and the public to securely host, manage, share,
visualize and analyze geospatial data and to improve the quality of investment decision-making and
emergency reaction times. It is working on a project to create a geospatial information system of the
coastal regions to locate potential fishing areas in the Bay of Bengal and is also using geospatial
technologies to monitor its vast network of Rivers to spot alterations in the coastline and erosion of the
river system which would potentially help minimize loss of life and property owing to floods, which is a
matter of grave concern to the country year after year.

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Monitoring Illegal Mining Activities

Earth observation is a highly effective tool for surveillance and monitoring and can be effectively used
to identify & arrest illegal mining activities. Remote sensing can be used to monitor natural variations in
sand flux in rivers and, thereby, illegal sand mining.

Satellite data from the NASA gravity recovery and climate experiment, for example, can reveal sediment
discharge rates at river outlets, and the European Union raw materials and Copernicus Earth observation
program also uses satellite images to help monitor and manage natural resources and the raw materials
sector. Small satellites, such as CubeSats and small Sats, can also produce high-resolution images at a
low cost, to monitor mining.

Case Study: Mexico’s Selected International Space Cooperation Projects

Climate change is increasingly affecting sectors like agriculture, farming and fisheries. Space
technologies help in addressing the vulnerabilities within these sectors and in providing technologies
that allow for information sharing. One of the projects implemented by Mexico is a cooperation
between the Mexican Space Agency, the Agrifood and Fisheries Information System and ESA (European
Space Agency) to develop space technology tools in order to boost the fisheries sector and promote
sustainable aquaculture.

Mexico has also been cooperating with ESA through the Glob biomass project to produce a biomass map
of the Yucatán Peninsula and Central Mexico by using spatial data, in situ data and algorithms. The
biomass map helps to estimate the potential of biomass resources, related to Goal 7 on access to
affordable, reliable and sustainable energy. The map covers aboveground woody biomass in tropical
and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, dry broadleaf and coniferous forests and mangroves.

Mexico is supporting the creation of a geospatial platform that could provide maps of the biomass
resources of other countries in the region, such as Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.

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CONCLUSION

Space science, technology and data hold the potential to help achieve the 2030 Agenda and the
Sustainable Development Goals. Costs are being driven down by new technological developments and
collaborations between local, national, regional and international stakeholders. Yet development is
challenged by persisting bottlenecks, including the lack of awareness of the benefits of space
technologies, limited financial resources and technology and skill gaps in developing, using, and adapting
space technologies. National and regional policies and strategies to support space science, technology
and data for achieving the Goals could include efforts to build upstream and/or downstream capabilities;
improve infrastructure and increase public awareness; develop policies for open data and open science
for geospatial data; and leverage public-private cooperation on common goals for space science,
technology and data for achieving the Goals. The international community is encouraged to develop
collaborative agreements that take advantage of the individual competitive benefits of countries,
encourage regions to develop their own space facilities and develop space-related capacity by training
space technology experts, to be included in policy processes.
The delegates are requested to not keep their research limited to the guide and to not plagiarize any of
their speeches from the guides. Delegates must come up with substantive solutions after effective
brainstorming and research to tackle the problem, keeping in mind the betterment of all global citizens.

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QUESTIONS A RESOLUTION MUST ANSWER

1)How can we as a committee encourage and strengthen international scientific cooperation to enhance
access to space, especially for emerging and developing countries?

2)How can we harness scientific research and technology applications in space to build capabilities and
improve infrastructure in the field of agriculture and telecommunication?

3)What are the ways in which we can provide space-enabled research cooperation for disaster and
environment management?

4)How can we build space for goals-focused global and public-private partnerships and in what way can
we encourage multi-stakeholder actors to continue to share Earth observation digital public goods?

5) How can space be used in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development?

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1)https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/agriculture/our-insights/agricultures-connected-future-how-
technology-can-yield-new-growth

2)https://www.groundstation.space/agriculture-from-space/

3)https://www.ictworks.org/7-reasons-satellite-broadband-will-connect-unconnected/#.YuKagXZBy3B

4)https://www.unr.edu/organizational-resilience/phases

5)https://global.jaxa.jp/

6)https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda

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