Towards space sustainability: lessons from environmental liability regimes

This thesis is about space sustainability and the need to protect the outer space environment for the long term. It attempts to address this by assessing the outer space liability regime, particularly the fundamental flaw that it does not directly account for damage caused to the space environment. Jurisprudential lessons can be learnt from existing environmental liability regimes for hazardous activities on earth, to protect the outer space environment. While it is acknowledged that there are short comings in the environmental liability regimes as they stand, if the inherent weaknesses are remedied environmental liability could be a good tool for deterrence and accountability for damage caused to the space environment by polluters.Cette thèse est sur la soutenabilité de l'espace et la nécessité de protéger l'environnement spatial à long terme. Elle traite du problème en regardant le régime de responsabilité civile spatiale, notamment en se penchant sur le fait qu'il ne tient pas compte des dommages causés à l'environnement spatial. Des leçons de jurisprudence peuvent être tirées des régimes actuels de responsabilité environnementale pour les activités dangereuses sur terre, pour protéger l'environnement spatial. Alors qu'il est reconnu qu'il y a des limitations dans les régimes de responsabilité tels qu'ils se présentent, si l'on remédie aux faiblesses inhérentes, la responsabilité environnementale pourrait être un bon outil de dissuasion et de responsabilité pour les dommages causés à l'environnement spatial par les pollueurs

Satellite measurement of GHG emissions: Prospects for enhancing transparency and answerability under international law

Recent technological advancements are facilitating the use of satellite remote-sensing techniques for the measurement of atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gas emissions. This article evaluates the potential for these satellite-enabled measurements to contribute to transparency and answerability for state emissions, with a focus on international space law and policy, and the Paris Agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. We show that in the context of the international space governance framework, the dissemination of integrated emissions data sets has the potential to enhance public answerability for the mitigation performance of states. Under the Paris Agreement, there is scope for space-based measurement techniques to provide an independent data source to support verification activities for national emissions inventories, and for aggregated data to be utilized as part of the global stocktake under Article 14. There are, however, a number of impediments to translating these transparency gains into enhanced answerability for states’ emissions reduction pledges