15 October 2008: The UN Fourth Committee (Special Political
and Decolonization) concluded its general debate on international cooperation
in the peaceful uses of outer space with a broad agreement on the value of
shared space technologies as a tool for sustainable development and disaster
management.

Agreeing that outer space should be exploited only for peaceful
purposes, Fiji’s delegate said space-based technologies could be used to
address the negative effects of global warming. He added that significant
socio-economic benefits could be derived from those technologies, but stressed
the urgent need to enhance capacity-building so that developing countries could
exploit the available data.
Japan’s speaker indicated that it planned to launch
a greenhouse gas satellite, which would, through the data it gathered,
contribute to policy options for global warming. He added that Japan would use
this and other remote sensing technologies to help other countries that lacked
such capabilities. Various speakers praised the work of the UN Platform for
Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response
(UN-SPIDER). [UN Press Release]