Speakers
Description
Space activities are increasingly facing with sustainability challenges associated with the deployment of large satellite constellations and rapid accumulation of both functional and non-functional objects (i.e. debris), eventually leading to orbital congestion and increased cascading collision risks. Similar to conventional environmental stressors, space debris results from the interaction between human activities, technological development, and increasing societal demand, echoing the well-known IPAT identity where environmental impact (I) is driven by population (P), affluence (A), and technology (T).
While the IPAT framework provides a useful conceptual basis for understanding the drivers of environmental pressure, it does not account for ecological limits or the carrying capacity of natural systems, defined as the maximum continuous burden that the environment can sustain without undergoing critical degradation. To address this limitation, environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework increasingly relies on normalization approaches based on carrying capacity also defined as Safe operating Space (SoS) within the well-established Planetary Boundaries framework. The latter provides a science-based representation of global environmental limits beyond which Earth system stability may be compromised.
Building upon this concept, Absolute Environmental Sustainability Assessment (AESA) aims to evaluate whether human activities remain within their allocated share of the SOS by (i) estimating the environmental footprint of an activity and (ii) allocating carrying capacities to the studied activity across regions, countries, and sectors, relying on different ethical principles such as equal per capita, responsibility, ability to pay, or acquired rights.
This keynote explores the analogy between space debris and conventional environmental stressors through the prism of Absolute Environmental sustainability Assessment. Particular attention will be given to methodological developments related to normalization, impact pathways, and carry capacity allocation principles. The presentation will further discuss recent applications on the assessment of the EU Consumption Footprint against Planetary Boundaries, illustrating how AESA can support the transition from relative environmental performance to absolute sustainability considerations.