ABOUT

The International Assessment Panel on Earth-Space Sustainability (IPESS) is a new initiative that aims to provide a platform to integrate and synthesize knowledge on interrelated sustainability challenges on Earth and in Space, with a view to facilitating institutional change towards environmentally and socially just futures. This initiative responds to a gap in the current assessment landscape, where no single institution or scientific body presently carries out broad-based, integrative work that synthesizes state-of-the-art knowledge across the full range of Earth-Space sustainability issues. The panel is intended to be broad in scope, diverse in disciplinary and knowledge inputs, and pluralistic in membership. By building knowledge consensus and establishing objective baselines, IPESS will develop principles and criteria for identifying environmental thresholds and social acceptance levels in Earth-Space sustainability governance. In addition to providing policymakers with actionable insights, IPESS will meaningfully engage with civil society organizations.

The PlanetStewards Project will lead the initial pilot phase of IPESS, in collaboration with FOGOS, the Earth-Space Sustainability (ESS) Network, and other partnering organizations and networks. The pilot phase will develop the overarching assessment framework, including its conceptual foundations and methodological considerations. In terms of assessment domains, the pilot phase will focus on specific issues (e.g. orbital congestion, dark and quiet skies, lunar industrialization) as a trial run for operationalization, collective learning, and communitybuilding. Beyond the pilot phase, we intend to move toward regular and comprehensive assessments that track challenges, opportunities, and policy options across the full range of Earth-Space sustainability.

The IPESS setup will draw on lessons learned from other global scientific assessment processes in sustainability-related domains. In particular, the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) offers a strong reference model, given its commitment to multi-disciplinarity, diversity, and the inclusion of both scientific and alternative knowledge systems. By bringing together a broad range of expertise from diverse knowledge backgrounds, we intend this workshop to be a collaborative exercise to develop the outlines of IPESS in terms of mandate, overarching principles, governance structure, and program of work.