World Leaders Support UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
From left to right: HE Laura Chinchilla, Former President of Costa Rica, Namira Salim, Founder & Chair of the 0G Summit, HE Luis Alberto Lacalle Herrera, former President of Uruguay and Dr. Lance Bush, President & CEO of the Challenger Center.
September 19, New York, NY – A high-level conference and interactive exhibition, “(Zero Gravity) 0G Summit – Space Diplomacy in the Age of NewSpace” announced today its mission to make Space the New Frontier for Peace during the distinguished 2017 Concordia Annual Summit, on the sidelines of the General Debate of the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly.
Namira Salim, co-chair of 0G Summit, the brainchild, which is a major initiative of her non-profit and nonpartisan organisation, the Space Trust. This event was co-chaired, moderated and guided by Dr. Lance Bush, President & CEO of the Challenger Center. “This year’s 0G Summit dialogue reinforces the importance of the space industry and the benefits it offers to citizens around the world,” said Dr. Lance Bush. “To ensure the industry continues to innovate at a high level, it is critical that we all work to inspire today’s students to pursue aerospace and other STEM-related careers.”
Namira is known internationally as the first (future) Space Tourist from South Asia, the Middle East, and Monaco to go into space aboard Virgin Galactic—the world’s first private spacewalk. Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group, personally introduced Namira to the world press in Dubai in 2006, as one of the earliest Founders of Virgin Galactic. “As new space and space nations expand cooperation through human and robot missions, the world is on the verge of ushering in Space ‘Shuttle’ Diplomacy,” said Namira Salim. “So, why not open up space for world leaders and politicians to take advantage of the orbit for the creation of sustainable peace and conflict resolution on earth?”
Notable speakers include HE Laura Chinchilla, former President of Costa Rica; HE Luis Alberto Lacalle Herrera, former President of Uruguay; Sherri Goodman, Former Deputy Secretary of Defense and Dr. Dava Newman, Former Deputy Administrator of NASA commended the thought leadership of the 0G Summit, which advocates for outer space as an innovative solution for a peaceful world—for injecting innovation and inspiration into the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. “I look forward to the 0G Summit thought leadership for a peaceful future of global space exploration, for all of humanity” said Dr. Dava Newman, Former NASA Deputy Administrator. “We are delighted to host the 0G Summit during the 2017 Concordia Annual Summit to enable effective partnerships for positive social impact and to change the way global leaders address the world’s greatest challenges,” said Matt Swift, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Concordia.
The event served as a robust case for the first peace summit in outer space in 2030 and launched the Interactive APP which demonstrated the assembly of a private space station in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and the launch of the 0G Summit into orbit, confusing the audience via large LCD screens. The giant space images in the exhibition come to life into 3D Augmented Reality APPs to provide an immersive experience into the space environment. Additionally, the event highlighted high-level roundtable discussions, bringing together cross-sectoral collaborations between peacemakers, space industry pioneers, space investors, space diplomacy, foreign policy, and space law experts to foster significant dialogue and advocate for First Peace Summit in Space in 2030. 0G Summit 2030 was observed by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and presented last February in Vienna at the 54th Session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the Committee for the Peaceful Use of Outer Space (COPUOS) .
Current and former Heads of State at the wider Concordia Summit include Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; José María Aznar, former Prime Minister of Spain; Aleksander Kwaśniewski, former President of the Republic of Poland; Rosen Asenov Plevneliev, former President of the Republic of Bulgaria; Danilo Türk, former President of the Republic of Slovenia; Álvaro Uribe Vélez, former President of the Republic of Colombia; Boris Tadić, former President of the Republic of Serbia; Dr Fuad Masum, President of the Republic of Iraq; Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana; George Papandreou, former Prime Minister of Greece; Zlatko (Salko) Lagumdžija, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, amongst other notables.
The 0G Summit previously featured Congressman Jim Bridenstine, Representative from Oklahoma’s First Congressional District and recently nominated by President Trump as the next Administrator of NASA and Ms. Simonetta Di Pippo, Director of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).
The 0G (Zero Gravity) summit, has advocated for the first peace summit in orbit by 2030. The International Space Station has become a beacon for international cooperation in space—where a future commercial space station in orbit in the mid-2020s can function as a concrete platform for meetings in zero gravity.
About the Space Trust 0G Summit, is the flagship initiative of the Space Trust, a non-partisan, non-profit initiative working for world peace through a new Space-themed initiative to encourage change, foster dialogue and enrich education. Additionally, he advocates for Space as the New Frontier for Peace. www.spacetrust.com
About Namira Salim
Namira Salim is internationally renowned as the first (future) Space Tourist from South Asia, the Middle East and Monaco to go into space aboard Virgin Galactic—the world’s first private spacewalk. Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group, personally introduced Namira to the world press in Dubai in 2006, as one of the earliest Founders of Virgin Galactic.
