2025 International Symposium on the Peaceful Use of Space Technology-Health

Excellencies, distinguished guests, colleagues and friends,

It is a great honour to join you here in Hainan for IPSPACE 2025, and I thank the International Peace Alliance (Space), Boao Hope City, and all the partners who have made this gathering possible. Guided by the principle of “One Space, One Home”, IPSPACE has become a unique platform where science, innovation and international cooperation meet in the service of peace and sustainable development.  

We meet at a pivotal moment for multilateralism. Around the world, communities are facing converging crises from climate change and biodiversity loss, to pandemics, renewed conflicts and widening inequalities. At the very time when science and technology are advancing at breathtaking speed, the Sustainable Development Goals are off-track and trust in global institutions is under strain. As I have said elsewhere, we are truly at an inflection point for the multilateral system: either we make it more dynamic, more inclusive, more effective or we risk irrelevance.  

In this context, the peaceful use of outer space is not a luxury. It is a necessity. From satellites that monitor air quality and crop health, to constellations that connect remote schools and clinics, space technologies are now central to how we understand our planet, anticipate risks, and protect the most vulnerable. They are vital for implementing the Paris Agreement, for building resilience to disasters, and for ensuring that early warnings reach everyone, everywhere.

But to live up to the promise of “One Space, One Home”, access to these benefits cannot be the privilege of a few nations or a few companies. It must become a global public good. That is why capacity building in space science and technology is so critical, especially for developing countries and the least developed and small island states on the front lines of the climate crisis. Working with our colleagues in the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and mechanisms such as UN-SPIDER, the UN system is committed to helping countries turn satellite data into practical solutions for farmers, city planners, disaster managers, health workers and educators.

Here in China, we have seen how investment in science, technology and innovation can transform lives at scale lifting hundreds of millions out of extreme poverty and expanding opportunities for women and youth. China’s rapidly growing space sector, from Earth observation to navigation and communications, is already contributing to global public goods. 

Colleagues,

If there is one theme I hope will run through all our discussions this week, it is youth. Young people are the torchbearers of a sustainable future, but they cannot carry that torch alone. We must equip them with the skills, the platforms and the trust they need to lead. Across China, through the UN Theme Group on Youth, we are working with partners to support young people’s digital skills and their role in building a greener, more sustainable future. Space-related education from astrophysics and engineering to data science and AI must increasingly become part of that effort.

The possibilities for young people in the space sector are vast, constrained only by their imagination. Imagine a generation of young engineers in Hainan, Nairobi, Suva or La Paz using open satellite data and AI to map flood risks, track air pollution, or design climate-resilient cities. Imagine young women leading start-ups that use space-based services to expand access to healthcare in remote communities. Imagine student teams using cubesats and drones not for competition alone, but for cooperation across borders. This is not science fiction; it is already happening in pockets around the world. Our task is to make it the norm, not the exception.

As the United Nations marks its 80th anniversary, Member States have adopted the Pact for the Future to renew our shared commitment to peace, sustainable development and human rights in an era of rapid technological change. IPSPACE is an example of what that renewal can look like in practice: a platform that convenes governments, industry, academia, astronauts, youth and civil society to forge common ground on the peaceful and responsible use of space.

Over the coming days, as you discuss topics from health and medicine to green propulsion, from space law and debris to innovative education and commercial space, I hope you will keep three questions in mind:

1. How can every new technological breakthrough translate into tangible benefits for those furthest behind?
2. How can we design capacity-building efforts so that they empower local institutions and communities, rather than create new dependencies?
3. How can we ensure that young people are not just invited to events like this, but are genuinely co-creators of the solutions that emerge?

If IPSPACE 2025 can help us move closer to answers to these questions with concrete partnerships, new training initiatives, more open data and stronger youth networks. In that case, it will have made a real contribution to “Peace for Future, Future through Peace.”  

On behalf of the United Nations family in China, I wish you inspiring deliberations and practical outcomes. Let us use this gathering to show that when we look at our planet from space and act with a sense of shared destiny, there is no limit to what we can achieve together.

Thank you.