Last week, criminologist and researcher at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) Yarin Eski spoke at the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice about the environmental harm and crime that may arise from human activities in space. It was the first time that space crime had featured as a distinct topic on the agenda of this major international congress.
The United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice brings together governments, civil society organisations, experts and academics to discuss international developments and emerging challenges in crime prevention and criminal justice. The fact that crime and environmental harm in space were included on the agenda for the first time this year highlights how the expansion of human activity into space is also giving rise to new legal and criminological questions.
As more and more countries and companies become active in space, new questions are emerging about responsibility for different forms of environmental harm and crime beyond Earth. How does it happen? Who is responsible? Who is accountable for the consequences of space debris? And how can we prevent future activities, such as resource extraction from celestial bodies, from causing irreversible harm?
Eski was invited to speak at an ancillary meeting about the challenges and risks posed by environmental crime in space. His research focuses on what criminology can contribute to our understanding of these emerging issues.
In addition to space debris and the potential harm caused by future resource extraction in space, the meeting addressed satellite-related crime, including satellite hacking and the use of satellites by terrorist organisations. The discussion also centred on the responsibility of the international community to prevent space-related environmental crime. And to what extent might we need a space police force?
Eski sees the UN's attention to space crime as recognition by the international community that space crime is an emerging field of criminological research. He also believes that criminology can-and increasingly should-turn its attention to places where crime was, until recently, barely conceivable. "Space crime is no longer a distant possibility. As human activity in space continues to grow, we need to start thinking now about how we prevent crime and protect the space environment."