ESA SP-1327 Sustainable Development: 2011–12 Report

Sustainable Development (SD) at ESA corresponds to an integrated and strategic approach covering the contribution of space activities to a more sustainable society and planet. This is also a corporate goal, aiming to meet:

- stakeholders expectations regarding fair and transparent reporting of activities;
- legal and regulatory requirements in core business and support activities;
- accountability for sound, efficient use of public money;
- responsibility for ESA as an organisation and as a space agency.

Cooperation with stakeholders and transparency are the key themes throughout the report. ESA reports on sustainability are based on international standards in this field (Global Reporting Initiative (especially for the environmental part) and ISO 26000, and aim at sharing practices, challenges and opportunities with the external world. Nowadays, making extra-financial data available to the public is a fundamental element of organisation management. It represents an essential ethical behaviour, corresponding to corporate social responsibility values.

This is the reason why ESA is followed and supported by its Member States, as has been highlighted by ESA’s Chair of the Council on their behalf. ESA aims to have a leading role in this respect. ESA’s Director General also mentioned that Sustainable Development was an issue that every organisation must consider when building up its strategy. Some promising and encouraging efforts have already been achieved, and ESA expects to keep on this favourable path and to be at the forefront of using sustainable practices, to their full potential, in its overall activities to achieve a better world.

For more information on environmental data, please contact: cosd@esa.int