WHAT IS SHARED STEWARDSHIP?

Shared Stewardship is a framework for understanding sustainability on Earth and sustainability in orbit as one connected challenge. 

The satellites we rely on to monitor extreme weather events, climate change, respond to disasters, communicate, navigate, and make decisions all operate in an orbital environment that is becoming more congested and more fragile. It begins with a simple recognition: Earth’s orbit is an extension of our critical infrastructure – as essential as power grids, water systems, or the internet. Shared Stewardship argues that Earth and orbit should not be treated as separate domains. They are part of one connected system of infrastructure, data, and responsibility.

Shared Stewardship sits at the intersection of climate sustainability and space sustainability; a space that, until recently, did not have a shared vocabulary. Climate scientists, engineers, and policy-makers often work on connected challenges in seperate rooms. Over the past several years, my work has focused on building that vocabulary. The three concepts: Climate Intelligence, Space Sustainability, and the Pacing Gap make up the framing I use to describe Shared Stewardship: On Earth and in Space.