外层空间的军备控制与环境保护

防止外空军备竞赛之争辩长期受国际战略平衡视角所主导,环境保护在其中的作用未得到应有的关注。随着环境保护对外层空间开发利用的工具性价值日渐凸显,它已成为推动军备控制谈判的主要考量之一。现行外空法无法有效保护外空环境;一般国际环境法则仅限制外空军事活动的外在影响,而不禁止军事活动权本身。国际社会急需加强外空军备控制,禁止天基武器和地基反卫星武器的试验、部署和使用,以确保外空可持续性开发利用,保护全人类的共同利益。

Arms Control and Environmental Protection in Outer Space

Current debates on the prevention of an arms race in outer space are dominated by the perspective of international strategic balancing. This article addresses the issue through the often-neglected lens of environmental protection. It is argued that environmental protection has become an increasingly relevant consideration for negotiating arms control more for its instrumental value to other interests, rather than the intrinsic value of the environment. Although the existing regime of outer space law has pacified part of the environmental concerns, in particular that arising from nuclear contamination, it fails to address the issue of proliferation of space debris which currently is the major impediment to the sustainable use of outer space. Customary principles of environmental law, in particular the no-harm principle and the principle of sustainable development, only constrain the way military activities are conducted in outer space, rather than the right to conduct them per se. It is further advocated that arms control in outer space should be strengthened for the common interests of mankind derived from a sustainable space environment. Such a treaty should at least prohibit testing, deployment and use of space-based weapons and Anti-Satellites Weapons.