Proposal to UNESCO on “Sustainability Science”

 

  August 3rd, 2011

Japanese National Commission for UNESCO

Overview

      Science has brought about extremely beneficial, remarkable transformations for humankind. The progress of science has developed the advanced technology and improved the possibility of human in a lot of fields and expanded its sphere of activities.

     On the other hand, the application of scientific advances and the development of human activities have not only engendered obvious benefits but have brought about negative impacts such as exhaustion of limited global resource, ecological disorder, atmospheric and oceanic contamination, climate changes, enlarged and complexed natural hazard and reduction in biodiversity.

     Here, challenges are mounting such as the expansion of economic inequality between developed and developing countries caused by modern-day economic activities supported by the development of science and technology.

     The biggest problem which we come up against today is sustainability of an earth system. The science plays a significant role in solving this problem.

     In order to make the best use of science and technology in a responsible way without abuse, it is important to seek appropriate solutions through building up discussions with the participation of a wide range of people.

     Further efforts are required so that a consensus may be reached through the process of open debates on how science should be promoted and utilized, how its negative impacts should be controlled and on the nature of science itself.

     In obtaining such mutual agreement, it is important to take note that the modern environmental, economical and social system is extremely complicated and comprised of problems that are not independent but closely interrelated.

     On the side of the science which contributes to solve the problems, specialization and subdivision of science are advanced, causing the difficulties to deal with various global problems only by an individual branch of science.

    Therefore, all the cooperation is encouraged among the plural disciplines, and it should not be only fields of so-called natural science and the technology.

     The complicated challenges in the contemporary society are deeply related to people's minds, sense of values, social systems, the behavior of people or deed of enterprises, which are also influenced by the selection of government policy.

     Though new findings in natural science are necessary to figure out several global challenges, it is not sufficient. It is essential to solve complex challenges genuinely with a cross-cutting approach among all the studies including social and human sciences, in addition to changing values.

     We must continue to ask the question whether science as a whole is managing to achieve the goal of a sustainable society and to connect science to the building of a sustainable society.

     In order to do so, the consilience is required by the general mobilization of various sciences.

     It is necessary to recognize that the science is required not only to ensure intergenerational equitable treatment and to correct the disparities between developed and developing countries but to respond to the new challenges of the sustainability of an Earth system including global and abiotic factors.

  

What is “Sustainability Science”?

     We aim to use a new scientific concept, in the form of “Sustainability Science”, as the integrated approach to build a truly sustainable society.

     The concept of “Sustainability Science” was officially introduced at the World Congress “Challenges of a Changing Earth 2001” in Amsterdam organized by the International Council for Science (ICSU) and other international organizations.

     The origin of the concept goes back to the Brundtland Commission, formally the World Commission on Environment and Development held in 1987 which called for “Sustainable Development”.

     This Commission proposed the concept of “Sustainable Development” from the perspective of intergenerational equity through “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” and made an appeal to the world that development which aimed for coexistence between the economy and the environment was necessary ? a recommendation which gained a lot of support.

    “Chapter 35” of “Agenda 21” addresses the contribution of science and technology for sustainable development as its theme, which was adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

     10 years after the Rio Conference, the first World Summit on Sustainable Development was held. The Plan of Implementation adopted at the Summit reviewed the status of the progress of implementation of Agenda 21 and proposed as a means of implementation that improvements be made to policy and decision-making at all levels, which would include urgent action at all levels, through the improvement of a cooperative framework particularly between natural scientists and social scientists as well as between scientists and policy makers.

     And now, various checks are being implemented as government-level international efforts in preparation for next year which will celebrate 20 years since the Rio Conference.

     On the other hand, since the concept of sustainability developed without an adequate academic basis, its connection with the science that supported it was not always clear.

     In the 1990s, ICSU initiated a study of science and technology for sustainability. In 1999, the “Declaration on Science and the Use of Scientific Knowledge” and the “Science Agenda ? Framework for Action” intended to put the principles into action were adopted at the World Conference on Science held in Budapest, Hungary.

     As a result, increasing momentum developed for the creation of sustainability science, and studies were repeated and mainly carried out by the US and European academic world including Japanese society.

     These studies primarily made contributions to the individual discipline of science contributing to the sustainable development proposed at the Rio Conference, but we believe that these studies does not achieve anything notable for the consilience which is being sought today.

     Today, what we need to tackle these global challenges is not a separate discipline.

     Bearing in mind the need for correction of the North-South gap and to ensure intergenerational equity and variety of values, integrated science which aims to pursue sustainability and well-being on a temporal-spatial scale spanning over the globe, society and people is required which is capable of serving the entire human race without compromising the ecosystem.

     This is an approach of new science which integrates knowledge in all areas including social and human sciences.

     We aim to use this very concept, in the form of “Sustainability Science”, as the basis for a vision to resolve the urgent issues the international community faces and to lead to a global society which is truly sustainable.

     And, an important role of UNESCO in the science field must be the promotion of such Science.

     UNESCO, reflecting on the ravages of World War II, has included science in its development from the onset, and has been working in cooperation not only with UN agencies but with ICSU, International Social Science Council (ISSC) and International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies（ICPHS) as well as other organizations since its inception, and has been working on the issues not just from the perspective of natural science but from the viewpoint of social and human sciences.

     Moreover, UNESCO as the leading agency of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has played a vital role to promote the principles proposed to the international society under the leadership of the Japanese government through a perspective of the importance of education for establishing the sustainable society.

     Therefore, the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO anticipates that UNESCO will show powerful leadership for the promotion of “Sustainability Science” and proposes the following points.

 

 Proposals to UNESCO

     1. Promote “Sustainability Science” and establish an implementation structure. To be specific:

      1) From the viewpoint of “Sustainability Science”, implement unified management with a view to strongly collaborating with the social and human science sector and the natural science sector, and reflect the principle of “Sustainability Science” which is an integrated approach into the next medium-term strategy (37C/4) and the programme and budget (37C/5) based on the strategy.

      2) Have scientists, policymakers and others participate and have UNESCO take the initiative to establish a forum at an early date where all the discussions which thus far have been held separately can be coordinated.

    2. Focusing on the fact that UNESCO is a forward-looking agency, show a concrete image of “Sustainability Science” which looks to the shape of the world in 30 years’ time and will be useful for every country and region, and develop diverse measures through various initiatives. To be specific:

      1) Align and integrate separate scientific knowledge to utilize as wisdom and launch a structured, multidisciplinary initiative programme, serving needs of the society.

      2) Build a network among various sites to promote “Sustainability Science”, follow the achievements of the activities and business models of such sites, consistently reflect these in the forum abovementioned 1. 2), and develop them.

      3) Focus on the development of human resources who will be able to sustainably tackle global challenges through cooperation among various fields in order to promote “Sustainability Science”. In particular, considering the collaboration and relations with ESD, implement and accelerate education to foster knowledge and wisdom which makes wise use of science, cultivated through tradition from the stage of primary education.

     3. Develop diverse measures in order to encourage a larger number of countries and stakeholders to realize the significance of “Sustainability Science” and participate in promoting it. To be specific:

1) Depending on the development of “Sustainability Science”, hold conferences which foster political leadership and continue to disseminate messages to global opinion leaders who have influence on the international community aiming for the penetration of sustainability science,

2) Hold workshops and other events highlighting the characteristics of each region with the participation of other international agencies, governments, the industry and NGOs in order to promote and assess the activities on a regional level.

     We anticipate that these proposals will greatly contribute to the formulation of the next medium-term strategy (37C / 4).