UN Secretary-General António Guterres has introduced the creation of a Scientific Advisory Board “to advise UN leaders on breakthroughs in science and technology and [on] how to harness the benefits of these advances and mitigate potential risks.”

The Advisory Board will embrace seven eminent students in addition to the Chief Scientists of UN system entities, the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology, and the Rector of the UN University (UNU). Serving as “a hub for a network of scientific networks,” the Board will help efforts in the direction of a greater interface between the scientific group and choice making within the UN.

The Board’s major goal is “to provide independent insights on trends at the intersection of science, technology, ethics, governance and sustainable development.” It will collaborate with its community to help the UN’s work “for people, planet and prosperity” by “anticipating, adapting to and leveraging the latest scientific advancements.”

Acknowledging that scientific and technological progress can help progress in the direction of the SDGs whereas additionally “giving rise to ethical, legal and political concerns that require multilateral solutions,” Guterres stated the brand new Scientific Advisory Board “will strengthen the role of the United Nations as a reliable source of data and evidence.”

The vital position of science in supporting world governance and choice making is being more and more acknowledged. Recent highlights embrace:

• The first-ever Science Day, convened on the margins of the July session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF);
• The Group of Friends on Science for Action, introduced by Belgium, India, and South Africa “as part of an effort to tackle complex and interconnected global crises”; and
• Scientific briefings on water, climate, and pandemic preparedness and on food security, metrics beyond gross domestic product (GDP), and rendering scientific support to the UN, convened by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Csaba Kőrösi whose motto for the Assembly’s 77th session has been ‘Solutions through Solidarity, Sustainability and Science.’

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) leverage science to help policymakers’ efforts to deal with the crises of local weather change and biodiversity loss, respectively. Talks are underway in the direction of a Science-policy Panel on Chemicals and Waste to bridge the science-policy hole within the space of chemical substances, waste, and air pollution.

The Secretary-General made the announcement in regards to the institution of the Scientific Advisory Board on 3 August 2023. [UN Press Release]