A-21: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Distr.
GENERAL
A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. III)
14 August 1992
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON
ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
(Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992)
Chapter 31
SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL COMMUNITY
INTRODUCTION
31.1. The present chapter focuses on how to enable the scientific and
technological community, which includes, among others, engineers,
architects, industrial designers, urban planners and other professionals
and policy makers, to make a more open and effective contribution to the
decision-making processes concerning environment and development. It is
important that the role of science and technology in human affairs be more
widely known and better understood, both by decision makers who help
determine public policy and by the general public. The cooperative
relationship existing between the scientific and technological community
and the general public should be extended and deepened into a full
partnership. Improved communication and cooperation between the scientific
and technological community and decision makers will facilitate greater use
of scientific and technical information and knowledge in policies and
programme implementation. Decision makers should create more favourable
conditions for improving training and independent research in sustainable
development. Existing multidisciplinary approaches will have to be
strengthened and more interdisciplinary studies developed between the
scientific and technological community and policy makers and with
the general public to provide leadership and practical know-how to the
concept of sustainable development. The public should be assisted in
communicating their sentiments to the scientific and technological
community concerning how science and technology might be better managed to
affect their lives in a beneficial way. By the same token, the
independence of the scientific and technological community to investigate
and publish without restriction and to exchange their findings freely must
be assured. The adoption and implementation of ethical principles and
codes of practice for the scientific and technological community that are
internationally accepted could enhance professionalism and may improve and
hasten recognition of the value of its contributions to environment and
development, recognizing the continuing evolution and uncertainty of
scientific knowledge.
PROGRAMME AREAS
A. Improving communication and cooperation among the
scientific and technological community, decision
makers and the public
Basis for action
31.2. The scientific and technological community and policy makers should
increase their interaction in order to implement strategies for sustainable
development on the basis of the best available knowledge. This implies
that decision makers should provide the necessary framework for rigorous
research and for full and open communication of the findings of the
scientific and technological community, and develop with it ways in which
research results and the concerns stemming from the findings can be
communicated to decision-making bodies so as to better link scientific and
technical knowledge with strategic policy and programme formulation. At
the same time, this dialogue would assist the scientific and technological
community in developing priorities for research and proposing actions for
constructive solutions.
Objectives
31.3. The following objectives are proposed:
(a) To extend and open up the decision-making process and broaden
the range of developmental and environmental issues where cooperation at
all levels between the scientific and technological community and decision
makers can take place;
(b) To improve the exchange of knowledge and concerns between the
scientific and technological community and the general public in order to
enable policies and programmes to be better formulated, understood and
supported.
Activities
31.4. Governments should undertake the following activities:
(a) Review how national scientific and technological activities
could be more responsive to sustainable development needs as part of an
overall effort to strengthen national research and development systems,
including through strengthening and widening the membership of national
scientific and technological advisory councils, organizations and
committees to ensure that:
(i) The full range of national needs for scientific and
technological programmes are communicated to Governments and the public;
(ii) The various strands of public opinion are represented;
(b) Promote regional cooperative mechanisms to address regional
needs for sustainable development. Such regional cooperative mechanisms
could be facilitated through public/private partnerships and provide
support to Governments, industry, non-governmental educational institutions
and other domestic and international organizations, and by strengthening
global professional networks;
(c) Improve and expand scientific and technical inputs through
appropriate mechanisms to intergovernmental consultative, cooperative and
negotiating processes towards international and regional agreements;
(d) Strengthen science and technology advice to the highest levels
of the United Nations, and other international institutions, in order to
ensure the inclusion of science and technology know-how in sustainable
development policies and strategies;
(e) Improve and strengthen programmes for disseminating research
results of universities and research institutions. This requires
recognition of and greater support to the scientists, technologists and
teachers who are engaged in communicating and interpreting scientific and
technological information to policy makers, professionals in other fields
and the general public. Such support should focus on the transfer of
skills and the transfer and adaptation of planning techniques. This
requires full and open sharing of data and information among scientists and
decision makers. The publication of national scientific research reports
and technical reports that are understandable and relevant to local
sustainable development needs would also improve the interface between
science and decision-making, as well as the implementation of scientific
results;
(f) Improve links between the official and independent research
sectors and industry so that research may become an important element of
industrial strategy;
(g) Promote and strengthen the role of women as full partners in the
science and technology disciplines;
(h) Develop and implement information technologies to enhance the
dissemination of information for sustainable development.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
31.5. The Conferense secretariat has estimated the average total annual
cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programme to be
about $15 million from the international community on grant or concessional
terms. These are indicative and order-of-magnitude estimates only and have
not been reviewed by Governments. Actual costs and financial terms,
including any that are non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the
specific strategies and programmes Governments decide upon for
implementation.
(b) Capacity-building
31.6. Intergovernmental panels on development and environmental issues
should be organized, with emphasis on their scientific and technical
aspects, and studies of responsiveness and adaptability included in
subsequent programmes of action.
B. Promoting codes of practice and guidelines related to
science and technology
Basis for action
31.7. Scientists and technologists have a special set of responsibilities
which belong to them both as inheritors of a tradition and as professionals
and members of disciplines devoted to the search for knowledge and to the
need to protect the biosphere in the context of sustainable development.
31.8. Increased ethical awareness in environmental and developmental
decision-making should help to place appropriate priorities for the
maintenance and enhancement of life-support systems for their own sake, and
in so doing ensure that the functioning of viable natural processes is
properly valued by present and future societies. Therefore, a
strengthening of the codes of practice and guidelines for the scientific
and technological community would increase environmental awareness and
contribute to sustainable development. It would build up the level of
esteem and regard for the scientific and technological community and
facilitate the "accountability" of science and technology.
Objectives
31.9. The objective should be to develop, improve and promote
international acceptance of codes of practice and guidelines relating to
science and technology in which the integrity of life-support systems is
comprehensively accounted for and where the important role of science and
technology in reconciling the needs of environment and development is
accepted. To be effective in the decision-making process, such principles,
codes of practice and guidelines must not only be agreed upon by the
scientific and technological community, but also recognized by the society
as a whole.
Activities
31.10. The following activities could be undertaken:
(a) Strengthening national and international cooperation, including
the non-governmental sector, to develop codes of practice and guidelines
regarding environmentally sound and sustainable development, taking into
account the Rio Declaration and existing codes of practice and guidelines;
(b) Strengthening and establishing national advisory groups on
environmental and developmental ethics, in order to develop a common value
framework between the scientific and technological community and society as
a whole, and promote continuous dialogue;
(c) Extending education and training in developmental and
environmental ethical issues to integrate such objectives into education
curricula and research priorities;
(d) Reviewing and amending relevant national and international
environment and development legal instruments to ensure appropriate codes
of practice and guidelines are incorporated into such regulatory machinery.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
31.11. The Conferense secretariat has estimated the average total annual
cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programme to be
about $5 million from the international community on grant or concessional
terms. These are indicative and order-of-magnitude estimates only and have
not been reviewed by Governments. Actual costs and financial terms,
including any that are non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the
specific strategies and programmes Governments decide upon for
implementation.
(b) Capacity-building
31.12. Codes of practice and guidelines, including on appropriate
principles, should be developed for and by the scientific and technological
community in the pursuit of its research activities and implementation of
programmes aimed at sustainable development.
END OF CHAPTER 31
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======================RRojas Research Unit/1996========================
