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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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