By 2050, nine billion people will be living on our planet, and will demand food, water, raw materials and energy. Yet already today, our lifestyle is impacting the planet. Some resources are already scarce. Most current global challenges have environmental, social and economic dimensions at the same time. Intelligent strategies to move towards sustainability are urgently needed, which in particular require targeted research. The new UN Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) is to meet for the first time in Berlin in order to assist the United Nations in its commitment to support sustainable development globally.
The 26 scientists of the SAB will formulate recommendations addressed at UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and at the executive heads of the specialized agencies of the UN. The main thrust will be to better integrate scientific results into global political debates and decision-making. "The SAB will serve as a global reference point to improve links between science and public policies", said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.
One of the SAB’s tasks is to examine whether new global assessment studies are needed. New sustainability targets and the post-2015 development agenda currently being devised will also be discussed. The SAB will meet twice a year, with video conferences in-between meetings. The next meeting is scheduled for summer 2014 in Paris.
Scientists from a wide variety of fields are represented on the SAB, including the natural sciences, engineering and social sciences as well as interdisciplinary ocean, climate and biodiversity research. The members of the SAB have been appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in September 2013.
The conference will be hosted by UNESCO, the only UN specialized agency with a specific science mandate. As secretariat of the SAB, UNESCO is organising the Berlin meeting in cooperation with the German Federal Foreign Office and the German Commission for UNESCO.
