ORAL REPORT BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE NATURAL SCIENCES (SC) COMMISSION. Mr Phil Mjwara (South Africa) At the Fifteenth Plenary Meeting

Transcription

1 37th Session, Paris, 2013 inf Information document 37 C/INF November 2013 Original: English ORAL REPORT BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE NATURAL SCIENCES (SC) COMMISSION Mr Phil Mjwara (South Africa) At the Fifteenth Plenary Meeting Paris, 19 November 2013 UNESCO Headquarters

2 37 C/INF.32 Mr President, Madam Chairperson of the Executive Board, Madam Director-General, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Dear colleagues, As Chair of the Natural Sciences Commission, it is my great pleasure to present the conclusions of the Commission s work to this honourable assembly. First and foremost, allow me to thank the members of the Bureau of the Natural Sciences Commission for their valuable support: Vice-Chairs Mr Axel Meisen (Canada), Mr Ervin Balázs (Hungary), Mr Iskandar Zulkarnaen (Indonesia) and Mr Khalid Al Ali (Qatar), and the Rapporteur, Mr Lucas Hernan Franco Godoy (Paraguay). I also wish to pay tribute to the Secretary of the Natural Sciences Commission and to his excellent team, 1 for their quiet efficiency behind the scenes. I should also like to thank the representatives of the Director-General, Ms Gretchen Kalonji, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, Ms Wendy Watson-Wright, Assistant Director- General and Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, and Mr Hans D Orville, Assistant Director-General for Strategic Planning. Their clear explanations and productive exchanges with the Commission were most appreciated. The Natural Sciences Commission began its work on Tuesday, 12 November, and met four times in total. The Commission s work was organized around six agenda items. I shall present the results of our work according to the adopted timetable, which is also reflected in the written report. Prior to the Commission s examination of the first item on the agenda, the Chair of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Dr Sang-Kyung Byun, and the Chair of the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme, Dr Johannes Cullmann, took turns reading out a Joint Statement by the Chairs of the International Basic Sciences Programme (IBSP), the International Geoscience Programme (IGCP), the International Hydrological Programme (IHP), the Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB), the Programme on Management of Social Transformations (MOST) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). I would like you to remember these acronyms because, for the rest of the report, I will use these. In their Joint Statement, the Chairs welcomed the key role identified by UNESCO s Draft Medium- Term Strategy to 2021 of harnessing science for sustainable development, including by strengthening the science policy society interface in the context of the post-2015 development agenda. The Chairs fully associated themselves with the recommendation by the UNESCO Executive Board at its 192nd session that all necessary measures must be taken to ensure the effective functioning and accessibility of UNESCO s international and intergovernmental scientific programmes and the IOC. They promised to improve their programmes and outreach, and to strengthen their joint fundraising efforts. The Commission was then invited to take note of the reports of the IBSP, IGCP, IHP, MAB and IOC on their activities in , as well as the report of the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education. Next to take the floor was Hans D Orville, Assistant Director-General for Strategic Planning (ADG/BSP). He welcomed the commitment to fundraising expressed by the Chairs in their Joint Statement as being exactly what we need at the moment. 1 Mr Peter Dogsé (Secretary), Mr Giuseppe Arduino, Mr Julian Barbière, Ms Alvina Chau, Ms Charlotte Nortey, Ms Susan Schneegans and Mr Zhai Qijang.

3 37 C/INF.32 page 2 ADG/BSP recalled that the proposed zero nominal growth budget of the 37 C/5 amounted to $653 million and included a reduction of 154 posts. 2 He also recalled the adoption by the Joint Meeting of Commissions of a recommendation by the Executive Board (37 C/6) for a new budget allocation for Major Programme II of US $62,404,100. The budget allocated to the IOC had dropped slightly, 3 from $12,028,000 to $12,026,200. In her overview, the Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences recalled that UNESCO's extensive science community includes, in addition to science staff, the following: the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, two powerful resources for the developing world. The science community also includes about 40 category 2 centres, the World Academy of Sciences, the national committees of the intergovernmental science programmes, about 300 UNESCO Chairs in science and engineering; and powerful partners from the public and private sectors. The Sector has also been developing new partnerships, one example being the Future Earth initiative. She then shared her thoughts on areas in which UNESCO had been particularly successful in raising its visibility over the past two years. This includes the designation of UNESCO as lead agency of the United Nations Secretary-General s high-level Scientific Advisory Board and UNESCO s cooperation with UNEP, UNDP and FAO in setting up the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). She observed that, despite budgetary cuts in the past biennium, the Natural Sciences Sector had remained very active. It had intervened in Pakistan, for instance, following catastrophic flooding, and identified groundwater reserves in the drought-stricken Horn of Africa. MAB has made strides in developing transboundary biosphere reserves and the Global Geoparks Network now includes 100 members in 30 countries; it was important at this stage to formalize the relationship between UNESCO and the Global Geoparks Network. She emphasized significant recent progress on the UNESCO Engineering Initiative and on strengthening science education. She also announced the launch of a new series of Country Profiles in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, with a first case study of Botswana that was presented a few days ago. Ms Kalonji went on to highlight the consequences for science of the $507 million Expenditure Plan. She recalled that the budgetary ranking exercise by sector had resulted in a high priority for expected results in freshwater and ocean sciences but a low budgetary priority for capacitybuilding in the natural sciences, for engineering for sustainable development and for the geosciences, all key areas for developing countries, in general, and for Africa, in particular, UNESCO s highest priority region. Next to take the floor was the Assistant Director-General and IOC Executive Secretary. She voiced strong concern that the drop in staffing levels due to the suspension of the voluntary contributions from the USA, combined with the impossibility of compensating this from the reduced regular budget allocation proposed for the IOC in the Expenditure Plan, was threatening UNESCO s leadership role in areas which included the Ocean Biogeographic Information System, IOCARIBE, the Global Ocean Observing System and the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Tsunami Warning System. She observed that the ranking exercise had rated IOC as a high priority, leading the IOC Assembly to use the allocation of 86% of the fully funded 37 C/5 ($10.3M) as a basis for programme prioritization; this proportion had, however, dropped to 72% ($8.6M) in the Expenditure Plan. The IOC was working with BSP on a sharpened fundraising strategy but also needed extra engagement from Member States ,739 posts, as compared to 1,893 posts under the 36 C/5. Resulting from the distribution by main line of action of the new budgetary provision for Major Programme II.

4 37 C/INF.32 page 3 Next to take the floor was the Youth Forum representative. 4 Describing the forum s conclusions as regards science, she noted that strengthening science, technology and innovation were crucial for job creation in a green economy. There was a need to develop knowledge and skills and to encourage women to take up careers in science and engineering. A debate then ensued on items 4.2 and 5.5 of the agenda, namely the Consideration and Adoption of the Draft Programme and Budget for and the Conclusions of the Youth Forum as regards science. Fifty-three delegates and two Observers took the floor in the course of two meetings. Many delegates expressed concern that the drop in resources would impair the performance of UNESCO s scientific programmes and expressed the hope that a solution might be found. A number of countries urged UNESCO to explore avenues for greater inter-agency collaboration among scientific programmes with a similar mandate. Several speakers voiced concern that the decrease in human and financial resources would affect support to developing countries, in general, and to Small Island Developing States (SIDS), in particular. A number of countries stressed the importance of enhancing the basic and engineering sciences to narrow the development gap. They highlighted the relevance for Africa s development, in particular, of the International Basic Sciences Programme and the International Years on Crystallography (2014) and Light (2015). Several speakers made an impassioned plea for greater access to energy in Africa, where the lack of electricity, or its unreliability, is hampering education, science and development in general. Several African countries thanked UNESCO for its assistance in reviewing national science, technology and innovation policies. They stressed the importance of creating viable ecosystems of innovation to eradicate poverty, create jobs and foster sustainable development. Other speakers highlighted the importance of strengthening the science policy society interface and the need to throw bridges between Western science and traditional knowledge. Many Member States expressed their condolences to the Philippines, which had just been hit by the strongest typhoon on record. Several countries observed that this tragedy confirmed UNESCO s relevance in the field of disaster risk reduction. The majority of speakers voiced their support for the IOC s activities in ocean science, observations, early warning systems, data and information exchange, as well as capacity-building. Many expressed concern that UNESCO was losing its leadership role in these areas due to lack of resources. The importance of tsunami early warning systems was stressed, including by speakers from Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Caribbean and Pacific regions. Kenya stated that IOC Sub-Commission for Africa and the Adjacent Island States (IOCAFRICA) played an important role through the provision of policy advice and informed the Commission that it was seconding a professional to the IOCAFRICA sub-commission. Speaking on behalf of 16 Pacific island States, the Cook Islands informed the Commission that SIDS had begun calling themselves big ocean sustainable States (BOSS). Priorities for Pacific island States included mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change, as well as legal training related to climate change, disaster risk reduction and freshwater security. A number of speakers highlighted the importance of the next phase of the International Hydrological Programme, particularly as it concerns freshwater security. Others stressed the key 4 Besmira Uruci, Delegate of Albania to Youth Forum.

5 37 C/INF.32 page 4 role played by UNESCO s water centres and Chairs. Several countries expressed appreciation for UNESCO s stewardship of the International Year of Water Cooperation. Member States welcomed the focus in the 37 C/5 on sustainable development and sustainability science. Several speakers underscored the need for an integrated approach to problem-solving that called upon both the social and natural sciences. Many delegates commended UNESCO for being entrusted with running the Scientific Advisory Board by the United Nations Secretary- General and welcomed the Board s interdisciplinary focus. A number of Member States evoked the potential of UNESCO s environmental programmes to contribute to the post-2015 agenda. Many speakers stressed the contribution that biosphere reserves, geoparks and the IOC made to greening the economy. They praised the role that biosphere reserves and geoparks played in fostering local community involvement and the necessary dialogue among scientists, policy-makers and communities. Several countries described biosphere reserves as a powerful means of developing transboundary cooperation, protecting biodiversity and fostering sustainable local development. Others highlighted the role of biosphere reserves as learning platforms for sustainable development. A number of speakers also stressed the synergies between the Programme on Man and the Biosphere and initiatives such as Future Earth and the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Several speakers welcomed the recommendations of the Youth Forum. Some stressed the importance of supporting youthful creativity by developing a culture of innovation. Others cited examples in their own countries where university curricula were being developed to foster entrepreneurship and appropriate professional skills for market needs. Technical and vocational education were also considered as being important to drive development. A number of countries recalled the importance of respecting gender equality in related policies. Two Observers then took the floor, namely the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Federation of Engineering Organizations. They stressed the importance of international scientific cooperation, such as within the framework of the Future Earth and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), and the key role that engineering played in sustainable development. At this point, the Natural Sciences Commission took note of the Revised Operational Strategy for Priority Africa (37 C/5 Add.3) and the Revised UNESCO Priority Gender Equality Action Plan for (37 C/5 Add.4). In his reply to the debate, ADG/BSP indicated that the IOC budget in the $507 million Expenditure Plan was consistent with the Revised Implementation Plan for the 37 C/5 endorsed by the Executive Board (37C/5 Add.2 Rev.). He stressed that, as a consequence of the Organization s financial crisis, resources were insufficient to respond to Member States needs not only in ocean sciences but also as concerned the rest of Major Programme II. He therefore called for enhanced cooperation between the Secretariat and Member States within a sharpened fundraising strategy, in order to overcome the funding shortage for many of the expected results, including those of the IOC. In their reply to the debate, first ADG Natural Sciences then the IOC Executive Secretary thanked the many Member States which had sympathized with UNESCO s financial predicament and expressed support for UNESCO s scientific programmes. Both reaffirmed their commitment to cooperation and interdisciplinarity. The IOC Executive Secretary cited the examples of IOC and IHP involvement in the Global Environmental Facility-funded Transboundary Water Assessment Programme, collaboration with the World Heritage Centre on marine spatial planning and, most recently, with UNESCO s Education Sector on ocean literacy. In reply to one Member State, ADG Natural Sciences summarized developments related to engineering, including UNESCO s partnership with Airbus. ADG/SC took this opportunity to clarify

6 37 C/INF.32 page 5 a point raised by one Member State during the debate, confirming that the definition of freshwater security did indeed include the concept of sustainability. At the end of the debate, the Commission examined the recommendations by the Executive Board on the Draft Programme and Budget for , as well as three draft resolutions submitted by a Member State. The results of our work are presented for your approval in the Commission s written report. I would now like to turn to the next item on the agenda, item 5.4, which concerned the establishment of 10 category 2 institutes and centres under the auspices of UNESCO. ADG Natural Sciences introduced nine of these proposals and the IOC Executive Secretary the tenth. Without a preliminary debate, the Commission recommended to the General Conference that it adopts the resolutions for the establishment of all ten proposed institutes and centres. The nine sponsors then took the floor to elaborate further on the purpose of each centre or institute and its planned activities. Item 5.6 on the proclamation by the United Nations of 2015 as International Year of Light was introduced by ADG Natural Sciences, who remarked that a series of important milestones in the history of the physics of light were being commemorated in 2015, as noted in document 37 C/20. Nine Member States in total spoke on this item, most of them with great enthusiasm. Some speakers expressed concern, however, at the financial implications of an international year for UNESCO in the current financial climate. ADG/SC clarified this point by explaining that an international consortium had been set up to oversee the Year, which included science museums, universities and the private sector. The consortium had raised over $2 million thus far for the Year, meaning that UNESCO would not bear any financial burden for this activity. One Member State asked that it be considered a governance principle to mention the financial provisions for future international years in the documents submitted to Member States for approval. The Chair assured the Member State that BSP would be informed of its concern. The draft resolution was subsequently adopted without modification. I now turn to agenda item 5.10 on the Renewal of the Operational Agreement between UNESCO and the Government of the Netherlands on the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education. ADG/SC introduced this item. She explained that the operational agreement had been signed in 2003 then renewed in 2008 until 2013, making it necessary to renew the agreement. The principal element of the agreement was the commitment by the Government of the Netherlands to an annual grant covering the institute s operating costs for 2014, 2015 and 2016, with potential automatic extensions for additional periods of up to two years until 2018, subject to certain conditions set out in the agreement. A recent evaluation of the institute by UNESCO s Internal Oversight Service had confirmed the value of the institute s work. The 15 speakers who took the floor on this item commended the institute on its work, without exception. Strong support was expressed for the institute by Member States, many of which thanked the Government of the Netherlands and UNESCO for their respective roles. One country called the institute a shining light in the UNESCO family. A number of speakers recalled that many of their water professionals had benefited from postgraduate training at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education. The draft resolution contained in document 37 C/54 was therefore adopted without modification, after which the Netherlands took the floor to reaffirm its dedication to UNESCO s water family. I now turn to the last item on the agenda, item 5.7, of the Natural Sciences Commission. It concerned the UNESCO Global Geoparks Initiative. In her introduction to this item, ADG/SC retraced the history of the relation between UNESCO and the Global Geoparks Network, which dated back to 2001.

7 37 C/INF.32 page 6 She informed the Commission that a number of geoparks were under development in Latin America and Africa, in order to create a more balanced geographical distribution. She recalled that the 191st session of the Executive Board had asked the Director-General to set up a Working Group to undertake further consultations on the proposed initiative and its programmatic and legal implications. She then expressed satisfaction at the degree of cooperation within the Working Group among the Secretariat, Member States and the Global Geoparks Network. A rich debate ensued, during which more than 30 Member States took the floor, some of them more than once. The great majority of speakers voiced support for the Global Geoparks Initiative. They recalled the benefits of geoparks for protecting geoheritage, building awareness of geohazards, local sustainable development, women s empowerment, research and education. Several speakers applauded the bottom-up approach of the Global Geoparks Initiative at the local level. Several African countries underscored the richness of their geoheritage or announced plans to create a geopark. A number of speakers voiced concerns, however. In her reply to the debate, ADG/SC remarked that these concerns fell into four main categories: (1) the need for greater synergies between geoparks and other UNESCO sites, as well as with other scientific programmes like the IGCP; (2) the financial issue, and on this point, ADG/SC could confirm that the Global Geoparks Initiative was a cost-effective model with no additional financial implications for UNESCO; (3) the issue of branding and quality control to maintain high standards; and (4) the need to expand the model to include countries from all around the world, which was one of the network s main goals. An amendment tabled by two Member States was debated at length, with the result that the draft resolution was adopted with an amendment calling on the Director-General to report to the 194th session of the Executive Board on possible ways to protect and strengthen brand recognition of biosphere reserves, World Heritage properties and proposed UNESCO global geoparks. The Commission s fourth and final meeting began with an event celebrating the International Year of Water Cooperation, for which UNESCO is the coordinating agency. The one-hour event consisted of a number of presentations by high-level speakers. Mr President, This brings me to the conclusion of my oral report. I hope I have succeeded in capturing the essence of the rich debates and the orientations provided by the Commission for the programmes of the natural sciences. Thank you for your attention. Printed on recycled paper