Most if not all the challenges on the multilateral agenda are urgent, complex, and interconnected, requiring a much stronger and agile interface between science, policy and society. Now is the time to change how we work with science and knowledge to inform decision-making and action at multiple levels and steer action towards desired outcomes.
The establishment of a coalition of a Group of Friends on Science for Action provides an important and complementary impetus to on-going efforts to build a stronger role of science in decision-making and implementation at the global level:
- It will provide an informal forum for debate, open exchange between countries that are taking leadership in using science in policy and decision-making to support peer-learning, exchange of good practices, and create opportunities for bilateral collaborations.
- It will provide an informal forum for dialogue with scientists on issues where scientific information, synthesis and advice are needed and create a demand-led scientific engagement with policy- and decision-makers.
- It will provide an entry point for the ISC to support a better and more targeted mobilization and engagement of the broad scientific community based on the needs and priorities identified by participating countries.
- It will provide an informal forum for discussing and deliberating on joint activities and positions of relevance to all UN member states.
The creation of the Group of Friends on Science for Action was announced at an informal plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly on Science-based Evidence in support of Sustainable Solutions on 12 April 2023 in New York by high-level representatives of Belgium, India and South Africa. All UN Member States have been invited to participate.
