Meeting the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and securing a just and sustainable future will depend on a massive mobilization of sustainability science globally.
To rise to the challenge of acting effectively in the face of existential risks, the ISC report Unleashing Science: Delivering Missions for Sustainability, developed at the request of the Global Forum of Funders called for the best of global science to focus on delivering Science Missions in the critical areas of food, energy and climate, health and wellbeing, water, and urban areas.
While science has done a lot to advance the human condition over the last hundred years, science now needs a quantum shift in how it works together with society and policy on the many issues that need to be addressed with urgency. This calls for courage, and it calls for commitment Delivering these missions will require bold and strategic action from a ‘Coalition of the Willing’– including governments, science policymakers, science funders, scientists, philanthropists, the private sector, and civil society.
To identify the most appropriate institutional arrangements and funding mechanisms required to co-construct and deliver on the Science Missions for Sustainability, the International Science Council has established a Global Commission on Science Missions for Sustainability.
The Global Commission is co-chaired by Irina Bokova, former Bulgarian Foreign Minister and Director General of UNESCO, and Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and previous administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. The Commission is made up of more than twenty committed experts, from former ministers and financiers to research leaders and film makers, and aims to build actionable mission-led pathways in the face of existential risks to humanity. The work of the commission was supported by a Technical Advisory Group (TAG).
The Global Commission and the TAG developed two flagship reports that were launched at the 2023 UN High-level Political Forum and endorsed by the President of the UN General Assembly:
Irina Bokova, Commission Co-Chair, Former Director-General of UNESCOScience is a critical lever for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. To make the societal transition towards sustainability, we need to unleash the full potential of science. Only an urgent, more ambitious and well-resourced global plan for international, mission-oriented set of scientific initiatives can ensure that science is up to the task to effectively support the Goals of Agenda 2030. And I’m looking forward to working with the members of the Global Commission to undertake this challenging but very critical task.
Helen Clark, Commission Co-Chair, Former Prime Minister of New Zealand, and Administrator of UNDPCOVID-19 has shown what the science community can do when it comes together and focuses on a mission. We need a mission-led approach to science and to accelerate actionable progress on many aspects of the sustainability agenda. The ISC has understood the need for change, and I am delighted to assist them in the critical endeavour. The global community must work together to support this effort. The ISC has identified a credible path forward: we can make the necessary changes happen. Let’s just get going.
