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Photo courtesy of Asian Scientist.
The International Council for Science (ICSU), which was established in 1931 and has played a behind-the-scenes role in fostering scientific integrity and collaboration at a global level ever since, held their tri-annual General Assembly in Rome this past week. The Earth System Sustainability Initiative, which has been several years in development, was discussed at the assembly, and Nobel prize winning scientist Yuan Tseh Leah from China: Taipei, was elected President for the next three years. In his address to the assembly, he articulated the challenges humanity faces:
If we are to avoid catastrophe and ensure humanity’s continuation on this planet, the keyword for the next few decades will be transformation. That is, we must begin to transform our global society into a truly sustainable civilization.
Calling for greater resources to be devoted to science, he noted:
In the past many excellence ideas were abandoned because there was no funding. This is really heartbreaking. If there is a worthy idea, we must do all we can to find the resources. Just imagine what we could do if just 1% of the estimated US$1 trillion spent by governments on defense every year could be devoted to global sustainability research. After all, the greatest threats to security today no longer come from across borders but are caused by humanity on humanity itself….
Our primary theme for the coming years must be “Action – and solutions – now!”
