The UN Conference on Dealing with Droughts and Desertification: Summary and Implications for Diplomacy and Peace-Building
And at the end of last week, delegates left the UN conference on dealing with droughts and desertification (UNCCD) in Riyadh without arranging to begin talks on a legally binding protocol to tackle the issue. They agreed to increase UNCCD’s body of independent scientific advisers. September’s Summit of the Future in New York City, organized by UN secretary-general António Guterres also ended with some positive outcomes, including a bold statement that recognizes science as essential to tackling global challenges in its final document, the Pact for the Future. But questions need to be asked as to how this statement can be implemented in the current, highly polarized political climate.
Overall, the system that scientists use to access and influence UN environmental agreements is under strain. Meeting organizers, delegates and leaders of research institutions must find a way forward together. The world will ultimately be able to resolve the crises it faces with science-based decision-making. It is crucial to understand the reasons for research being pushed to the margins and what needs to be done to get policy back on track.
The UN COP16 biodiversity meeting in Cali, Colombia, also ended without the funding boost needed to restore and protect nature. The $170 million pledged is not enough to reach the goal of protecting 30% of the world’s land and sea by the year 2030. Delegates did agree that large companies should pay if they made a profit using genetic information from nature, but payments will be voluntary.
Several scientists in countries with high plastic pollution have come up with proposals to end plastic pollution, but they are struggling to be heard at the talks. This is because the UN still hasn’t organized a formal system for researchers to advise during the discussions.
This is important work not just for the knowledge and skills it will generate, but also because it will give scientists visibility in fields in which they can lack influence. Science is often not well represented in diplomacy or peace-building according to a Communications Engineering comment article published last month. Commun. The transcript of the Engineer, 3, 159, was published in 2024. Peace-building efforts are led by people with previous expertise in social and political sciences, law, diplomacy, and humanitarian relief, according to the article. Those with backgrounds in science, engineering and technology need to be among those doing strategic planning. Peace itself is foundational to the SDGs, not least SDG 16: peace, justice and strong institutions. The authors say that when regions are destabilized research is often interrupted and resources are diverted.
According to the latest survey, wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan made the past year one of the deadliest in recent times. Between July 1st, 2023 and June 30th, 2024, nearly 200,000 people were killed, a 37% increase from the previous 12 months. Mark Rutte, the former Netherlands prime minister now head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, urged member states to invest more money in their military budgets last week. In 2023, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, world military spending had risen to an all-time high of nearly US$2.5 trillion, the ninth consecutive annual increase (see go.nature.com/4gggmuf). In Africa, military spending was one-fifth higher than it was in 2022. But are more wars inevitable? Why can’t peace be more of a priority? Science 4 Peace Africa is a new initiative because of the questions that need to be asked.
The president of the African Academy of Sciences and a peace-building specialist from the UN Institute for Training and Research attended the general assembly in Nigeria last week.
The Fall of the Bashar-al-Assad Regime: A Memory of a Wonderful and Joyous Year in the Life and Death around the World
The fall of the regime of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, which brought widespread joy and optimism, was a rare and welcome development in what has mostly been another devastating year of violence and conflict around the world.