Merit-based Academies of Science have the capability to mobilize the best brains worldwide from different disciplines to assist in addressing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and in developing the post-2015 development agenda and related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In February 2013, the IAP Conference on "Grand Challenges and Integrated Innovations - Science for Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development" took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, hosted by the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. One of the outcomes of the Conference and General Assembly was the "Letter from Rio-2013 on the Role of Science Academies in Grand Challenges and Integrated Innovations for Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication". The Letter underlined the need for Academies of Science to affirm their responsibility to society and work individually and jointly to assess strengths and weaknesses of current science, technology, and innovation capacities worldwide for addressing scientific issues related to sustainable development and poverty eradication; and participate in and advise, at the national and global levels, the processes being set by the UN and national governments on the post-2015 development agenda.
Following the event, IAP established a new Committee on Science for Poverty Eradication, which is now addressing the issues. The Committee is chaired by the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.
News updates ...
August 2015
UNISDR Science and Technology Conference on the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction Call for Abstracts- Poster Session The full diversity of the science and technology community, policy makers, practitioners and researchers from all geographical regions, at local, national, regional and international levels who support the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, are invited to submit abstracts for posters for the UNISDR Science and Technology Conference on the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 to take place on 27-29 January 2016 at the Geneva International Conference Center (CICG), in Geneva, Switzerland Follow the link below to the instructions and guidelines. For further enquiries, please contact: unisdrstc@un.org On a related theme, the International Geographical Union (IGU) Conference on Land Use Change, Climate Extremes and Disaster Risk Reduction is scheduled to take place on 23-25 March 2016 in New Delhi, India. A special session will be dedicated to the South Asian perspective for the implementation of the Sendai Framework of Disaster Risk Reduction, and Future Earth. Follow the LINK for full details on the programme and the First Circular.
March 2015
IAP representation from the Science Council of Japan (SCJ) at the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (14-18 March 2015)
At the close of the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (14-18 March 2015), world leaders released the Sendai Declaration in which they recognised the "increasing impact of disasters and their complexity in many parts of the world" and declared a "determination to enhance our efforts to strengthen disaster risk reduction to reduce disaster losses of lives and assets worldwide." These efforts will be undertaken through a new framework agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, which supersedes the previous Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015. Thanks in part to the efforts of the Science and Technology Major Group, coordinated by ICSU and with input from IAP and its member academies, the requirement for science and technology in disaster reduction programmes features prominently in the new agreement. For example, the new Sendai Framework calls to: "Promote and improve dialogue and cooperation among scientific and technological communities, other relevant stakeholders and policymakers in order to facilitate a science-policy interface for effective decision-making in disaster risk management," as well as to: "Enhance the development and dissemination of science-based methodologies and tools to record and share disaster losses and relevant disaggregated data and statistics, as well as to strengthen disaster risk modelling, assessment, mapping, monitoring and multi-hazard early warning systems," and to "Strengthen technical and scientific capacity to capitalize on and consolidate existing knowledge, and to develop and apply methodologies and models to assess disaster risks, vulnerabilities and exposure to all hazards."
IAP was represented on the Science and Technology Major Group which met in Sendai by two experts from the Science Council of Japan, Haruo Hayashi and Fumiko Kasuga. Follow the link to F. Kasuga's report HERE.
IAP and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in Geneva - November 2014
See links and resources below for more information.