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Message from Ms Audrey Azoulay,
Director-General of UNESCO,
on the occasion of World Science Day for Peace and Development
11 November 2021
Climate change, biodiversity loss and declining ocean health are gaining momentum.
Over the past year, the world has faced a myriad of destructive natural disasters, from
wildfires and hurricanes to heat domes and flooding. These events are making the
effects of global warming a reality for many communities. Biodiversity and therefore food
security are under threat. Sea-level rise is displacing settlements. Temperature
increases are amplifying insect-borne diseases and coral bleaching.
Science, technology and innovation will play a key role in helping communities to prepare
for and adapt to these environment-related upheavals. For example, researchers are
already developing climate-ready crops that are resistant to extreme heat, drought or
saline soil resulting from sea-level rise. Unfortunately, however, academic research on
new technologies to protect communities from climate-related disasters lags far behind
what we need: it made up just 0.005% of global scientific output between 2012 and 2019.
That is why this year’s World Science Day for Peace and Development focuses on the
importance of science, technology and innovation in building climate-ready communities.
It takes place at a time when COP26 is underlining the importance of science-based
policies and decisions in mitigating the environmental crisis, marking a turning point in
our collective response to climate change. UNESCO is already working in this spirit,
leading the way in assisting communities as they respond to natural disasters caused
by climate change.
For instance, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme and the University
of California Irvine have developed a system using an algorithm and a constellation of
satellites to estimate real-time precipitation worldwide, and thus inform emergency
planning for and management of floods, droughts and other extreme weather events.
UNESCO is also working in East and West Africa to build the capacities of nomadic
pastoralists to forecast weather and adapt to climate change. Through cooperation
between meteorologists and indigenous peoples, we are developing an evidence-based
approach to understanding and responding to the impacts of climate change.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, UNESCO is working to narrow the knowledge
gaps in and between countries by enabling researchers and inventors to share
information, data and methodologies for more climate-ready designs. Our ground-
breaking Recommendation on Open Science, due to be adopted by the 41st session of
the General Conference, defines normative standards, rules and ambitions that seek to
transform and democratize scientific culture around the world.
For climate change is a threat to us all. And when the entire planet is threatened, the
entire planet must respond. But global solutions are impossible if half of humanity lacks
access to the knowledge it needs. Today, on World Science Day for Peace and
Development, let’s harness the potential of open science – not only to limit the impact of
climate change, but also to shape a fairer and more peaceful world. Because we
succeed or fail together, and we cannot afford to fail.