‘A science and policy nexus essential to today’s world’ |12 October 2016

The Partnership on Science to Policy Forum

The Minister for Environment, Energy and Climate Change Didier Dogley has said that as an advocate for science-based decision-making, he believes a science and policy nexus is absolutely essential in the world we are living today.

“There is growing need for sustainability of our natural resources in a world where population is rising yet the resource base, the ecosystem goods and services, the environment, farmland and even fishing, have remained the same,” the minister said.

He was speaking at the launch of a two-day meeting of the Partnership on Science to Policy Forum held at the Coral Strand Hotel at Beau Vallon yesterday.

He also remarked that the science-policy dialogue being developed in the meeting for the Western Indian Ocean region must make an impact by communicating science to governments; playing an important role in influencing ecosystem based management, climate change negotiations and ensuring the participating governments are better prepared for natural and anthropogenic hazards such as flooding, storms, drought, pollution and waste management.

Also present were the head of the Nairobi Convention Secretariet for the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) Dixon Waruinge and other prominent figures from the Unep, other environment, scientific and maritime organisations.

The forum has been organised in collaboration with the secretariat of the Nairobi Convention for the Protection, Management and Development of Coastal and Marine Environment of the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS-Postdam), Institute of Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of Germany, Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (Wiomsa) and the government of Seychelles.

It comes as a follow up to Decision CP8/12 which called for the establishment of a platform for science to policy dialogue at COP8 that was held in June 2015, in Seychelles. In the same meeting, the Contracting Parties also recommended that regular science to policy dialogues be organised to provide the continuous interaction between policy makers and related stakeholders.

Further, COP8 took decision CP8/12.3 that requested the secretariat, in collaboration with partners, to develop terms of reference, mode of operation and composition of the platform and transmit them to the Contracting Parties for subsequent approval by the Bureau. It is against this background that the Partnership on Science to Policy Forum has been organised here.

The aim of the forum is to develop the terms of reference, mode of operation and composition of the Science to Policy platform. This meeting is expected to make better understanding of the interaction between science and policy with a view to promoting science based management of the marine and coastal environment of the WIO region, by promoting and strengthening partnerships between the science community and the Nairobi Convention, policy relevant scientific assessments of the coastal and marine environment in the WIO region, and increased networking and dialogue between scientists, civil society, private sector, policy and decision makers.

“For nations to industrialise, create wealth and jobs from the same resources, science must play a big role, and the policy level, we must embrace new ways and methods for managing the resource base that will increasingly be under pressure with every passing year,” Minister Dogley said in his opening remarks.

He added at the global and national context, there is an increasing demand for research institutions and councils to conduct research that has economic and social impact, characterises by an increase in evidence-based policy making and increasing public engagement with research and related societal issues. And it is against this backdrop that there is an enormous opportunity for each one of the delegates to explore new and innovative options for managing our oceans and coasts.

“We have to bridge the gap between scientists and policy makers. But this is not a technical issue. It is a political, social and cultural issue,” said the minister.

To bring the point home, Minister Dogley said consumerism has greatly influenced the Seychelles where the amount of waste the country is generating has grown significantly during the past decade to about 08% per person and that the country needs biodegradable alternatives that the general public can use.

And he wants the meeting to develop a mechanism for engagement where delegates bring together users from the sections of policy, business and the wider society to design and deliver innovative research that addresses the urgent challenges of environment change in the Western Indian region as well as leading public-sector research funders to establish a high degree of collaboration. And also to come up with a roadmap towards a productive dialogue and partnership between researchers, scientists, experts, civil society, non-governmental organisations and policy and decision makers.

There were also panel, plenary and group discussions by the different stakeholders.

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The Partnership on Science to Policy Forum