International scientific collaboration helps reduce regional disparities in tackling climate change
Assessment was made by experts at the annual meeting of the Global Research Council taking place in The Hague. Representatives of funding agencies from 63 countries ratified a statement of principles and practices on funding research on the topic
Meeting AnnouncementIMAGE: THELMA KRUG, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED NATIONS INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC) AND A FAPESP BOARD MEMBER view more
CREDIT: LEANDRO COLLI
Climate change is already affecting all regions of the world, impacting natural systems, biodiversity and human life. The global nature of this challenge demands that public funding agencies in all countries be involved in research on the topic, building synergies and collaborations with other initiatives. For this effort to be effective, however, mechanisms must be created to assist funding agencies in countries with transitioning economies in order to reduce regional disparities in addressing this threat.
The assessment was made by experts at a panel discussion on climate change research funding that took place on Wednesday (May 31), during the annual meeting of the Global Research Council, which runs until Friday (June 2) in The Hague, in the Netherlands.
During the event, co-organized by FAPESP, representatives of funding agencies from 63 countries ratified a declaration of principles and practices on funding research on the topic.
"International collaboration will allow us to identify possible mitigation and adaptation options to meet regional needs covering the full range of sectors, including energy, transport, buildings, industry, agriculture, land use and forestry waste," said Thelma Krug, vice president of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Global Climate Change (IPCC) and a FAPESP board member.
During her lecture, Krug highlighted that science already points to the need for rapid, deep, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions so that the long-term temperature targets stipulated in the Paris Agreement are met. This will imply profound social changes and transformations in all areas of society, she pointed out.
"These transformations require that scientific and traditional knowledge come together to help identify and implement best practices and strategies at the national level, connecting science with all levels of government, the private sector, civil society, local communities and indigenous peoples. No one can be left out of this equation," she stressed.
In order to achieve this goal, however, it is necessary to promote equal opportunities for the countries of the Global South – which includes developing nations in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and Oceania –, Krug pondered.
"It's a reality that there are many more opportunities for scientific development in the Global North and this can lead to biases. Therefore, ideally there should be equal opportunities for southern countries so that it's possible to identify local context-specific challenges to address climate change impacts and risks and exploit the technical and economic potential of mitigation in all areas," she assessed.
According to Krug, the GRC members recognize that these issues alone create a demand for research and offer numerous opportunities to fund projects that can make a difference in developing public policy, strengthening public and private partnerships, driving innovation, and pursuing fair transition.
Relationship with the SDGs
Action against climate change is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the United Nations (UN) and connects with several of the other 16 goals, pointed out Cherry Murray, professor at the University of Arizona, in the USA, and co-president of a group of ten experts appointed by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, to support the implementation of the SDGs. The group also includes Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz, FAPESP's scientific director from 2005 to April 2020.
"Many of the Sustainable Development Goals will need local solutions to be achieved because we're talking about jobs and quality of life for local populations. But to start taking carbon out of the atmosphere we need it to happen on a global level," he pondered.
According to data from a study by researchers at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis presented by Murray, achieving the SDGs will require six different social transformations. Most of them are being driven by climate change, said the researcher.
"By 2030, 80% of the world's population will live in cities that haven’t yet been built, and many of them will be located in the Global South. These cities will need to be much smarter," Murray said.
"We need global research collaboration, but solutions need to be tailored to local needs and involve both mitigation and adaptation," she pointed out.
In this sense, one of the contributions of the GRC could be to articulate local solutions in tackling climate change with a global scenario, evaluated Ricardo Galvão, president of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).
"We need much better articulation between different countries," Galvão said.
One successful partnership initiative of Brazil in climate change research with other countries was the development of Earth observation satellites in cooperation with China that made it possible to monitor deforestation in the Amazon, exemplified the researcher.
"This was very important for us to have more details about the deforestation of the forest," he said.
This same type of partnership could be useful, now, to improve climate models to analyze climate change in South America, Galvão said.
"None of them work well for South America. The Andes mountain range, for example, isn't well considered in these models. And why isn't there an international approach to look more carefully at where our models fail? We lack an international agreement between the different agencies for that," he said.
GRC statements are available at: https://globalresearchcouncil.org/grc-publications/
Funding agencies from 63 countries ratify document for broader and more inclusive research
A charter of principles was ratified during the annual meeting of the Global Research Council. The goal is to establish common practices to assess the quality of the science produced and facilitate international collaborations
Meeting AnnouncementIMAGE: THE GOAL IS TO ESTABLISH COMMON PRACTICES TO ASSESS THE QUALITY OF THE SCIENCE PRODUCED AND FACILITATE INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS view more
CREDIT: KARINA TOLEDO
Research, institutions and researchers need to be assessed in a broad and holistic way, taking into account the context in which the research is done, such as the field of study or the stage of the researcher's career. Moreover, the diversity of research activities, innovation, and outputs that demand diverse skills and competencies all need to be recognized. Responsible research practices and approaches should be guided by the promotion of equity, diversity, and inclusion.
These are some of the principles ratified by agencies participating in the annual meeting of the Global Research Council (GRC), which runs until Friday (May 2) at the Peace Palace in The Hague, in the Netherlands. The meeting has been organized by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and FAPESP.
"We have a lot of influence on the culture and behavior of researchers and research organizations. So coming up with a set of principles about how we think about rewarding and recognizing researchers is absolutely critical and fundamental to what we do," said Prue Williams, New Zealand's Minister for Business, Innovation and Employment, who led the session "Recognizing and Rewarding Researchers" held on Wednesday (May 31).
Arfan Ikram, a member of the NWO executive board and professor at the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, recalled his own career as a professor and researcher to stress the importance of rewarding and recognizing researchers at different stages of their careers.
"This recognition and reward movement is at least a decade old, and today I seek to contribute in the role of research funder. But when I look back, I see that recognition and reward have benefited my career as a researcher and professor enormously, such that without it I wouldn't be here," he said.
New challenges
The keynote address was given by Laura Rovelli, a member of the Executive Council of DORA (Declaration on Research Assessment) and coordinator of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO), based in Buenos Aires.
According to Rovelli, there are currently some challenges to research assessment due to different transformations taking place in society, some of them related to urgent and critical problems. One of these is the quest for sustainability while facing global climate change and other social issues.
"It’s necessary to strengthen the role of science as a common good, in order to obtain citizens' engagement in scientific activity. On the other hand, to protect access to the benefits of science, which can bring well-being to individuals and societies, aligning research quality with integrity and social impact is also a challenge," she stressed.
In this sense, the researcher recalled that some measures are being taken to improve the quality of research assessment in South America, such as the network of 10 Brazilian universities working on reforms aligned to the principles of DORA, an international group that has been formulating and proposing improvements in this type of assessment since 2012.
Following the talk, the participants divided into five groups and raised questions to be incorporated into future discussions on the topic at the GRC. Finally, they ratified the charter of principles, with nine items designed to advance new ways of assessing research and researchers.
GRC letters and communications are available at: https://globalresearchcouncil.org/grc-publications/
Tackling global problems requires international collaboration and this underscores the strategic role of the GRC
Representatives from 81 research funding agencies from 63 countries are meeting this week in The Hague, in the Netherlands, for the Annual Meeting of the Global Research Council. The event will discuss topics that will help shape the future of research
Meeting AnnouncementIMAGE: THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE GLOBAL RESEARCH COUNCIL WILL DISCUSS TOPICS THAT WILL HELP SHAPE THE FUTURE OF RESEARCH AROUND THE WORLD view more
CREDIT: GRC
"Welcome everyone to the 11th Annual Meeting of the Global Research Council [GRC], here at the Peace Palace. In times of war and conflict, what an encouraging place for us to be gathered, sharing and discussing ideas to shape and further develop global research collaboration."
With these words the president of the Governing Board of the GRC, Katja Becker, opened the annual meeting of the main public funding agencies for research in the world, which in 2023 is taking place in The Hague (Netherlands), where the United Nations Court of Justice is located. The event is being hosted by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and FAPESP. Taking part are 175 representatives from 81 research funding institutions from 63 countries.
In her introductory speech, Becker, who is also president of the German Research Foundation (DFG), said that the need for global cooperation is becoming increasingly evident, which makes the joint activities carried out within the framework of the GRC even more important. On the other hand, she said, there is a growing perception that research freedom and scientific exchange are under threat.
On behalf of the NWO, Marcel Levi welcomed the participants and said he was proud that the event organized in his country – in collaboration with Brazilian partners – had brought together a record number of organizations and countries.
"Today we're at the Peace Palace, a true icon for peace and justice. Indeed, one of the best possible ways to achieve international collaboration and cross-border understanding is research. Science and peace are intimately linked," said Levi, recalling that the construction of the Peace Palace was funded by an American philanthropist called Andrew Carnegie, who sought to bring the world's population together by bringing inspiring people together. "And that is exactly what we want for this week: to bring together colleagues to find international solutions to common problems and inspire each other."
The opening session was also attended by Marco Antonio Zago, president of FAPESP, who stressed the coincidence of the event taking place exactly 100 years since the death of Rui Barbosa (1849-1923), the Brazilian politician and diplomat who became known as the "Eagle of The Hague" for his strong performance in the Second Peace Conference, in 1907, held in an attempt to avoid a world conflict that, a few years later, would become the First World War.
"As we approach the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, we must ask ourselves how true is the perception we scientists have about the role of science in society. And perhaps even more relevant: is this role changing? Is science still progressing as strongly as it was at the end of the last century? We must recognize the complexity of today's reality, which is more than ever defined by global phenomena such as the pandemic, wars, the global energy and food crisis, large-scale migrations," Zago said, then pointing out that no country or national or regional science system is able to define its own future alone or independently. "This context highlights the relevance of the Global Research Council and all these meetings, as it represents a privileged forum for interaction, collaboration and joint initiatives."
Zago also highlighted that science is a key tool for achieving the SDGs, which include the fight against climate change, one of the main themes of the event. "To achieve this goal will require a synergistic action of governments, the engagement of society and a strong contribution from science, technology and innovation," he stressed.
One topic under discussion this year – how to improve the way researchers are evaluated and rewarded – has, in the assessment of FAPESP's president, the potential to shape the future of research.
"I see a productive path for joint collaboration in the coming years, should we succeed in solving two prominent problems in today's scientific community: the slowdown of disruptive science and the disenchantment of younger generations with scientific careers," he concluded.
Beyond metrics
The opening ceremony was followed by a lecture given by Robbert Dijkgraaf, who, besides being a physicist and string theory scholar, is a professor at the University of Amsterdam and currently the Netherlands Minister of Education, Culture and Science.
One of the central points of his speech was the exaggerated attachment of scientists to performance indicators, numbers, and other types of metrics that, according to the minister, has "spread like wildfire and is now present in many aspects of society."
"Today there are managers who focus exclusively on quantitative goals. Nurses spend more time recording their activities than caring for patients. And policymakers – I say this from experience – we sometimes lose sight of the human story behind all these numbers, data and metrics," he said. "And in academia, of course, we create numerical indices to measure the career impact of publications. Some refer to modern scholars as 'les measurables' [a pun on the word measure]. We often reduce the complexity of life to a single number. Metrics have their value, but it's important to remain critical."
In Dijkgraaf's assessment, important steps will be taken during the Annual Meeting of the GRC toward new principles for recognizing and rewarding researchers, in an effort to capture all dimensions of academic work.
"Seeing this topic on the agenda fills me with pride, as the Netherlands was one of the first to address the issue. The fact that this movement is now gaining international acceptance is clear from the distinguished company gathered here today. There's nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come."
The agenda for the 11th meeting brings together a number of strategic themes, including overarching questions about equality, diversity and inclusion, and the responsible evaluation of scientific research, as well as questions concerning international collaboration and future activities of the GRC. "We're going to focus on innovating ways to recognize and reward scientists, as well as discussing funders' responsibilities and opportunities in addressing climate change. I firmly believe that the statements of principle on both topics, which will be presented in subsequent sessions, will inspire each of us, our organizations, and the GRC as a whole as we strive to enable scientific research to be done in the best way possible," said the president of the GRC's Governing Board.
"Science provides us with knowledge, innovative tools and creative solutions to combat climate change and the loss of biological diversity, to eradicate poverty, reduce inequality, promote justice and bring about the logic of global peace. May our work together contribute to a global spirit of peaceful cooperation," he added.
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