Noted the minutes of the Steering Committee meeting held on 22 January 1996.

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1 Minutes Washington D.C A meeting of the Steering Committee of the InterAcademy Panel on International Issues was held at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington DC on 28 September Present: Prof. F Sherwood Rowland USNAS (Co-chairman) Prof. PN Tandon India (Co-chairman) Dr Eduardo Krieger Brazilian Academy of Sciences Prof. Boris Stoicheff Royal Society of Canada Dr Harold Ramkissoon Caribbean Academy of Sciences Prof. Zhao Shidong Chinese Academy of Sciences Prof. Hu Qiheng Chinese Academy of Sciences Prof. Marianne Grunberg-Manago Academie des Sciences, France Prof. Francois Gros Academie des Sciences, France Dr S Varadarajan Indian National Science Academy Dr Indira Nath Indian National Science Academy Dr SK Sahni Indian National Science Academy Dr Hal Mooney I.C.S.U. Mrs Julia Marton-Lefevre I.C.S.U. Dr Shem Oyoo Wandiga Kenya National Academy of Sciences Dr Mauricio Fortes-Besprosvani Mexican Academy of Sciences Dr Jacek Kornacki Polish Academy of Sciences Dr Khotso Mokhele South African Academy of Sciences Dr Olof G Tandberg Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Prof. Carl-Olof Jacobsen Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Dr Mohamed Hassan Third World Academy of Sciences Dr Anne McLaren Royal Society of London Dr Peter Collins Royal Society of London (Secretary) Prof. M Gordon Wolman USNAS Dr John Boright USNAS Mr John Campbell USNAS 1. MINUTES Noted the minutes of the Steering Committee meeting held on 22 January MEETING WITH MEMBERS Noted the informational meeting convened immediately prior to the IAP meeting to discuss the IAP programme with interested academies and others who had been in Washington for the General Assembly of ICSU. It had been a valuable session and had ranged over both the nature of IAP and specific activities such as population and development, Habitat II and the sustainability transition. Stressed the importance of IAP

2 retaining a clear sense of identity and ensuring that others understood, in particular, the complementary nature of IAP and ICSU. There was clear consensus that the specific role of IAP was to enhance the capacity of national academies to advise governments and international organisations through collaborative activities on matters of common interest. 3. IAP NEWS The Editors, Dr. Hassan and Dr Tandberg, were congratulated on the first issue of IAP News published in March Noted that the second issue would be published shortly and would report decisions made at this meeting of the Steering Committee. ICSU agreed to contribute an article. 4. HABITAT II Noted the success of the forum organised jointly by IAP and the Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS) on the eve of the Habitat II conference (Istanbul, June 1996). The USNAS was warmly thanked for taking the lead on this. 5. MEMBERSHIP Further to the discussion on 22 January, confirmed that IAP was essentially a mechanism for facilitating collaboration between academies who wished to pursue some initiative jointly. It was not a formal organisation in the sense of binding all members to a common view on each issue it tackled. Confirmed that membership was limited to one academy of natural science per country, with preference being given to academies that were involved in international activities (e.g. adherence to ICSU) and were constitutionally able to engage in advice-giving activities. Any academy meeting these criteria and wishing to participate in IAP would be accepted. Reported that, since 22 January, the new Academies of Sciences of Malaysia and of South Africa, the Academia de Ciencias de Cuba and the National Academy of Sciences of Korea had joined IAP. Discussions were in hand with the Science Council of Japan to take over the place previously occupied by the Japan Academy, which operated under legal restrictions which preclude any expression of opinion of the IAP type. 6. POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT (i) Confirmed that the French Academy was keen to pursue a concrete initiative, specially in relation to mother and child health in developing countries. It had established a committee on developing country issues, which would be meeting on 16 October, and had in mind to convene a meeting of interested academies in Paris in Spring Noted

3 that it would be helpful if the 16 October meeting could propose an agenda of needed actions and circulate it to IAP colleagues for comment. The French Academy was also holding a colloquium in November 1996 on Energy and health care in developing countries, with the involvement of UNESCO and COSTED- IBN. This would look at the delivery of healthcare in remote areas. 15 developing countries were expected to participate. (ii) Reported that the Conference of German Academies would not be able to undertake the role in population and development issues that it had originally envisaged. (iii) Reported that the Royal Society and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences had organised a meeting in May 1995 on Breastfeeding: science and society. A summary report had been circulated; the full report would be available shortly and would be sent to IAP members before the end of the year. (iv) Noted that, in Africa, the population question had many different, almost opposing, dimensions. Issues like food and employment could lead to concern about rapidly growing populations in particular regions; but high infant mortality, for example, could lead to concern about populations being too small. Suggested that this might usefully be discussed at the meeting of African Academies in December IAP would consider how it might most effectively contribute to such a discussion. (v) The Chinese Academy reported that it was actively involved in population work. Population was taken very seriously in China: despite strict laws on numbers of children per family, today's population of 1.2bn was growing at 16m/year and was expected to reach 1.6bn by Stressed that China had to develop approaches appropriate to its own situation and could not simply import solutions from elsewhere. Issues for the Academy included population control, nutrition and sustainable agriculture. Noted the joint China/India/US initiative on population and changes in land use. (vi) Considered an invitation from Professor Fliedner, Chairman of the WHO Advisory Committee for Health Research, for a representative of IAP to attend a meeting of his Committee on 17 October to give a briefing on relevant IAP activities. Agreed that Mrs Marton-Lefevre, who would be attending the meeting on behalf of ICSU, should fulfill Professor Fliedner's request, but that IAP should not collaborate formally with the Advisory Committee. (vii) Agreed that the Director of the USNAS Office of International Affairs should contact Mrs Nafis Sadik at UNDP to ascertain her current priorities and the status of her earlier offer of financial help to IAP in support of its work on population and development issues. 7. SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITION

4 Further to minute 6 (i) of 22 January 1996, received a detailed proposal (see Annex) from the USNAS for the projected IAP Year 2000 conference to address opportunities and challenges for a worldwide transition to demographic, economic and environmental sustainability in the 21st century. Received, too, a brief on an initiative by the US NRC Board on Sustainable Development on the theme of navigating the sustainability transition. Professor Wolman, a member of the Board, explained that this had several components, of which the chief was publication of a report in 1998 on Science for the sustainability transition. The key emphasis was not so much defining what a sustainable way of life meant at a global level but, having reached a workable definition, addressing the questions of how to move from present ways to new ways, and what scientific and technological knowledge would be needed to accomplish this. In preparing its report the Board also expected to work with individuals in the international community including the IAP to contribute to the Year 2000 conference. Confirmed the discussion of 22 January, that IAP should commit itself to proceeding with the 2000 conference along the lines described. Agreed, further, that the 2000 conference and the consensus statement resulting from it should be developed through an interactive programme of collaborative activities among the worlds academies, which could include presentation of the work of individual academies, regional consultations, special projects on related issues, electronic conferences, and bilateral or multilateral initiatives by groups of academies. Noted that the sorts of issue that might be covered in this way included access to and consumption of resources, energy, production and distribution of food, delivery of appropriate healthcare, population growth, safeguarding of global commons and the development of cities. Stressed that different regions had different needs and priorities; there was no single solution to any of these questions that could be universally applicable. The stage of development and the degree of political stability within each region were important variables. Agreed that the IAP effort should concentrate on the S&T aspects of these issues, and, wherever appropriate, on interdisciplinary approaches. Suggested that this IAP initiative should be referred to as transition to sustainable development or something similar; the shorthand sustainability transition was thought not to be universally understandable. Considered how best to implement the initiative. Agreed to use a regional approach, with lead academies identified for each major region of the world, developing the work within their regions and reporting to a coordinating committee. Agreed that the Coordinating Committee might comprise up to ten members drawn from academies representing Latin America, North America, island States, Europe, Africa, South-East Asia and China. Members of the Coordinating Committee would take the lead in stimulating appropriate initiatives within their own regions. Agreed that those wishing to be members of the Coordinating Committee, including academies who were not members of the IAP

5 Steering Committee, should contact the Co-chairmen or secretariat as soon as possible to confirm their interest. The Co-chairmen would notify all Academies of the composition of the Coordinating Committee. Noted that the location of the 2000 conference would be for later consideration. Noted the need to interact with other international bodies as appropriate, such as CAETS and the ICSU Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE). 8. CAPACITY BUILDING Further to minute 6 (iv) of 22 January, agreed to postpone consideration of possible IAP work on capacity building until the ICSU initiative in this area, discussed at the recent General Assembly, had developed and the scope for complementary activity could be assessed. 9. GLOBAL WATER RESOURCES Agreed not to pursue work on global water resources, other than within the context of the sustainability initiative. 10. NEXT MEETING Accepted, with thanks, an invitation to meet next in September 1997, at the Brazilian Academy of Sciences in Rio in conjunction with the meeting there of the Third World Academy of Sciences. Noted also, with thanks, an invitation to meet at a convenient time at the Caribbean Academy of Sciences. PMDC IAP Steering Committee, 28.ix.96 3 October 1996 ANNEX Minutes Washington D.C. ANNEX Annex Sept. 9, 1996 YEAR 2000 CONFERENCE OF SCIENTIFIC ACADEMIES ON THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITION SUMMARY

6 The InterAcademy Panel on International Issues was created in 1995 as a forum of the world's scientific academies, to work together in providing advice and input to governments and international organizations and in informing public opinion on scientific aspects of issues of concern internationally. Through bilateral, regional, and world-wide collaboration, the Panel contributes to building the capacity of academies to contribute to meeting major challenges faced collectively or individually by our countries. In the Year 2000, the world's academies of sciences, through the auspices of the InterAcademy Panel, propose to convene an international conference to address opportunities and challenges for a worldwide transition to demographic, economic, and environmental sustainability in the 21st century. A product of the conference would be a forceful consensus statement, jointly developed by the world's scientific academies, on the challenges to sustainable development in the coming century and ways that science and technology can contribute to meeting those challenges. The agenda for this 2000 conference and the consensus statement would be developed through an interactive, four-year program of collaborative activities among the worlds scientific academies, which could include: presentation of the work of individual academies; regional consultations; special projects on relevant issues; electronic conferences; and bilateral or multilateral projects by groups of academies. BACKGROUND The Population Summit of Academies. In October 1993, representatives of the worlds scientific academies met together for the first time in New Delhi, India to address the issue of growing world population. Sixty academies signed a Population Statement reflecting their continued concern about the problems of population growth, resource consumption, and the environment. This Population Statement was forwarded to governments and international decision makers, especially those at the 1994 UN International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo. Establishment of the InterAcademy Panel. To foster continued communications and cooperation among national academies of sciences, the InterAcademy Panel on International Issues was created in January The InterAcademy Panel serves as a forum through which academies worldwide can use their specific expertise to bring together leading authorities in the natural and social sciences, in order to advise governments and international organizations and to inform public opinion on scientific aspects of issues of concern internationally or of concern to multiple academies. Habitat II. Among the initial activities of the InterAcademy Panel was participation in the United Nations Second Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II). Through the auspices of the InterAcademy Panel, a statement, Science and Technology and the Future of Cities, endorsed by seventy-two of the world's scientific academies, was transmitted to the delegates of that conference in Istanbul in June Prior to transmittal to the Habitat II Conference, this statement and other related work of Academies was discussed at a Forum of National Academies of Sciences and Engineering, held in Istanbul at

7 Bogaziçi University on 31 May - 1 June 1996, co-sponsored by the InterAcademy Panel and the Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS), and hosted by the Turkish Academy of Sciences. FUTURE IAP ACTIVITY: ADDRESSING THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITION In January 1996, the InterAcademy Panel Steering Committee identified, as an appropriate theme for IAP activity in the next few years, the topic of a sustainability transition in the 21st century. This work would lead to a conference of academies in the year 2000, which would produce and promote a forceful consensus statement on the challenges to sustainability in the coming century, and on the role of science and technology in meeting those challenges. The IAP is a forum in which the academies exchange and discuss information on their individual and cooperative work related to a sustainability transition. Examples of such activities are a study of population and land use, conducted jointly by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science Academy, and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the Sustainability Transition Project of the U.S. NRC Board on Sustainable development. Other Academies would be encouraged to report on and discuss completed, on-going, and newly initiated work relevant to the topic. The IAP Steering Committee noted that it would be valuable to have regional communication and coordination to engage and provide input from a wide range of Academies, particularly from developing countries. This IAP activity could encourage compatible methodology and provide access to a wide range of scientific efforts throughout the world. Perhaps most importantly, It could help to build the capacities of Academies individually or collectively to formulate policy advice on important issues. The IAP could also form links with engineering academies (CAETS), with other related programs (particularly in ICSU), with intergovernmental efforts (for example in the Commission on Sustainable Development, UNESCO, and FAO), with funding mechanisms for sustainable development (such as the UNDP, the World Bank, and GEF), and with non-governmental organizations. Thus, it could establish relationships for its own activities beyond the 2000 Conference, and contribute to the scientific information basis for policies and actions of governments, private sector, and international organizations in the 21st century. ORGANIZATIONAL AND PLANNING STRUCTURE The InterAcademy Panel Steering Committee would periodically consider and provide overall guidance to the activities related to the Sustainability Transition. Current membership includes the following scientific academies: Armenian Academy of Sciences Federation of Asian Scientific Academies and Societies

8 Academy of Sciences of Bolivia Brazilian Academy of Sciences Royal Society of Canada Caribbean Academy of Sciences Chinese Academy of Sciences Academy of Scientific Research and Technology of the Arab Republic of Egypt Academy of Science of the Institute of France Conference of German Academies Indian National Science Academy Academy of Sciences of the Islamic Republic of Iran Kenya National Academy of Sciences Mexican Academy of Scientific Research Nigerian Academy of Science Polish Academy of Sciences Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Third World Academy of Sciences Royal Society of London US National Academy of Sciences. The International Council of Scientific Unions serves as an ex officio member. The secretariat for the Steering Committee is provided by the Royal Society of London. An IAP Sustainability Transition Coordinating Committee (STCC) could be created to provide ongoing coordination and guidance in the organization of IAP activities on the Sustainability Transition, the development of the 2000 Conference agenda and program, and the production of a consensus statement of academies. The Coordinating Committee might be composed of representatives from eight national academies of sciences, with an appropriate balance among geographic regions. It could use Internet communications for ongoing coordination. Regional Coordination and Input would be led by volunteering academies, who may organize regional consultations for the purpose of identifying issues and suggesting recommendations for consideration in preparation for the year 2000 conference of academies. Staff support for each regional activity would be provided by an academy within the region. FUNDING As with the 1993 Population Conference, funding for the 2000 Conference would be a shared responsibility of the world's scientific academies. Financial contributions would be sought from scientific academies, foundations, corporations, and national and international funding agencies. The InterAcademy Panel Steering Committee could coordinate fund-raising activities. POSSIBLE SCHEDULE

9 Year 1996 June InterAcademy Panel issues statement, "Science and Technology and the Future of Cities," to U.N. Habitat II Conference and sponsors Forum of National Academies of Sciences and Engineering. September Discussion and adoption of general action plan for Year 2000 Conference on the Sustainability Transition. Volunteers for STCC, and for regional coordination. Discussion of potential special projects. (IAP Steering Committee meeting) Year 1997 Proceed with planning and organization of IAP activities leading to the 2000 Conference, including regional coordination, special projects, and issues for an electronic conference of academies. Receive reports on suggested issues and methodology from individual academies or groups of academies. Consider cooperative relationships (for example, with CAETS). First meeting of STCC by midyear. Year 1998 Review progress of activities leading to the 2000 Conference, including regional coordination, special projects, and issues for an electronic conference of academies. Prepare outline of consensus statement. Establish location and start logistical organization of 2000 Conference. Year 1999 Review input from all IAP activities leading to the 2000 Conference, including regional activities, special projects, and issues for an electronic conference of academies. Coordinate detailed drafting of consensus statement on the sustainability transition. Finalize agenda and organization of 2000 Conference, and consensus statement. Year 2000 Spring Convene 2000 InterAcademy Conference on the Sustainability Transition - Week-long conference with presentations by representatives of scientific academies and other experts. - Issuance of academies statement on sustainability transition.

10 Summer Initiate follow-up activities and develop follow-on agenda for InterAcademy Panel. Fall Production and publication of Conference Proceedings