Global science funding must be redesigned to succeed on SDGs

Subject : International Relations

Section: International Organisation

Context:

The current science around sustainability or sustainable science model requires a fundamental revamp to keep up with the pace and intricacy of climate challenges, argued a high-level Global Commission on Science Missions for Sustainability (GCSMS).

Global Commission on Science Missions for Sustainability (GCSMS):

GCSMS was established in 2021 by the International Science Council (ISC), a non-profit.
- The ISC was created in 2018 as the result of a merger between the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC).
- It works at the global level to catalyze and convene scientific expertise, advice and influence on issues of major concern to both science and society.
Report published by it is “Flipping the Science Model: A Roadmap to Science Missions for Sustainability”.
The commission recommended establishing an ambitious $1 billion per year mission science network of Regional Sustainability Hubs across the world to rectify the issue.
These hubs would address context-specific and complex issues — from climate change and malnutrition to water security and clean energy — through a systematic engagement process.

Slow progress on SDGs:

Almost halfway to meeting the 2030 deadline, countries remain far from achieving poverty eradication goals, according to the latest UN SDG progress report.
Nearly 1.1 billion of the 6.1 billion people across 110 countries are poor, noted the UNDP’s latest multidimensional poverty estimates.
Global hunger is back to 2005 levels and nearly 600 million people will remain mired in extreme poverty by 2030.