Goals for Science in the Post-2015 Development Agenda

Goals for Science in the Post-2015 Development Agenda

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The UN Secretary-General’s high-level panel on life after the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) — the Post-2015 Development Agenda — held its second meeting in London at the beginning of November. It’s a reminder that the time has come for all of us to plan our futures in line with the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as they take shape.

There are exciting discussions underway. The outcome document from June’s Rio+20 conference makes specific reference to the role of scientific knowledge in sustainable development. The high-level panel repeated this endorsement at its first meeting in September, noting that decision-making based on evidence is a pillar of good governance. But there is a long way to go from this rhetoric to improving the interface between science and development. Although the endorsement is welcome, delegates at the Rio+20 conference did sideline science in favor of discussions on fiscal trade-offs for the green economy, and the politics of institutional maneuvering.