Evolution of ICSU’s Environmental research programmes

International activity in the environmental area has a long history, including the First International Polar Year in 1882, the ICSU-sponsored International Geophysical Year in 1957-1958 and the Global Atmospheric Research Programme in 1967-1980. In 1969, ICSU established the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) to address environmental issues – either global or shared by several nations – in urgent need of interdisciplinary synthesis, assessment and evaluation of information on natural and human-made environmental changes and their effect on people. The first SCOPE Report was commissioned by the Secretary-General of the 1972 United Nations (UN) Conference on the Human Environment.

In 1979, ICSU co-sponsored the first World Climate Conference, which led to the establishment in 1980 of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) by ICSU, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Based on the studies of SCOPE in the 1970s and early 1980s, ICSU initiated the planning of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) in 1986. In addition to IGBP and WCRP, which are Global Environmental Change (GEC) programmes, ICSU also co-sponsors the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP), established in 1996 in collaboration with the International Social Science Council (ISSC), and DIVERSITAS, initially established in 1991 by the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), SCOPE, and UNESCO. These four GEC programmes are currently coming together under the banner of the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) that promotes international and interdisciplinary research in special focal areas (carbon, food, and water). The GEC programmes and their joint ESSP projects form the core research programmes of ICSU in the environmental sector.

Since the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, Rio de Janeiro 1992), the UN have expanded their focus from the environment to embrace sustainable development issues, emphasising the integration of the environmental, social and economic pillars of sustainable development, as demonstrated by the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD, Johannesburg 2002). ICSU and the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) were invited by the UN to represent the Scientific and Technological community at WSSD. One of the challenges, highlighted by ICSU, is to promote research that integrates the three pillars of sustainable development. The Scientific and Technological community examined these challenges in publications prepared for the WSSD.

Over the past few decades, the scientific community has made remarkable progress in advancing scientific understanding of environmental problems through international collaboration. ICSU has often taken the lead and the results of these research programmes, complemented by a number of international assessments, have been essential for the development of multinational environmental agreements such as the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the UN Forest Principles.

The Global Change System for Analysis, Research and Training (START), which is jointly sponsored by WCRP, IGBP, and IHDP, supports regional networks of researchers and institutions engaged in collaborative research on global change issues. One of the goals of START is to strengthen indigenous capacity and to address scientific and policy aspects of environmental changes in the regions.

In addition to the GEC programmes, other important activities in the environmental area that also contribute to the elucidation of the Earth system processes, are carried out by ICSU Interdisciplinary Bodies (IBs), such as the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR).

ICSU also sponsors three Global Observing Systems (GOS): the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), and the Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS), in collaboration with partner organizations such as the WMO, IOC, UNESCO, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The Panel on World Data Centres (WDC) and the Federation of Astronomical and Geophysical Data Analysis Services (FAGS) also provide services for collection, validation and distribution of scientific data of environmental relevance. The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) is facilitating international exchange of information on scientific research related to global environment monitoring from space.

Looking ahead, ICSU and WMO are co-sponsoring the International Polar Year (IPY) in 2007-2008 . The IPY will be bipolar in focus, multidisciplinary in scope and truly international in participation. It will provide a uniquely comprehensive “snap-shot” of measurements for comparison with previous and future records to inform our knowledge of changing planetary processes.

Important activities of high relevance to the environmental sciences are also undertaken by ICSU Scientific Union Members and National Members. Many IBs and Unions have national membership, and effective linkage between the national and international levels is crucial for the success of ICSU.