The COVID-19 pandemic, which is going on for more than a year now, has costed too many lives, and disrupted even more.
Without the results produced for decades, and even centuries, by basic, curiosity-driven scientific research, however, the global situation would have been much worse.
Without basic sciences, how would we know that infection is caused by a virus, what does that virus look like, what are its genetic sequence and variations? We could go on with a long list: testing, treatments, vaccines, epidemiological modeling, and even high-speed, long-distance communications – in short, everything that helps us fight the pandemic and its consequences – are all rooted in basic sciences.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a reminder (so stark and brutal that we would prefer to have been spared) of our dependence on basic science to ensure balanced, sustainable, and inclusive development of the planet.
The International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development 2022 will put the spotlight on the links between the basic sciences and the Sustainable Development Goals. It will be a key moment of mobilization to convince economic and political leaders, as well as the general public, of their importance.
Click on the image to see the infographics about COVID-19 and basic sciences
Agenda 2030, adopted in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly, is an integrated vision for the sustainable development of all the world’s populations. It is articulated into 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) towards which we must collectively strive. Several of these SDGs are explicitly linked to scientific advances:
But in fact all SDGs require the input of science and technology.
In November 2019, during its 40th session, the General Conference of UNESCO adopted a resolution recommending that 2022 should be proclaimed the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development by the UN General Assembly.
Read the resolution.
A draft resolution about the promulgation of 2022 as the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development has been published by the UN Digital Library. It is presented by Honduras, with Armenia, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Georgia, Guatemala, Jordan, Paraguay, South Africa and Viet Nam.
It will be voted by the United nations general Assembly at the very beginning of December.
This will allow to inaugurate IYBSSD2022 with an Opening conference on 1st July at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
The Academia Europaea has announced that Professor Ole Petersen will be presented with the Gold Award of the Academia Europaea for his contribution to the development of European Science.
