Drafting group weathers the storm
1 July 1999
[BUDAPEST] The drafting group that has been working on the final documents for the World Conference on Science signalled the successful completion of its task with a round of applause at midnight last night, five hours after its scheduled completion.
The final versions of the Declaration on Science and the Use of Scientific Knowledge and Science Agenda - Framework for Action contain many textual amendments, but few substantial changes, to the drafts published shortly before the Budapest meeting. They will be presented for approval to the conference plenary session after lunch today.
As widely expected, although disappointing to some, there is to be no global fund for science and development. Similarly, representatives of indigenous peoples organizations failed in their attempts to get traditional knowledge to be classed as being the same as "scientific knowledge". But one concession was made to their demands: a formal recognition that traditional knowledge has contributed to the development of modern science.
Two issues - ethics and intellectual property rights - took the longest to agree. In the end, the drafting group felt that questions relating to intellectual property, such as the creation of knowledge monopolies, the requirements of developing countries and traditional knowledge, would be more appropriately handled by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Calls for a Hippocratic oath for scientists, promoted among others by Nobel laureate Sir Joseph Rotblat, were similarly rejected. Instead the final framework document recommends that "young scientists should be appropriately encouraged to respect and adhere to the basic ethical principles and responsibilities of science". The ethics commissions of Unesco and ICSU have been charged with following through this particular recommendation.
Sustained lobbying efforts from many national delegations, as well as by women's groups, has paid off, with both documents making strong statements in support of the need for women to play a more prominent role in science. Indeed countries are to be urged to launch national, regional and global campaigns to this end, in which Unesco is likely to play a significant role.
The Africa group, however, only partially succeeded in its attempts to insert text in the declaration document on the idea of a debt-for-science swap. The text states that relief from debt will give the opportunity to governments in least developed countries to strengthen their research and educational systems.
This does not go as far as some African countries had hoped. Senegal and Cameroon, in particular, had wanted the conference documents to call on G8 countries to make spending on science a condition of debt relief for the countries included in the G8 plan (see naturenews+ No 4). Balla Moussa Daffe, science minister for Senegal, yesterday called on the G8 countries to take the proposal further in this way.
New text has also been agreed on the need for "disadvantaged groups" to be given more involvement in - and better access to - science. Disadvantaged groups is a collective reference to the disabled, ethnic minorities, and indigenous peoples. This text was agreed at the suggestion of Gregor Wolbring of Canada (see Canadian biochemist).
At the suggestion of Sir Robert May, Britain's chief scientific adviser, the documents underline the need for science to play a more prominent role in the shaping of government policy. They also recommend more openness from scientists, as well as better public access to - and more public involvement - in science.
But they stop short of recommending direct public involvement in the setting of policies for science, as had been urged by by environmentalist organizations such as Greenpeace.
The chairmanship of rapporteur-general Peter Tindemans was widely praised, and is widely considered to have been a crucial factor in the group's successful - and relatively early -completion of its work. "He did a thoroughly professional job," one delegate says.
Tindemans says that chairing the group's two days of deliberations was not easy, as he had to allow delegates to have their say, while at the same time cutting irrelevant, long-winded, or repetitive discussion down to a minimum.
Tindemans adds that his job was made easier by an atmosphere of cooperation in the room, as well as the willingness of delegates to show flexibility when discussing areas of disagreement. Compared to other UN meetings, members of the 18-country drafting group were mostly relaxed, with countries formally outside the group also assisting in the drafting process.
The fact that the documents have no legal force is undoubtedly a key reason for the relative absence of tension. But Federico Mayor, Unesco's director-general, says he believes it is better for countries to remain friends - even if the price is a framework document, intended to act primarily as a set of guidelines, rather than a legally-binding protocol. In an interview yesterday, Mayor said that the absence of tensions between nations should be seen as benefits of Unesco's style of diplomacy.
If adopted - as expected - at a plenary session tomorrow afternoon, the documents will be submitted for approval to the general conferences of both Unesco and ICSU later this year, before being presented to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
EHSAN MASOOD
Nature © Macmillan Publishers Ltd 1999 Registered No. 785998 England.