How to fill the science-shaped hole in global policymaking

A year after the UN abolished its science advisory board, researchers need a route to feed into its policymaking, says Peter Gluckman.

Science most obviously appears on the global agenda in processes such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. But it features in many other ways too, be it in the success of the Antarctic Treaty or the myriad ways in which UN agencies assist member states.

Much UN policy is developed by officials in New York or Geneva. Their decisions depend on agreement from member states at the General Assembly or executive boards. Member states are represented at the UN by diplomats.