United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Executive Board

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1 ex United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Executive Board Hundred and fifty-fourth Session 154 EX/10 PARIS, 26 March 1998 Original: French Item of the provisional agenda ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WORLD COMMISSION ON THE ETHICS OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND TECHNOLOGY SUMMARY This document is submitted to the Executive Board in accordance with 29 C/Resolution 13, paragraph 2.C(d), adopted by the General Conference at its 29th session. The Director-General hereby submits to the Executive Board the proposed statutes of the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology, with a view to their approval. Decision required: paragraph 17.

2 154 EX/10 I. INTRODUCTION 1. In his Preliminary Proposals for the Draft Programme and Budget for (150 EX/5, Part II, para. 8), the Director-General proposed to the Executive Board, on the basis of consultations that he carried out in , the creation of a World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology. While expressing its interest in this initiative, the Executive Board, in 150 EX/Decision 5.1 (Part I, para. 10), invited the Director- General to submit to it at its 151st session precise proposals concerning the feasibility, mandate, method of work and cost of a World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology, clarifying the relations between this Commission and the International Bioethics Committee (IBC). 2. Thus, at its 151st session, the Executive Board had before it document 151 EX/44 which presented the institutional framework of the Commission, the issues involved, the Commission s mandate and its operational procedures. 3. In its recommendations to the General Conference on the Draft Programme and Budget for (29 C/6, para. 26), the Executive Board stressed the need to clarify further - before its establishment - the mandate of the proposed World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology, in the light inter alia of the conclusions of the special session of the United Nations General Assembly on sustainable development (June, 1997) and of the expected outcome of the World Science Conference and recommended that this Commission should have a flexible and transparent structure, enabling it to have recourse to networking with corresponding members in the different regions, and to associate with its work the International Council of Philosophy and Human Sciences (ICPHS), the International Council of Social Sciences (ICSS) and the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), other competent scientific institutions and the five intergovernmental scientific programmes of UNESCO, with a view to avoiding duplication of efforts. 4. During the plenary meetings of the 29th session of the General Conference (October- November 1997), the heads of delegations who mentioned the initiative welcomed it warmly; only two delegates expressed opposition. As the Director-General stressed in his reply to the general policy debate, a keen interest was expressed in setting up a World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology which would take up such challenges as water and energy which will be the focus of conflicts in the first decade of the twenty-first century. The discussion now drawing to a close has shown the priority that all countries accord to the solution of these planetary challenges. With this initiative UNESCO is doing no more than performing its ethical mission and showing its concern that as many as possible should share in it, on a basis of exchanges of views and participation. 5. The creation of such a body reflects the increasing importance of ethical reflection in the light of the cultural and social effects of the rapid development of scientific knowledge and technology, which is necessary for the future development of humanity. It will be the task of the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology, as a forum of reflection, to formulate on a scientific basis principles that could provide decision-makers, in sensitive areas, with selection criteria that are other than purely economic. 6. Furthermore, at its 29th session, the General Conference emphasized, on the occasion of the joint meeting of the programme commissions on the theme Science, power and responsibility, the ethical aspects of the scientific imbalances between countries.

3 154 EX/10 - page 2 7. In paragraph 2, Section C, subparagraph (d) of 29 C/Resolution 13, on Major Programme II: The sciences in the service of development, the General Conference invited the Director-General to promote ethical, multidisciplinary and multicultural reflection on a number of situations that might become a risk to society as a result of advances in science and technology, by setting up the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology, in the light of the recommendations of the Executive Board (29 C/6, para. 26). II. SETTING UP THE WORLD COMMISSION ON THE ETHICS OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND TECHNOLOGY 8. On 12 January 1998, the Director-General appointed Ms Vidgis Finnbogadóttir, former Head of State of the Republic of Iceland, President of the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology. In accordance with the Regulations for the general classification of the various categories of meetings convened by UNESCO, this body, being of an advisory nature, would be classified under category V. The World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology will have the following functions: to be an intellectual forum for the exchange of ideas and experience; to detect on that basis the early signs of risk situations; to perform the role of adviser to decision-makers in this respect, and lastly; to promote dialogue between scientific communities, decision-makers and the public at large. 9. The Commission will advise the Organization on specialized questions which are submitted to it or which it may take up. In addition, it will have the authority, as appropriate, to make proposals to public and private decision-makers, supported by in-depth multidisciplinary studies, on matters it has taken up, or which have been referred to it by the Director-General, particularly issues of current concern or of an urgent nature. 10. With regard to its operational procedures, the Commission will have an open-ended membership and may bring in specialists on specific subjects. It will have a flexible and transparent structure, multicultural and transdisciplinary in character, in accordance with the recommendations made by the Executive Board on the Draft Programme and Budget for and contained in document 29 C/6. The establishment of a network of corresponding members will provide a means for specialists or scientific institutions to cooperate in the Commission s work. 11. Moreover, consideration is being given to using the new information technologies to enable the Commission members to communicate with each other. Lastly, the Commission will set up working groups or thematic groups, which will operate between sessions. These groups will include one or several members of the Commission and experts who may be brought in on an ad hoc basis. This means that the Commission s work will not be limited to its sessions alone but will be carried out over time. 12. The Executive Board, at its 151st session, expressed the wish that due account be taken of the outcome of the nineteenth special session of the United Nations General Assembly (23-28 June 1997) for the purpose of a review of the implementation of Agenda 21, adopted

4 154 EX/10 - page 3 by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 13. The World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology, drawing on the first thematic studies, which are already planned, notably on the ethics of energy and the ethics of freshwater utilization, will be able, within its terms of reference, to make a contribution to the framing of national strategies and policies and the reinforcement of an international approach based on the principle of shared responsibilities. A Multi-Year Programme of Work ( ) has been drawn up for the Commission for Sustainable Development, which has served as the main framework for reviewing the progress made in the implementation of Agenda 21 since the Rio Conference. The issues referred to above are included in two of the sectoral themes of this programme of work, considered to be a priority: Strategic approaches to freshwater management and Atmosphere/Energy. The World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology, using the networks it develops, will also be able to help collect and update information in these areas, thereby making its contribution to the collaboration called for by Agenda 21 within the United Nations system. 14. Since it is essential to avoid duplication of efforts and to benefit from the advice and assistance of the professional organizations directly concerned, the Presidents of UNESCO s five intergovernmental scientific programmes 1 and those of the International Council of Philosophy and Human Sciences (ICPHS), the International Council of Social Sciences (ICSS), the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs will be invited to take part, ex officio, in the Commission s work, as provided for in Article 3, paragraph 5, of the draft statutes of the Commission, contained in the annex. 15. At the invitation of the Norwegian Government, the first session of the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology will be held in Norway from 11 to 13 November On that occasion, the Commission will address, as matters of priority, the following two questions: the preparation of a draft ethical declaration on the sciences, which will be submitted for adoption at the World Science Conference, to be held in Budapest in June 1999; the examination of a preliminary report on the ethics of energy based on the work of a working group set up by UNESCO. 16. The draft statutes of the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology are being submitted to the Executive Board for its approval. 1. Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC); Programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB); International social sciences programme on Management of Social Transformations (MOST); International Hydrological Programme (IHP) and International Geological Correlation Programme (IGCP).

5 154 EX/10 - page 4 III. DECISION 17. In view of the foregoing, the Executive Board may wish to adopt the following decision: The Executive Board, 1. Having examined document 154 EX/10, 2. Welcomes the contribution that the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology will make to the work of the World Science Conference (June 1999) and to the reinforcement of the Organization s ethical mission; 3. Approves the Statutes of the Commission, which are annexed hereto.

6 154 EX/10 Annex ANNEX DRAFT STATUTES OF THE WORLD COMMISSION ON THE ETHICS OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND TECHNOLOGY Article 1 Article 2 Article 3 A World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology, hereinafter called the Commission (category V), is hereby established. The Commission shall be responsible for advising the Organization on its programme concerning the ethics of scientific knowledge and technology. It shall also be mandated: to be an intellectual forum for the exchange of ideas and experience; to detect on that basis the early signs of risk situations; to perform the role of adviser to decision-makers in this respect and, lastly; to promote dialogue between scientific communities, decision-makers and the public at large. 1. The Commission shall be composed of 18 members, appointed by the Director-General following consultation with the National Commissions of the Member States, and serving in a personal capacity. It shall have an open-ended structure and may bring in specialists on specific subjects. 2. The members shall be appointed for a four-year term, renewable once. In the event of the resignation or death of a Commission member, the Director-General shall appoint a replacement for the remainder of the current term. 3. One half of the members of the Commission shall be replaced every two years. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2 above, when appointing the first members of the Commission, the Director-General shall designate the nine members whose term shall expire on 31 December The members of the Commission shall be chosen from among eminent personalities in the fields of science, law, philosophy, culture or politics, having the competence and the authority necessary to fulfil the functions entrusted to the Commission, taking due account of geographical distribution and ensuring coverage of the various disciplines and schools of thought. 5. The Presidents of UNESCO s five intergovernmental scientific programmes (IOC, MAB, MOST, IGCP and IHP) and those of the International Council of Philosophy and Human Sciences (ICPHS), the International Council of Social Sciences (ICSS), the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs shall be invited to participate in the work of the Commission.

7 154 EX/10 Annex - page 2 6. The Commission shall define, in agreement with the Director-General, the conditions under which certain specialists, representatives of non-governmental organizations or personalities may be consulted in person, on the questions listed in its programme. Article 4 1. The Member States and Associate Members of UNESCO may participate as observers in the meetings of the Commission. 2. States which are not members of UNESCO, but members of the United Nations system organizations, may participate as observers in the Commission s meetings at the invitation of the Director-General. 3. The United Nations and the other organizations of the United Nations system with which UNESCO has concluded mutual representation agreements may participate as observers in the Commission s meetings. 4. The Commission shall define, in agreement with the Director-General, the conditions under which other intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations with similar purposes may be invited to attend its debates. Article 5 1. The Director-General shall convene the Commission in ordinary session once every two years. He/she may convene extraordinary sessions at the request of the President of the Commission, and subject to the availability of the necessary resources. 2. The Director-General, in consultation with the Bureau of the Commission, shall set the date and place of each session. 3. Any Member State of UNESCO, or member of one of the United Nations system organizations, may invite the Director-General to convene a session of the Commission on its territory. Article 6 1. At each of its ordinary sessions, the Commission shall elect a President, two Vice- Presidents and a Rapporteur, who shall form the Bureau of the Commission and shall remain in office until the following ordinary session. 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 above, the Director-General shall appoint the first President of the Commission. 3. The Director-General shall convene the Bureau, in consultation with the President, and shall be represented at the Bureau s meetings. Article 7 1. The Director-General shall provide the staff and the resources needed to ensure the operation of the Commission s Secretariat.

8 154 EX/10 Annex - page 3 2. The Director-General of UNESCO shall designate a member of the UNESCO Secretariat as the Executive Secretary of the Commission. Article 8 1. The travel expenses and subsistence allowances payable to Commission members in connection with meetings shall be borne by UNESCO, in accordance with the applicable travel regulations. 2. The costs arising from the participation of specialists, in connection with any hearings requested by the Commission, shall be borne by UNESCO, in accordance with the applicable travel regulations. 3. The international non-governmental organizations invited to participate in the Commission s work shall bear the expenses arising from the participation of their representative in the Commission s sessions. 4. The running expenses of the Commission shall be financed by an allocation made for that purpose by the General Conference at each of its ordinary sessions or by extrabudgetary resources that states may donate for that purpose. Article 9 1. The Commission shall establish its Rules of Procedure, which shall be submitted to the Director-General for approval. 2. The Director-General shall draw up the agenda of the Commission s sessions, after consultation with the President of the Commission. 3. After each session, the Commission shall submit to the Director-General a report on its work, and its recommendations. As appropriate, the Director-General shall transmit the results of the Commission s work to the governing bodies of the Organization, and to the bodies concerned by the Commission s proposals. Article 10 The present Statutes may be modified by the Executive Board at its own initiative or on a proposal by the Director-General.