The Decade is the natural continuation of the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development, even if its scope is much wider. Whereas the Year contented itself with raising the profile of the basic sciences by explaining the link between a breakthrough in the laboratory and applications which may only find their way into our daily lives decades later, the Decade will be harnessing all of the sciences – basic, applied, social and human – to bring about transformative change to our societies, economies and environment.

There is no time to lose. At the half-way point in our quest to reach the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, the verdict is out: the world is not on track to reach any of these goals.

To reach universal coverage for safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030, current rates of progress would need to increase fourfold, according to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Report (2022). For at least 3 billion people, the quality of the water they rely upon is unknown for lack of monitoring.

Climate disruption is growing, as droughts, floods, storms and other weather-related hazards become more frequent and more severe. ‘We are headed towards global warming of 3°C if we carry on with current policies’, observed Jim Skea, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, at the opening of COP28 on 30 November, citing the UNEP Gap Report released a few days earlier. Phasing out fossil fuels and replacing them with more sustainable sources of energy will be impossible without science.

More generally, today’s production and consumption models are unsustainable. Plastic and electronic waste are ubiquitous. Over half of the elements in the average smartphone are increasingly scarce. Sustainable solutions such as battery-driven vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines are, themselves, rich in rare earth metals which are scarce by definition. We shall need science to increase efficiency and develop more sustainable new materials.

Solving these and other challenges will demand sound policies, sound science and solid public support. That, in a nutshell, is the aim of the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development, to develop a pact between science and society, in which each party acknowledges that it needs the other to thrive. Too often, policy and research are turning a blind eye to pressing societal challenges, such as chemical pollution, poor water quality or climate-vulnerable crops. Sustainability science is not a priority at global level, as revealed by an original study in the UNESCO Science Report. This neglect of societal needs is undermining trust in science.

We must write a new social contract for science, if we are to mitigate the daunting crises we face, such as climate disruption, biodiversity loss, resource depletion and socio-economic inequalities. That will entail aligning policies and research, so that both are pointing in the same strategic direction, towards sustainable development. At the same time, we must demystify science by fostering global scientific literacy. A society that understands science will be more likely to recognize its potential – and accept its limitations.

The history of humanity abounds with examples of how solving one problem inadvertently created another. This is because we tend to underestimate the complexity of problem-solving. This shortsightedness can be overcome by contemplating a problem from different angles, in other words, by involving specialists from different disciplines in problem-solving. During the Covid-19 pandemic, effective scientific advisory bodies grouped specialists from different disciplines, such as virologists, data scientists, mathematicians (modellers), economists and psychologists. Too often in the past, perspectives from the social sciences and humanities have been overlooked, despite the reality that human behaviour and sociological dimensions are key to successful decision-making. One aim of the Decade will be to foster a more transdisciplinary approach to problem-solving.

UNESCO’s own broad mandate, which spans basic sciences, engineering, science policy, environmental sciences, social and human sciences, education, communication and culture, makes it an ideal incubator for this type of transdisciplinary approach. ‘We aim to practice what we preach’, smiles physicist Amal Kasry, who heads the Section for Research, Innovation, Basic Sciences and Engineering at UNESCO.

Beyond UNESCO, ‘our aim is to redefine the scientific system’, she says, ‘by introducing a dynamic, adaptive framework that encourages agility, inclusivity and responsiveness to societal needs’. One strategy will be to generalize the practice of open science in scholarly pursuits, as part of implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science adopted by 193 governments two years ago. Open science can foster inclusiveness and greater transparency, which can, in turn, accelerate scientific progress and build trust in science.

‘It is our hope’, Kasry says, ‘that, armed with better policies and greater scientific literacy, society will be in a better position by the end of the Decade to leverage the power of scientific knowledge, innovation and collaboration to tackle the world's most pressing problems. In turn, it is expected that science will have used this growing support to redouble its efforts to secure a better future for people and planet’.

The Decade will be officially launched in Colombia next year during the meeting of ministers of science, technology and innovation on the margins of the Open Science Forum of Latin America and the Caribbean (CILAC), which is taking place from 21 to 23 October.

The Decade was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on 25 August this year, as follow-up to the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development.

UNESCO will be producing three reports in 2026, 2029 and 2032 to monitor progress towards the Decade’s goals.