InterAcademy Panel on International Issues
Encyclopedia
The InterAcademy Panel on International Issues (IAP) is a global network consisting of over 100 national
science academies
. Founded in 1993, its stated goal is to help member academies advise the public on the scientific
aspects of critical global issues. It has released official statements on socially important topics, including human population growth
, global warming
, human reproductive cloning
, and evolution
.
The highest decisive body of IAP is the General Council, which meets every third year, and where each member organisation has one vote. In between the meetings, the work is directed by an executive committee with 11 member academies, convening each year; by two co-chairs, and of a secretariate at the present host academy. One of the chairs shall be the president or another prominent person from an academy in a developing country
; the other shall have a similar standing in an academy from an industrialised country. Similar rules of diversity of members hold for the executive committee. The present co-chairs are Howard Alper
(serving a second three-year period 2010-2012) and Mohamed H.A. Hassan
(first three-year period).
In 2000, the panel founded the InterAcademy Council (IAC), which is governed by a board including a rotating group of 15 Academy presidents from around the world. In order to represent a global view, the governing nations are of diverse levels of economic development
. The current co-chairs of the board are Robbert Dijkgraaf
and Lu Yongxiang
.
Until 2009, twelwe or thirteen statements have reached the status of official IAP documents, as listed below.
In 2010, the council board recommended changes in the IPCC
, such as having an executive committee with "individuals from outside the IPCC or even outside the climate science community."
National academy
A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the humanities. Typically the country's learned societies in...
science academies
Academy of Sciences
An Academy of Sciences is a national academy or another learned society dedicated to sciences.In non-English speaking countries, the range of academic fields of the members of a national Academy of Science often includes fields which would not normally be classed as "science" in English...
. Founded in 1993, its stated goal is to help member academies advise the public on the scientific
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
aspects of critical global issues. It has released official statements on socially important topics, including human population growth
Population growth
Population growth is the change in a population over time, and can be quantified as the change in the number of individuals of any species in a population using "per unit time" for measurement....
, global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
, human reproductive cloning
Human cloning
Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. It does not usually refer to monozygotic multiple births nor the reproduction of human cells or tissue. The ethics of cloning is an extremely controversial issue...
, and evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
.
The highest decisive body of IAP is the General Council, which meets every third year, and where each member organisation has one vote. In between the meetings, the work is directed by an executive committee with 11 member academies, convening each year; by two co-chairs, and of a secretariate at the present host academy. One of the chairs shall be the president or another prominent person from an academy in a developing country
Developing country
A developing country, also known as a less-developed country, is a nation with a low level of material well-being. Since no single definition of the term developing country is recognized internationally, the levels of development may vary widely within so-called developing countries...
; the other shall have a similar standing in an academy from an industrialised country. Similar rules of diversity of members hold for the executive committee. The present co-chairs are Howard Alper
Howard Alper
Howard Alper, is a Canadian chemist. He is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Ottawa. He is best known for his research of catalysis in chemistry....
(serving a second three-year period 2010-2012) and Mohamed H.A. Hassan
Mohamed H.A. Hassan
Mohamed Hag Ali Hassan is a scientist. He has published articles in various fields, mostly applying mathemathics in the physical sciences. He has been active as professor of mathematics and as dean of the School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Khartoum, until 1986...
(first three-year period).
In 2000, the panel founded the InterAcademy Council (IAC), which is governed by a board including a rotating group of 15 Academy presidents from around the world. In order to represent a global view, the governing nations are of diverse levels of economic development
Economic development
Economic development generally refers to the sustained, concerted actions of policymakers and communities that promote the standard of living and economic health of a specific area...
. The current co-chairs of the board are Robbert Dijkgraaf
Robbert Dijkgraaf
Robertus Henricus "Robbert" Dijkgraaf is a Dutch mathematical physicist and string theorist.Robertus Henricus Dijkgraaf was born on 24 January 1960 in Ridderkerk, Netherlands. He currently lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands...
and Lu Yongxiang
Lu Yongxiang
Lu Yongxiang , aka Yung-Hsiang Lu, was President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences until March 2011.-Biography:Lu studied in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, and majored at hydrodynamics . He graduated from Zhejiang University in 1964, and became a lecturer in his...
.
IAP statements
One major way for IAP to promote its goal is to take initiatives to "joint statements on issues of fundamental importance to humanity". A statement first appears as a draft, which all members are encouraged to comment and amend; decisions on formulations are "reached by consensus". The final statement then is put to a vote, and is only accepted as an official IAP document if at least two thirds of the members (i.e., of the member academies) agree to sign it. http://www.interacademies.net/Object.File/Master/8/487/IAP%20StatementsPRINT-1.pdf, p. 4. Thus, the statements are intended to represent the consensus of the scientific community rather than statements of IAP as an organisation in itself.Until 2009, twelwe or thirteen statements have reached the status of official IAP documents, as listed below.
- IAP statement on population growthIAP statement on population growthThe InterAcademy Panel Statement on Population Growth is an international scientist consensus document discussing and demanding a halt of the population expansion. This was the first worldwide joint statement of academies of sciences, and their cooperative InterAcademy Panel on International Issues...
, proposed 1993, ratified 1994, signed by 58 members. The academies state that "the world is undergoing an unprecedented population expansion", and that it is necessary to stop it. They noted that the amount of food produced (both on land and sea) per person was decreasing, and stated that many environmental problems were aggravated by the population expansion. The academies state that we must reach "zero population growth within the lifetime of our children". They enumerate means which should be taken to achieve this, and also to counteract the effects of the population growth on environment and food production, inter alia. This includes furthering equal opportunities for women, easy access to cheap and safe contraceptives, broad primary health care, governmental policies recognizing longer-term environmental responsibilities, and increased research on cultural, religious, and other factors, which "affect reproductive behavior". - IAP statement on science and technology and the future of cities, 1996, signed by 71 members. The academies note that there is an ongoing rapid world wide urbanisation. They state that this in itself is not necessarily a bad development, but that it may have rather negative effects, if appropriate measures are not taken in order to ensure the new city dwellers e.g. access to water and adequate housing. Therefore, active city planning is necessary, and so is further research on urbanisation.
- IAP statement on transition to sustainabilitySustainabilitySustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
, 2000, signed by 63 members. - IAP statement on human cloningHuman cloningHuman cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. It does not usually refer to monozygotic multiple births nor the reproduction of human cells or tissue. The ethics of cloning is an extremely controversial issue...
, 2003, signed by 67 members. The academies support "a worldwide ban on the reproductive cloning of human beings", but at the same time call for "cloning to obtain embryonic stem cells for both research and therapeutic purposes to be excluded from this ban". - IAP statement on health of mother and child in developing countries, 2003, signed by 67 members.
- IAP statement on science education of children, 2003, signed by 68 members.
- IAP statement on scientific capacity building, 2003, signed by 68 members.
- IAP statement on science and the mediaMedia (communication)In communications, media are the storage and transmission channels or tools used to store and deliver information or data...
, 2003, signed by 68 members. - IAP statement on access to scientific information, 2003, signed by 68 members.
- IAP statement on biosecurityBiosecurityBiosecurity is a set of preventive measures designed to reduce the risk of transmission of infectious diseases, quarantined pests, invasive alien species, living modified organisms...
, 2005, signed by 71 members. - IAP statement on the teaching of evolutionEvolutionEvolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
, 2006. Signed by 70 members. - IAP statement on ocean acidification, 2009. Signed by 70 members. The academies state that ocean water acidity has risenOcean acidificationOcean acidification is the name given to the ongoing decrease in the pH and increase in acidity of the Earth's oceans, caused by the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere....
due to increased carbon dioxideCarbon dioxideCarbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
(CO2) caused by human activities, and that it probably will rise further with severe effects on marine ecosystemMarine ecosystemMarine ecosystems are among the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems. They include oceans, salt marsh and intertidal ecology, estuaries and lagoons, mangroves and coral reefs, the deep sea and the sea floor. They can be contrasted with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine...
s if the emission of CO2 does not decrease considerably. They urge the issue be recognized among the problems addressed by the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 in CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
. - IAP statement on tropical forests and climate change, 2009. Signed by 54 members.
In 2010, the council board recommended changes in the IPCC
IPCC
IPCC may refer to:*Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, of the United Nations*Independent Police Complaints Commission, of England and Wales*Irish Peatland Conservation Council...
, such as having an executive committee with "individuals from outside the IPCC or even outside the climate science community."