South Africa hosts the inaugural Science20 meeting for African nations, focusing on urgent global challenges, particularly climate change. The meeting, held from February 24-27, 2025, aims to provide actionable science-based policy recommendations for G20 leaders. Key discussions highlight the need for adaptability and holistic approaches to interconnected issues, with an emphasis on effective communication with policymakers.
South Africa is making history as the first African country to host the Science20 (S20) meeting, a pivotal forum for national science academies from G20 nations. Scheduled from February 24-27, 2025, the discussions will center on urgent global issues, particularly those impacting Africa’s vulnerabilities. Leaders from the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) have underscored the pressing need to tackle climate change and the critical importance of formulating science-based policy recommendations for G20 leaders.
The outcomes from this year’s S20 will be publicly released in conjunction with the G20 summit in September. Thokozani Majozi, President of ASSAf, emphasized the necessity of these discussions translating into actionable insights for policymakers. “The S20 deliberates on pertinent issues with the idea of sharing recommendations. But ultimately, these discussions must reach policymakers,” as he stated in Nature Africa. He expressed that failure to effectively communicate positions could render the S20 ineffective.
Addressing the uncertainties resulting from fluctuating foreign aid policies, such as those from the United States and the United Kingdom, Majozi reaffirmed the importance of flexibility in crafting adaptable solutions suitable for various nations. “We should be alive to the fact that changes happen steeply at times, and we should be able to adapt,” he advised.
Francois Engelbrecht, Director of the Global Change Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand and a contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, highlighted the need for climate mitigation strategies that accurately address the risks of climate change across diverse regions represented in the G20. “The science of future climate change is strongly rooted in the laws of physics,” Engelbrecht remarked, reinforcing the reliability of climate models in forecasting future risks.
Himla Soodyall, Executive Officer at ASSAf, stressed the necessity to view global challenges as interconnected rather than isolated issues. “Instead of looking at health, energy, water, and poverty in silos, we must integrate them within the framework of a poly-crisis,” she explained, advocating a holistic approach to problem-solving. Soodyall also expressed concern regarding the inadequate follow-up on past S20 recommendations.
To mitigate this, she has endeavored to incorporate previous S20 outcomes into ASSAf’s operational plans and aspires that this year’s activities will generate substantial momentum for collaborative international partnerships and bilateral interactions. “We need to ensure our work doesn’t happen in isolation and that we ensure that S20 recommendations are effectively conveyed to G20 leaders,” she concluded.
In summary, South Africa’s hosting of the Science20 meeting signifies a crucial moment for addressing global challenges through scientific collaboration. The emphasis on climate change, interconnected global issues, and the need for actionable policy recommendations reflects the urgency of the times. The S20 platform aims not only to share insights but also to ensure these recommendations resonate with policymakers at the G20 summit.
Original Source: www.nature.com
