Correspondence: science-policy research collaborations need philosophers

‘Wicked problems’ are tricky to solve because of their many interconnected components and a lack of any single optimal solution. At the science-policy interface, all problems can look wicked: research exposes the complexity relevant to designing, executing, and implementing policy fit for ambitious human needs. Expertise in philosophical research can help navigate that complexity

Key Principles for the Intergovernmental Science–Policy Panel on Chemicals and Waste

In 2021, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recognized chemical pollution as a planetary crisis tantamount to climate change and biodiversity decline. (1) In an important next step, the international community agreed in March 2022 on establishing an independent, intergovernmental science–policy panel on chemicals, waste, and pollution prevention (hereafter termed “the Panel”). (2) This Panel will take its place among two other intergovernmental bodies, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (3) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). (4) Now is a crucial time for establishing the Panel, following a process facilitated by UNEP to negotiate the Panel’s scope, functions, and institutional design, with the ambition to formally establish the Panel in 2024. As a group of international scientists working on chemical pollution, we applaud this milestone of progress to initiate the establishment of a panel for chemicals, waste, and pollution prevention. At the beginning of the negotiating process, we would like to highlight the following 10 critical aspects for consideration in determining the settings of the Panel

WTO must complete an ambitious fisheries subsidies agreement

Acknowledgements: U.R.S. and W.W.L.C. thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for funding the Solving FCB Research Partnership. U.R.S. acknowledges the support of the Pew Charitable Trusts. U.R.S. and L.A. are grateful to the Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy for support. M.B., W.W.L.C. and U.R.S. acknowledge support from the Canada Research Chairs program. S.V. gratefully acknowledges the financial support from EQUALSEA (Transformative adaptation towards ocean equity) project, under the European Horizon 2020 Program, ERC Consolidator (Grant Agreement # 101002784) funded by the European Research Council. Finally, we want to thank the Pew Charitable Trusts for their support of our (UBC’s Fisheries Economics Research Unit) research on the impacts of harmful fisheries subsidies