South Africa hosts its inaugural Science20 meeting, focusing on climate change and Africa’s vulnerabilities. The gathering, running from February 24 to 27, 2025, aims to deliver science-driven policy recommendations to G20 leaders. Emphasis was placed on adaptability and integrated approaches to address global challenges. Historically, there is a push for more significant follow-through on prior recommendations to stimulate regional collaboration.
South Africa has made history as the first African nation to host the Science20 (S20) meeting, an essential forum consisting of national science academies from G20 countries. Scheduled from February 24 to 27, 2025, this year’s meeting addressed significant global challenges, particularly the vulnerabilities faced by Africa. Leaders from the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) underscored the pressing need to tackle climate change and emphasized the importance of science-based policy recommendations for G20 initiatives.
The recommendations from the S20 will be publicly released in conjunction with the G20 summit scheduled for September. ASSAf President Thokozani Majozi stated, “The S20 deliberates on pertinent issues with the idea of sharing recommendations. But ultimately, these discussions must reach policymakers. If the S20 does not succeed in articulating its position in a way that policymakers can understand and adopt, then, in my opinion, it would have failed.”
Addressing recent uncertainties caused by changes in foreign aid policies, including the United States and the United Kingdom’s decisions, Majozi highlighted the significance of adaptability in devising plausible solutions tailored to various nations. He remarked, “We should be alive to the fact that changes happen steeply at times, and we should be able to adapt.”
Francois Engelbrecht, director of the Global Change Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand and member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, stressed the necessity for climate mitigation policies to align with the climate risks prevalent in the diverse regions encompassed by the G20. Engelbrecht stated, “The science of future climate change is strongly rooted in the laws of physics. Increasingly, we have confidence in the projections that climate models generate, showing the risks we must face in the future.”
Himla Soodyall, the executive officer of ASSAf, emphasized recognizing the interconnectedness of global challenges. She advised against treating issues like health, energy, water, and poverty in isolation, advocating for an integrated approach within a framework of a poly-crisis. Soodyall argued, “This approach allows us to merge problems with mitigation actions in a meaningful way.”
Reflecting on previous S20 meetings in Brazil (2024) and India (2023), Soodyall expressed concern regarding the insufficient follow-through on past policy recommendations. To remedy this, she has endeavored to incorporate previous S20 recommendations into ASSAf’s performance objectives and is hopeful that this year’s outcomes will foster bilateral engagements and regional collaborations. She concluded, “We need to ensure our work doesn’t happen in isolation and that we ensure that S20 recommendations are effectively conveyed to G20 leaders.”
In summary, the historic hosting of the Science20 meeting in South Africa underscores the crucial role of science in addressing global challenges, particularly climate change. The dialogue seeks to formulate actionable recommendations for G20 policymakers, emphasizing the necessity of adaptability and collaboration among nations to tackle these pressing issues effectively. Forward momentum is expected through the integration of past recommendations into future engagements.
Original Source: www.nature.com
