Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy (right), Director General, ICARDA, with Prof. Kiyoshi Kurokawa (second from left), President of the Science Council of Japan; Dr Hans van Ginkel (second from right), Rector, United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan; Prof. Dr Iwao Kobori (third from right), United Nations University, Japan and former Vice-Chair of ICARDA Board of Trustees; and Dr Ismail Serageldin (left), Director, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt and former CGIAR Chairman, at the Second Annual Meeting of the Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum, held in Kyoto, Japan, 11 to 13 September 2005.

Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, Director General, attended the Second Annual Meeting of the “Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum”, held in Kyoto, Japan, from 11 to 13 September 2005. The overall theme of the meeting was “Science and Technology in Society: Lights and Shadows— For a Sustainable Future.” About 500 participants from 68 countries, including leading scientists and researchers, 10 Nobel Laureates, 22 university presidents, policymakers (including 18 ministers), business executives and opinion leaders, attended the meeting. The meeting was held to generate innovative ideas on how science and technology could play a major role in attaining sustainable development in the world.

Prof. Dr El-Beltagy took the opportunity to renew as well as establish new linkages for the benefit of ICARDA. He held discussions with several high-ranking participants with an influence in global science and technology programs.

Opening the meeting, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi extended a warm welcome to the participants. He said “it is important for governments to take the initiative and turn ideas into action.” He gave the example of the Japanese government’s initiative to “use environmentally friendly energies,” which “will boost their use among households and encourage further technological development." He further stated that “we are now in an era characterized by 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.” This means we must “reduce waste as much as possible, re use what is usable as resources, and recycle to move closer to a recycling society or a zero-emission society.” He said “the progress of science and technology has certainly made our lives more comfortable, but has also raised new issues, namely, global warming, human cloning and other bioethical issues, infectious diseases including influenza, and IT-related issues such as cyberattacks.” He called on the participants to use science and technology to address these issues.

Mr Koji Omi, Member of the Japan House of Representatives and Founding Member of the STS Forum, highlighted issues requiring urgent attention by scientists globally: developing a practical and effective framework that would include every country on the globe with respect to achieving sustainable development by reducing CO₂ emissions; setting common standards in the life sciences that would be applied to researchers worldwide in harmony with ethical problems; tackling the increasing risk of infectious diseases such as AIDS; further examining the possibility of developing safe genetically-modified organisms to increase crop production, and making irrigation and desalinization technology available to prevent water crises; addressing the digital divide problem, privacy protection and global networking; early warning and response to natural disasters, establishing a global intellectual property rights system; preventing terrorism through the use of science and technology; and helping developing countries with financial aid as well as science and technology-related assistance.

For more information visit: www.stsforum.org