Following the UN naming 2022-2023 as the Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development (IYBSSD), the General Assembly, with the support of all IYBSSD stakeholders, extended the year into a decade.
The idea for the “international decade” was proclaimed at the IYBSSD flagship event “A chance for society to build on sciences for sustainability”, convened by the UN General Assembly President. To support its resolution, the General Assembly cited the crucial roles of sciences “in the pursuit of sustainable development” and its related “complex challenges”.
The International Decade initiative is a part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Its chief objective is described as “raising awareness of the importance of all sciences for sustainable development, and to actively concur (…) with the promotion of a coordinated, collaborative, scientific approach providing policymakers with evidence-based analyses”. This objective is to be implemented by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as well as UN Member States and stakeholder organisations.
The announcement of International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development was soon followed by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ statement on 6 September, in which he stated that, after the warmest global summer on record, the “Climate breakdown has begun“.
