Future Earth in Asia and the Pacific

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Future Earth in Asia and the Pacific

Nordin Hasan FASc

Director ICSU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

5th ICSU Regional Consultation in Asia and the Pacific 26 & 27 November 2013

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Introduction

• ICSU ROAP engagement with Future Earth?• Main viewpoints?• What can we gain from it?

ICSU ROAP engagement with Future Earth

• Participant in the visioning process• Providing regional input to Transition Team• Organisers and participants in national,

regional (including sub-regional) and international workshops on Future Earth

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ROAP engaged with visioning of Future Earth

Review of GEC programmes

2006 2009

Visioning process

2011

Future Earth approved by the 30th ICSU GA

Initial design of Future Earth

2013

The Transition Team delivers its report

Interim operating phase

51 participants; 21 countries

Regional Workshop for Future Earth in Asia and the Pacific November 2012

Future Earth Meetings and Workshops in the region

FUTURE EARTH MEETINGS IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC SINCE KUALA LUMPUR REGIONAL WORKSHOP

1. International Symposium on Future Asia , RIHN, Kyoto December 2012

2. APL - SATREPS Symposium Living in the changing planet: Future Earth Designed by Simulation, JAMSTEC, Tokyo, Japan

February 2013

3. Brain-storming session on Future Asia; Academia Sinica, Chinese Taipei.

April 2013

4. 12th Pacific Science Inter-Congress, University of the South Pacific, Laucala Bay Campus, Suva, Fiji

July 2013

5. MAIRS Future Earth in Asia Strategic Plan Drafting Workshop The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

August 2013

6. ISIS-ICSU Roundtable on Future Earth: Pathways to sustainability. Kuala Lumpur

August 2013

7. Coordinating Workshop on Future Earth: Developing a Science Technology and Innovation (STI) Agenda for Sri Lanka towards Future Earth. Colombo

September 2013

8. Future Earth in China September 2013

9. 5th ICSU Regional Consultation in Asia and the Pacific November 2013

Date Event

14 – 15 November Bidders Conference; Paris

19 – 21 November Future Earth Science Committee Meeting; Johannesburg

22 – 23 November Future Earth Alliance Meeting

25 – 26 November World Science Forum

9 – 12 January 2014 Future Earth in India, Hyderabad (in conjunction with Golden Jubilee celebrations, IGU)

18 – 19 June 2014 Science Council of Asia-Academy of Sciences Malaysia International Conference on Future Earth

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Asia-Pacific context

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Fundamental questions• How and why the region is changing• What are likely future changes• What are the implications to human development and the

diversity of life on earth (biodiversity and ecosystem services)• What opportunities are there to reduce risks and

vulnerabilities, enhance resilience, and create transformations to prosperous and equitable futures

Summary of sustainability challenges in Asia-Pacific

• Common issues identified at workshops– Climate variability and extremes, and related hazards and

disasters from typhoons, floods and landslides etc– Pressures of urbanization – megacities, health, pollution; – Values and lifestyles - social pressures, rapid growth

(economic, population, production, consumption, global connectivity)

– Biodiversity loss and unvalued/undervalued ecosystem services

– Food, water, energy, land security nexus– Resilience, vulnerability, productivity of coastal, marine and

terrestrial biomes

Super typhoon Haiyan

UN estimates:19 million people affected1.9million losing homes

SUPER TYPHOON HAIYAN

Summary of sustainability challenges in Asia-Pacific

• Common issues identified at workshops– Climate variability and extremes, and related hazards and

disasters from typhoons, floods and landslides etc– Pressures of urbanization – megacities, health, pollution; – Values and lifestyles - social pressures, rapid growth

(economic, population, production, consumption, global connectivity)

– Biodiversity loss and unvalued/undervalued ecosystem services

– Food, water, energy, land security nexus– Resilience, vulnerability, productivity of coastal, marine and

terrestrial biomes

Diagram 2

Diagram 3 – Feedback added

South Pacific sub-region – key issues raised

• Global change impacts, associated risks, adaptation and community resilience

• Urbanization and associated challenges potentially driven by environmental refugees

• Integrating indigenous and traditional knowledge and modern science

• Ecosystem management and biodiversity• Renewable energy systems • The need for a “Future Ocean”, reflecting strong emphasis on the

ocean• USP role in organizing Future Earth

The University of the South Pacific

Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu

Associated challenges

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Change-action on 3 fronts

• 1st front– Supplying and equipping research community with

intellectual and material support • 2nd front

– Building capacity for research integration and co-design

• 3rd front– Managing change and changing management

(systems and institutions)

Transitioning to Future Earth

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Major challenge of the Future Earth “ambition”

• Working with society – i.e. bringing various practitioners, policy and decision-makers, actors from civil society, and the private sector in co-design, co-production and co-delivery of knowledge, policy and practice– Multiple sources of relevant expertise– Plurality of perspectives to be harnessed– At different times actors are both producers and

consumers of knowledge

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Development of crosscutting capabilities

• Observation and data • Analysis and theory • Integrated assessment modeling• Communications • Education and capacity building• Networking and collaborative frameworks

Promote research to develop an understanding of what sustainability means at the national and sub-national levels

Promote research on sustainability indicators to guide sustainability at the national and sub-national levels

Create alliances of integrated research projects and groups to build long-term strength

Foster and nurture networks of scientists across disciplinary fields and with different stakeholders.

Need to facilitate research convergence and collaboration

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Publish examples of best practices of inter- and transdisciplinary research on sustainability

Develop guidelines on how to do co-design and co-production of research

Increase human capacity development opportunities through training workshops, research fellowships and Professorial Chairs

Develop mentoring of young scientists in least developed countries by more experienced researchers in the region

Need to develop capacity

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Research effective points of entry into the policy arena are

Develop approaches and programmes to bring into dialogue groups of people who do not normally talk to each other

Translate and share models on how to influence policy

Create or identify science-policy-stakeholder platforms that effectively inform and engage

Engage local communities and local knowledge systems in generating and nurturing knowledge societies

Need to enhance science-policy-stakeholder interface

Concluding Remarks

• There is no magic wand in achieving the goals of Future Earth in Asia-Pacific

• Sustainability must be continuously assessed and retooled to meet the changing exigencies of human development and planetary change. – Transition management, adaptive management– A continuous process of learning and

understanding the issues is needed to ensure the best match between reality on the ground and the solutions we offer.

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Future Earth: Research for global sustainability in Asia

Thank you for your attention