A glance at the various forms of science diplomacy

Science is closely intertwined with politics and diplomacy, given its role in advancing collaboration, addressing complicated global needs and forming adequate policy. A core part of UNESCO’s mission focuses on shaping the dialogue surrounding these issues

With most global challenges – from pandemics to climate change – requiring science-based solutions, science and technology are becoming integral to public policies, foreign policies and multilateral relations.

As countries explore the connections between scientific advancements and diplomatic efforts, the concept and practice of science diplomacy are gaining new momentum, with scientific information increasingly intrinsic to diplomatic relations and political choices.

Science diplomacy takes various forms, including the use of diplomatic action to facilitate international scientific collaboration, leveraging the soft power of science to advance diplomatic objectives and using scientific knowledge to inform decision-making in foreign and security policies.

UNESCO’s mission

These aspects of science diplomacy align closely with UNESCO’s mission since its establishment in 1945. As the United Nations agency “created for the purpose of advancing, through the educational and scientific and cultural relations of the peoples of the world, the objectives of international peace and of the common welfare of mankind”, science diplomacy has been a part of UNESCO’s DNA since its start.

Using scientific and technological collaboration to improve relations among its member states, UNESCO has been at the forefront of flagship initiatives that have profoundly shaped international science diplomacy.
In the early 1950s, UNESCO facilitated the establishment of the European Council for Nuclear Research, for which it is the depository of the CERN convention. The creation of CERN relaunched scientific research in Europe after World War Two and has become an example of scientific collaboration, contributing to post-war reconciliation through scientific cooperation.

More recently, UNESCO has supported the development of the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East in Jordan, which was inaugurated in 2017. This pioneering project, established under the auspices of UNESCO, is the result of two decades of hard work, uniting eight countries (Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestine and Türkiye) with a twofold goal – to consolidate scientific excellence in the region and to build cross-border collaboration, dialogue and understanding among scientists with diverse cultural, political and religious backgrounds.

Environmental focus

With the growing need to address environmental challenges that go beyond national borders and require coordinated international responses, since the 1970s UNESCO’s intergovernmental and international scientific programmes have been promoting international scientific collaboration in biodiversity, geological sciences, basic sciences, water and oceans, with particular attention given to shared transboundary resources with the ultimate goal of ensuring regional cooperation, stability and peace.

An example of UNESCO’s science diplomacy in addressing transboundary environmental challenges is its support for implementing the Guarani Aquifer Agreement, which came into force in early 2024. One of the world’s largest, it covers an estimated area of over 1 million square kilometres across Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. UNESCO’s involvement reinforces technical cooperation through formal mechanisms, creates monitoring networks and builds capacities among multiple stakeholders. Similarly, the Trifinio Fraternidad Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, spanning El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, is the first tri-national biosphere reserve in Latin America and the Caribbean. It serves as a symbol of cooperation among these three countries, integrating efforts to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.

Additionally, UNESCO’s World Academy of Sciences, together with the American Association for Advancement of Science, trained over 200 emerging leaders from more than 50 countries around the world through a joint AAAS-TWAS Science Diplomacy training programme.

But the current complex and unprecedented interplay between geopolitical, socio-economic and technological realities, not least as artificial intelligence evolves in our digitalised world and distrust between countries grows, requires a new framework for science diplomacy and innovative approaches that bring together international scientific collaborations and diplomatic efforts. These frameworks and approaches should be characterised by their flexibility to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances, inclusivity to ensure that all voices are heard, a commitment to addressing existing knowledge and capacity asymmetries, and a focus on building trust and mutual understanding.

A balanced approach

To address evolving global needs, UNESCO is refocusing its science diplomacy efforts on several priority areas at the nexus of science and diplomacy. These include leveraging science and international cooperation to respond effectively to crises and promote the resilience and integrity of the scientific process during those crises, to manage joint transboundary natural resources peacefully, and to navigate a transition to open science that balances international scientific collaboration with national security concerns, particularly as countries explore the implications of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and bio, neuro and quantum technologies. Special efforts will be given to working with governments to support them in the development of their national, subregional and regional science diplomacy strategies, including as part of their foreign affairs policies.

The success of science diplomacy to promote international collaboration and peace in our current polycrisis times will depend on our collective ability to adapt to new challenges, embrace emerging technologies, level the scientific playing field and promote a truly global scientific community. This requires countries to make political choices that prioritise the collaborative advantages of science over competitive ones. It also involves shifting the power dynamics to address common challenges instead of maintaining or widening knowledge and technology gaps between and within countries. To achieve this, we must increase funding for international cooperation, balance national interests with global scientific needs, ensure open equitable access to scientific knowledge, invest in science advice to governments, and improve science literacy among policymakers and diplomacy literacy among scientists.

The International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development 2024–2033 has been proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly. Led by UNESCO, it provides a promising platform for meaningful dialogue among scientists, diplomats and policymakers to define the new international framework and an action plan for a global science diplomacy that addresses common challenges through more collaborative multilateral approaches and evidence-based decision-making at the global scale.