Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09PARISFR1452
2009-10-29 14:55:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Mission UNESCO
Cable title:  

UNESCO'S 35TH GENERAL CONFERENCE: NATURAL SCIENCES

Tags:  SENV TPHY PREL UNESCO 
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R 291455Z OCT 09
FM USMISSION UNESCO PARIS FR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC
RUCNSCO/UNESCO COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS FR 001452 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR OES/OA BRIAN VAN PAY

E.O. 12598: N/A
TAGS: SENV TPHY PREL UNESCO
SUBJECT: UNESCO'S 35TH GENERAL CONFERENCE: NATURAL SCIENCES
COMMISSION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS FR 001452

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR OES/OA BRIAN VAN PAY

E.O. 12598: N/A
TAGS: SENV TPHY PREL UNESCO
SUBJECT: UNESCO'S 35TH GENERAL CONFERENCE: NATURAL SCIENCES
COMMISSION


1. Summary. A Ministerial Round Table on Oceans and UNESCO's
Natural Sciences Commission met October 12-16 as part of UNESCO's
35th General Conference. The Ministerial focused on ocean
governance, ocean monitoring and climate change. The Natural
Sciences Commission primarily focused on existing programs. The
Commission approved all Category 2 centers, including the USA's
first (a water center). End Summary.

OCEANS MINISTERIAL


2. Ministerial Summary. A Ministerial Round Table on Oceans was
held October 12-13, 2009 as part of the 35th Session of the UNESCO
General Conference at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The Ministerial
was organized by UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
(IOC). Fifty-one states participated with twenty-six represented at
the Ministerial level. The U.S. delegation included William Logan
(U.S. Mission UNESCO),Brian Van Pay (DOS/OES/OPA),and Jody Eimers
(U.S. Geological Survey). Neither Australia, Japan, France, Russia,
nor the United Kingdom sent Ministerial-level representatives. No
official statements or resolutions were adopted at this Round Table,
however an Information Document (INF) of the discussions was
produced by the Secretariat, and this does contain recommendations.
The agenda, background documents, and the INF document can be found
on the IOC website: http://www.ioc-unesco.org/


3. The first session covered the role of the United Nations in
providing governance for the ocean. Several of the participating
States argued for a broader mandate and an expanded role for the
IOC. Other states, such as Barbados, Cambodia, Colombia, Pakistan
and Thailand suggested governance flows from the national, to the
regional, and to the global level. Iceland and Japan voiced concern
over the IOC taking on too broad of a mandate, when it should
concentrate on ocean science. China and Zimbabwe argued for
strengthening the Law of the Sea Convention, so it could address the
demarcation of boundaries and climate change; this intervention met
with an objection from Argentina.


4. The second session addressed the contribution of UNESCO to the
monitoring of the state of the oceans, namely through the Global
Marine Assessment (GMA). The Assessment of Assessments (AoA) is a

recently completed report that was commissioned by the UN General
Assembly to determine the scope and mechanics of the GMA. It was
carried out by a number of UN agencies including UNEP and UNESCO.
The GMA is intended to be a periodic, 5-year study to assess the
impact of human activities on the world's oceans. States showed
overwhelming support for both the AoA and GMA despite concerns that
were previously voiced when these same topics were discussed at the
UN General Assembly's Ad Hoc Working Group of the Whole meeting,
August 31-September 4, 2009. Many of the States, including Ghana,
India, Indonesia, Namibia, Swaziland, and Tonga, used this session
to call for greater capacity building and technology transfer. Sri
Lanka suggested the establishment of a separate body to collect data
for the GMA, but this intervention met with limited support.


5. The third session addressed climate change, specifically impacts
on and from the ocean. Small island developing states (SIDS),which
believe global warming to be an existential threat, intervened
especially vigorously. The presentations and subsequent
interventions revealed a common theme that the ocean plays a
critical role in the Earth's climate and more needs to be done to
study ocean acidification, ocean warming, and sea level rise, among
other topics. The participating States showed almost unanimous
agreement regarding the need for immediate action and hope for the
upcoming climate talks in Copenhagen. Presentations and
interventions, however, lacked tangible suggestions for prediction,
mitigation and adaptation. Russia stated that science has not
conclusively proven that increases in CO2 levels come predominantly
from industrial sources. This statement was met with a number of
opposing interventions.


6. Wendy Watson-Wright (Canada) officially took over as Executive
Secretary of the IOC replacing Patricio Bernal (Chile),who had held
the job for the last ten years. Javier Valladares, Chair of the IOC
Executive Board, confirmed his intent to participate at the Global
Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) in the Americas Forum on
Coastal Zone Management, a special Group on Earth Observations (GEO)
event to be held November 20 at the Canadian Embassy in Washington
DC. Portugal made an offer during an intervention to host the IOC
Secretariat in Lisbon and offered $1.5 million Euros and "all the
necessary resources and equipment."


7. An information document (35 C/INF. 29) was created as a report
of the meeting by the Secretariat. While a number of paragraphs
cite recommendations couched as being supported by "several" or
"many" participants, several statements could be interpreted as
consensus recommendations. Most notably, Paragraph 33 states that
"IOC, because of its knowledge on coastal inundations, and the tools
developed to forecast the impact of tsunamis (a very fast
inundation),can assist with the risk assessment of sea-level rise
and jump-start a process of adaptation in the countries most exposed

PARIS 00001452 002 OF 003


to sea-level change. IOC should organize and develop a major
programme to do this."


8. Comment: Aside from budgetary and programmatic implications of
the recommendations (para 7),USDEL does not believe that there was
any consensus expressed for a "major programme" and that this
proposal represents Secretariat thinking. When asked, the
Secretariat noted that the report of the Natural Sciences Commission
to the Plenary states only that the Commission "took note of the
report," rather than endorsing the conclusions. Therefore the
recommendations should have no special weight. However, the U.S.
delegation should keep an eye on this issue at the next IOC meeting.
End Comment.

REGULAR SESSIONS OF THE NATURAL SCIENCES COMMISSION

GENERAL DEBATE


9. In the Natural Sciences Commission meeting itself following the
Ministerial Round Table, over 50 states commented on the Draft
Program and Budget for 2010-2011 for Major Program 2, Natural
Sciences. They expressed support for UNESCO science themes and
programs in the following general order:

-- IHP/fresh water - 23 plus (Brazil, New Zealand, Canada, France,
Germany, Portugal, Iran, Korea, Hungary, Pakistan, Malaysia,
Columbia, China, Libya, Morocco, Czech, Nigeria, others)

-- Man and the Biosphere, or biodiversity - 17 plus (Canada,
Germany, Iran, Korea, North Korea, Hungary, Malaysia, China, Costa
Rica, Czech Republic, many others)

-- Teaching science to teachers - 11 (Madagascar, Canada, France,
Korea, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Uganda, Malawi, Malaysia, Libya,
Ethiopia)

-- IOC or Oceans - 10 (Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica Portugal, Sri
Lanka, North Korea, China, France, Dominican Republic, Canada)

-- Capacity building - 10 (Malaysia, Cote d'Ivoire, Dominican
Republic, Germany, Denmark, Malaysia, Mexico, Libya, Morocco,
Ethiopia)

Other issues raised by fewer nations included basic sciences, gender
equality, S&T policy development, tsunami early warning, Emphasis on
Africa, inter-sectoral or multidisciplinary approaches, climate
change, etc.

RESPONSE OF THE SECRETARIAT


10. Assistant Director-General (ADG)for Natural Sciences, Walter
Erdelen, noted that Member States have asked the Secretariat to
strengthen Science Policy, but the lack of additional funding has
resulted in flat-lining the budgets of most science programs. He
and Patricio Bernal (ADG/Oceans) both noted that they are trying to
get the different Natural Sciences programs to work together to
achieve synergies and efficiencies. Bernal cited the areas of
climate change (which IOC coordinates),ecohydrology, small island
developing states, as well as the use of bioreserves and natural
heritage sites as research sites. Several people noted that
Category 2 centers have potential to increase the breadth of
programming with little additional cost to UNESCO's regular budget.
Nonetheless, several member states said that UNESCO needs to do
"fewer things better" and one suggested that UNESCO should have
"sunset clauses" on programs. Finally, there was discussion of the
creation of a traveling exhibit for the International Year of
Biodiversity, and how the International Year of Chemistry may serve
as a catalyst for the science education activities.

NEW DRAFT RESOLUTIONS


11. There were 13 draft resolutions submitted for consideration by
the Commission. Many were minor tweaks of the program strategy and
were passed with minor changes. Several had budgetary implications,
however. Iran would like a new International Drought Initiative,
but agreed to discuss it first by the International Hydrologic
Program (IHP) or the Intergovernmental Council. Egypt sought to
insert money for swine flu education, but withdrew in the face of
resistance that this would be more appropriate for WHO. Egypt also
wanted more emphasis on water reuse and artificial recharge and
agreed to accept new metrics in this area by the Secretariat.
Azerbaijan's wish to have UNESCO more involved in building
technoparks was not supported. Finally, Russia's proposal to build
a UNESCO satellite was postponed to a plenary session later in the
General Conference.


12. CATEGORY 2 CENTERS. There were nine new Category 2 Centers in
the natural sciences up for approval. Of these, six were for
water-related topics, including the USA's proposed "International
Center for Integrated Water Resources Management" to be housed at

PARIS 00001452 003 OF 003


the US Army Corps of Engineers' Institute for Water Resources.
There was no serious discussion of the merits of individual centers
nor of the merits of centers in general, but rather a very long list
of congratulatory statements. All the centers were approved
unanimously. Pakistan asked if there were any way to benefit from
the Israeli center when it does not have diplomatic relations with
Israel; the answer from the Secretariat was that yes, there are
ways, and in fact the two countries are already cooperating with
UNESCO's SESAME project.


13. MAN AND THE BIOSPHERE (MAB). The USA does not formally
participate in MAB, but it is a major program with broad support.
Thirty-three member states intervened, almost all in support.
Discussions centered around a draft resolution submitted by Germany
with many cosponsors, which encourages states to work together on
bioreserves, to do various kinds of research (e.g., climate change,
hydrology) utilizing them as field sites, to implement the Madrid
Action Plan (essentially MAB's 2008-2013 strategic plan),and to
work harder to find extrabudgetary money. With minor changes to the
text, the draft resolution passed by consensus.


14. ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INTERNATIONAL ENGINEERING PROGRAMME. South
Africa, on behalf of many African states, submitted a Draft
Resolution calling upon UNESCO to "Conduct a feasibility study for
the establishment of an international engineering programme". The
discussion here, as in the 182nd Executive Board before it, followed
the donor-recipient divide. African States were almost unanimously
for it (although they had said very little about it in the "general
debate" at the opening of the conference). Donors focused on the
cost of the study itself, on the impact of a new program given
flat-lined budgets, and on the dilution of UNESCO's efforts when
many Member States are asking them to do "fewer things better."
Earlier discussions with the Basic Sciences Secretariat at UNESCO
suggested lukewarm support for the initiative in the Secretariat.
The draft resolution was slightly modified, with a compromise text
allowing the feasibility study to go forward, if extrabudgetary
funds can be found. The study is mandated to consider not only the
establishment of an international engineering program, but also
alternatives to it that might be more feasible.

JOINT SESSION WITH THE SOCIAL AND HUMAN SCIENCES COMMISSION (SHS) ON
STRENGTHENING CLIMATE CHANGE AT UNESCO


15. The topic was introduced by Denmark, which had drafted the
resolution, and Patricio Bernal of the IOC-Secretariat briefly
introduced ongoing potential new activities in climate change at
UNESCO. There was no organized opposition to the draft resolution,
which requested the Director General to "strengthen" UNESCO's
interdisciplinary climate programs by ensuring its "legitimacy" as
an internal coordinator of UNESCO's climate strategy, and to propose
ways that UNESCO could contribute to the implementation of the
outcomes of the COP-15. The purpose of the resolution was hazy, but
appeared to be an effort by Member States to instruct UNESCO's
administration to organize itself to act effectively. UNESCO was
urged to continue focusing on its strengths and comparative
advantage, and to use biosphere reserves and world heritage sites
for adaptation (and to a lesser extent mitigation) experiments. A
spontaneous round of applause burst out when the resolution went
through unedited. A second, related draft resolution, introduced by
island states, asked UNESCO to continue incorporating the Mauritius
Strategy into its programs and "reinforce" its intersectoral
strategy for small island developing states (without requesting any
additional funding). This resolution also passed without any
changes in the text.
KILLION