Summary
1. The Leadership Dialogue focused on the role of science data and digitalization in accelerating our shift towards a sustainable future. It explored how scientific assessments and digital tools could address environmental crises (Biodiversity loss, Pollution, Climate Change) and enhance early warning systems. It emphasized building on the UN Secretary General’s Early Warning for All (EW4All) initiative to enhance early warning systems.
2. H.E. Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, Arab Republic of Egypt, shared experiences from Egypt, underscoring the urgent need to close the gap between sustainability and socioeconomic development. She shared on key policy shifts that can be actualized by leveraging science, data, and digitalization to this end, including projecting investment opportunities that can be tapped from sustainability, prioritizing to address the interconnectedness and cascading nature of the triple planetary crises, where priority is given to solutions that create synergy and amplify impact across different commitments; building on the success of flagships, where tools and technologies applied in the EW4All, are leveraged to monitor nature/biodiversity loss, pollution, and the cascading risk of the triple crises, and also monitor solutions and their investment enablers to enhance uptake; and enhancing the role of indigenous communities through targeted incentives. She emphasized the role of digitalization in bridging the gap between science, policy, and investments. Dr. Jim Skea, Chair of the IPCC, shared insights on the need for policy-level support for science, data, and digitalization, communication strategies, and the importance of actionable scientific data.
3. Contributions from the floor, including from member states, UN entities, NGOs, CSOs and the private sector, stressed the significance of digital technologies and science data in supporting sustainable transitions. They highlighted the importance of socio-economic data, responsible AI use, and engaging local communities. The emphasis was also on finance for sustainability, leveraging technology for climate action, and enhancing global coordination based on scientific evidence. Speakers also highlighted the necessity for a cohesive approach that aligns science, policy, and investment towards mitigating the impacts of climate change, halting biodiversity loss, and reducing pollution.
4. The dialogue concluded with strong recommendations for leveraging science, data and digital solutions in policy-making. Calls to action emphasized the need to put into action the key messages from the keynote speakers and those who intervened from the floor. Emphasis was on investing in data platforms for nature-based solutions, ensuring responsible AI use, engaging in science-policy processes, addressing interlinked environmental crises, making digital tools accessible, and empowering communities for sustainable practices. The importance of bridging the data-action gap to translate scientific insights into effective policies was underscored. A strong call to action was made for enhancing early warning systems to include risks related to biodiversity loss and pollution, alongside climate change, under the Early Warning for the Environment (EWE) approach. Emphasizing community engagement and leveraging citizen science and digital technologies were identified as vital for translating early warnings into effective, actionable solutions to protect, restore, and conserve environmental resources, in line with the Global Biodiversity Framework and complementing the EW4All initiative.
