To better manage current and future uncertainties, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is advancing its science-based foresight and futures thinking work by establishing an institutionalised approach to strategic foresight and horizon scanning, to provide real-time monitoring of emerging signals of change that could have an impact on the environment. In partnership with the International Science Council (ISC), a Foresight Expert Panel has been established.
GYA Co-Chair Felix Moronta (ICGEB Regulatory Science Group, Italy) and GYA alumnus Wibool Piyawattanametha (Michigan State University & King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Thailand) were nominated by the GYA and selected to join this expert panel of 20 scientists and specialists from across the scientific community, representing a wide range of disciplines from around the world.
The panel is tasked with supporting the systematic identification, interpretation and assessment of emerging issues and opportunities that may impact the achievement of global environmental outcomes by 2050.
The first meeting of the Foresight Expert Panel was held at the ISC premises in Paris in September 2023, followed by six regional workshops led by UNEP to support the contextualisation of the findings and ensure that socio-cultural and regional contexts were captured.
A second meeting of the Foresight Expert Panel was then held in March 2024 at ISC premises again. The panel reviewed and analysed the results of the regional foresight workshops and fed them into a synthesising process to draw conclusions and suggest what issues could be the focus of future monitoring, analysis and action to protect the world’s environment. By consensus, the Panel identified 20 hierarchically ranked priority signals of change that could have a major impact on planetary well-being by 2050.
The Panel’s work will culminate in a global report to be presented during the UN High-Level Political Forum in July 2024. The report, along with the Panel’s findings and recommendations, will also inform the deliberations of the UN Summit of the Future in September 2024.
Report by Felix Moronta