Bridging the Science–Policy Divide

PLoS Biology | http://biology.plosjournals.org Nobody questions the importance of good scientifi c information for sound environmental decision-making. But designing mechanisms to link scientifi c research to the decision-making process is no easy matter. Research and decision-making often seem to operate in different worlds. Policy-makers’ needs for applied fi ndings and best judgment typically clash with scientists’ pursuit of basic research and statistical signifi cance. Despite this challenge, as needs for scientifi c input into decision-making arise, a number of institutions have been established to help bridge the science–policy divide. Regulatory agencies like the United States’ Food and Drug Administration have met this need in areas of public health, for example, and Environmental Impact Assessment procedures have helped to introduce better science into project-level decisions. At the scale of global environmental challenges, highly regarded mechanisms have been established such as the Scientifi c Assessment of Ozone Depletion, which has guided decisions by governments, the private sector, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which has become the authoritative source of policy-relevant information on climate science. But a signifi cant gap remains in the landscape of institutions designed to link science with policy-making: no mechanism has existed to provide decision-makers with authoritative information on the causes and consequences of changes in the planet’s ecosystems and on the options for response. Human well-being and progress toward sustainable development are vitally dependent upon improving the management of Earth’s ecosystems to ensure their conservation and sustainable use. The benefi ts that human beings extract from nature are the foundation of all economies and the basis of major industries, are sources of knowledge, and are central to many cultures. While demands for Community Page