Press release: Commonwealth scientific advisers to look at global challenges

Scientific advisers from across the Commonwealth will establish a knowledge exchange network to look at some of the global challenges we face such as climate change, food security and the state of the oceans.

The group was established following the inaugural meeting of chief scientific advisers and equivalents from across the Commonwealth chaired by Dr Patrick Vallance, Government Chief Scientific Adviser and Sir Peter Gluckman, Chief Science Adviser to the Prime Minister of New Zealand. The meeting was held at the Royal Society.

The science leaders met to discuss the role of science and technology in achieving a more secure, sustainable and prosperous future. They discussed how science and technology can benefit Commonwealth countries, both individually and collectively, focusing on 2 main areas:

  • preparing for and responding to emergencies; and
  • meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Dr Patrick Vallance said:

This is an important start to a new Commonwealth science collaboration. The Commonwealth represents a great opportunity for international collaboration, sharing data and science expertise to solve universal challenges such as climate change, food security, the state of the oceans, supporting private sector innovation and managing the impacts of disruptive technologies. These are challenges for which no country can plausibly claim to have all the answers.

Sir Peter Gluckman said

Science, technology and innovation are primary drivers of progress. The Commonwealth presents an obvious forum in which they can and should serve that purpose. Much can be achieved through identifying key knowledge gaps, synthesising and sharing evidence, and by strengthening the link between available evidence and policy.

Science Minister Sam Gyimah said:

Climate change, pollution, food security, healthcare, and clean energy are just some of the world’s biggest challenges. These issues affect everyone and the impact is already being felt, even here in the UK. While the government’s ambitious Industrial Strategy and Grand Challenges are already addressing these global challenges, collaboration is essential to provide effective results.

Across the Commonwealth, the brightest and best talent are conducting incredible research that has the potential to change our world forever. It is essential that we come together and share our expertise and knowledge to speed up the development of innovative solutions, saving our planet and improving everyone’s lives.

The network will foster greater cooperation between Commonwealth science academies and other science advice mechanisms. Specifically, it will seek to:

  • promote information exchange covering scientific and technology-based solutions to the SDGs as they affect Commonwealth countries
  • enhance cooperation on science related to risk management and emergency response
  • develop a strategy for integrating locally-derived data across the Commonwealth to understand and stimulate innovative solutions to such issues as coastal erosion, water quality and food waste
  • explore approaches to data governance
  • promote beneficial collaboration using major science infrastructure where it can support research around the SDGs
  • consider what further mechanisms might strengthen the role of science and innovation in the Commonwealth

A report summarising the projects, their impact and the key lessons learnt will be presented to leaders at the Commonwealth summit in 2020.

Notes to editors

  1. The Commonwealth forms a significant part of the global scientific community. It is home to 12% of the world’s researchers and accounts for around 10% of global research and development expenditure.

  2. The Government Office for Science advises the Prime Minister and members of the Cabinet on all matters related to science and technology ensuring that government policies and decisions are informed by the best scientific evidence and strategic long-term thinking.



Commonwealth scientific advisers to look at global challenges

Commonwealth scientific advisers to establish a collaborative knowledge exchange network for sharing expertise.



Press release: Commonwealth scientific advisers to look at global challenges

Commonwealth scientific advisers to establish a collaborative knowledge exchange network for sharing expertise.



News story: Foreign Secretary expands UK Commonwealth diplomatic network

Today the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson announced the opening of nine new diplomatic posts across the Commonwealth.

The new posts, Lesotho, Swaziland, The Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu, will extend Britain’s global influence.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

As a Commonwealth family of nations, it is in our shared interest to boost prosperity, tackle security issues and clear up the environment.

These new diplomatic posts are in regions which provide huge potential and opportunity post-Brexit for British businesses and will help us to deepen our relationships across the Commonwealth.

After we leave the EU, Global Britain will remain outward facing, open for business and a champion of the rules-based international order.

Britain has one of the largest diplomatic footprints in the world. The UK’s overseas network is instrumental in promoting our national interest, particularly post-Brexit. The expanded network puts Britain in peak position to enhance military cooperation, boost trade and provide services to the rapidly expanding middle classes of the developing world.

The UK will also have a greater presence in Europe and in all regions of the world. An increased global footprint will also ensure that Britain and its allies are able to counter the malign influences of countries who seek to undermine the UK. The UK will also use its world-class soft power to continue to win hearts and minds for the global good.

Further information

Media enquiries

For journalists



Speech: PM’s words at opening of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting on 19 April 2018

Your M​ajesty,
Your R​oyal Hi​ghnesses,
Secretary-General, Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
​​
I am extremely proud to be welcoming you all to London – the first full Heads of Government meeting here in almost forty years.

I want to begin by expressing my gratitude to ​Prime Minister Muscat and his team: ​thank you for your incredible hard work. You represent a Commonwealth truth, that the size of a country does not limit its ambition and impact.

I hope that over the coming days and ​months we can ​build on the work you have begun as we forge a future for our common good.

Over many decades this organisation has brought together nations young and old, large and small, to celebrate our common bonds and to work to our mutual benefit.

There have been difficulties, successes, controversies. But I believe wholeheartedly in the good that the Commonwealth can do.

And this week as young people from our many nations gather and contribute their views, our responsibility as leaders is to ensure their voices are heard, and to build a Commonwealth that we can be proud to hand on to the next generation.

For in the Commonwealth we have an incredible opportunity.

An opportunity to show just what can be achieved through co-ordinated action and co-operation, to seize the possibilities open to us as member countries, and together, to take on some of the 21st century’s biggest questions.

How we support our most vulnerable member states as we tackle climate change and improve the health of our oceans, creating a more sustainable Commonwealth?

How we develop through trade, pushing back against protectionism, for a more prosperous Commonwealth?

How we respond to threats to the rules based international order and from cyber-attacks, creating a more secure Commonwealth?

And how, in all this, we advance those common values which our organisation has always stood for – democracy, human rights, tolerance, and the rule of law – so that we establish a fairer Commonwealth?

These are problems nations cannot solve alone. But by working together, we can make a real difference.

Over the past three​ days, we have seen the power of the Commonwealth in action at the Forums for ​business leaders, young people, women​, and civil society.

These discussions have demonstrated the vibrancy and creativity of our organisation – focusing on issues such as improving trade, youth unemployment, education and health – all of which have the potential to transform people’s lives.

And I am looking forward to taking these issues further with the heads of government over the next two days.

Finally, on behalf of all of you assembled here in Buckingham Palace, I want to offer ​my heartfelt thanks to​ Your Majesty,​ Head of the Commonwealth.

T​his week you have opened your homes to us – here in London and in Windsor. Over many years you have been the Commonwealth’s most steadfast and fervent champion.

You have been true to the deepest values of the Commonwealth – that the voice of the smallest member country is worth precisely as much as that of the largest; that the wealthiest and the most vulnerable stand shoulder to shoulder​.

You have seen us through some of our most serious challenges.

And we commit to sustaining this Commonwealth, which you have so carefully nurtured.

For your service, for your dedication, for your constancy – we thank you.