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Issue No. 27 | Monday, October 19, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

Governments gather in Yerevan, Armenia, on Monday for the first global review of their collective progress toward the 2030 biodiversity targets, confronting a new U.N. assessment that finds fewer than half of the national targets evaluated are on track.

The 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, running Oct. 19–30, will assess implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022 to halt and reverse nature loss.

Nearly 90% of the convention’s 196 parties have established national targets, but the latest assessment finds that existing commitments, even if fulfilled, would protect only 26% of land ecosystems and 12% of marine ecosystems by 2030, against a goal of at least 30% for both.

The negotiations will test whether governments can agree on measures to accelerate implementation, strengthen financing and improve the monitoring of results. Delegates will also address the Cali Fund, established to share benefits from the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources, and scientific cooperation to help countries meet their commitments.

The review faces scrutiny beyond conservation policy. Independent U.N. human rights experts warned Friday that Indigenous peoples, local communities and environmental defenders remain inadequately protected and represented in biodiversity decision-making. They urged governments to ensure that the assessment measures changes on the ground rather than simply cataloging commitments.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, presenting the assessment in Yerevan last Thursday, called for greater financial and technical assistance to developing countries, reforms to environmentally harmful subsidies and closer integration of biodiversity protection into economic policy.

The conference’s decisions will affect conservation policy, agricultural and industrial practices, access to genetic information and the distribution of financial resources.

With four years remaining before the framework’s deadline, COP17 will show how far governments are prepared to move from national promises toward measurable environmental improvements.

Elsewhere this week, young professionals from Asia and Europe convene in Jakarta to develop a science diplomacy communiqué, the University of Vienna inaugurates a new international research center, and the Security Council votes on a resolution addressing digital technologies and violations against children.

Major processes to watch

Biodiversity — COP17 confronts the financing gap behind global nature targets

The U.N. Biodiversity Conference begins substantive negotiations Monday in Yerevan, following Sunday’s ceremonial opening. At the center of COP17 is the first collective review of progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, with governments expected to consider measures to accelerate implementation before the 2030 deadline.

Governments are expected to consider recommendations on financing, scientific monitoring and institutional capacity, particularly for developing countries.

Financing is central to that discussion. The framework calls for mobilizing at least $200 billion annually from all sources for biodiversity by 2030, including at least $30 billion a year in international financial flows from developed to developing countries, while reducing environmentally harmful incentives by at least $500 billion annually.

Conservation advocates are pressing governments to establish interim financing milestones, address the relationship between debt and biodiversity loss, and involve finance ministries more directly in subsidy reform.

Governments will also consider how to make the Cali Fund operationally effective. Established to share benefits arising from the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources, the fund has attracted limited contributions. Negotiations over contributions, incentives and benefit distribution will test whether the mechanism can deliver meaningful financial support to biodiversity conservation and the countries and communities that help sustain it.

Other agenda items include synthetic biology, scientific and technical cooperation, monitoring and indicators, and conservation measures affecting Indigenous peoples and local communities. U.N. human rights experts have warned that the review must measure meaningful environmental and social outcomes rather than simply count national commitments.

The outcome will depend on whether governments agree on concrete financing, regulatory and implementation measures to close the gap between the framework’s targets and results.

Science diplomacy — Asia and Europe give young professionals a diplomatic voice

About 60 young professionals working across science, technology and international relations gather in Jakarta this week to develop recommendations for strengthening science and technology diplomacy between Asia and Europe.

The Asia-Europe Foundation’s second Youth Summit on Science and Technology Diplomacy runs Oct. 19–24, in partnership with Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The summit follows a preparatory training program and brings together participants from more than 30 Asian and European countries.

Sessions will examine science diplomacy in ASEAN, Indonesia’s international research partnerships and the practical role of scientific expertise in foreign policy. Participants will also meet science attachés and advisers from diplomatic missions, providing opportunities to compare how governments organize scientific cooperation.

Their principal task is to negotiate a Youth Communiqué setting out shared priorities and proposals. Drafting sessions are scheduled for Thursday, followed by a presentation Friday at a UNESCO–ASEF Intergenerational Dialogue on Science Diplomacy involving diplomats, scientists and senior officials.

The dialogue will provide an opportunity to discuss how the recommendations could inform science diplomacy policy, training and professional practice. The communiqué will set out the changes participants believe governments and institutions should make to strengthen science diplomacy.

Research diplomacy — Vienna enters the competition for global scientific talent

The University of Vienna inaugurates its Vienna Centre for Advanced Studies (ViCAS) on Monday, welcoming 19 inaugural fellows from six continents to an interdisciplinary research program designed to bring international scholars together for extended periods of independent work.

The center attracted 1,729 applications for its first cohort, an acceptance rate of just over 1%. Fellows will spend nine months pursuing research across academic disciplines, with the institution supported through Austria’s 2025–27 funding agreement with the university.

The launch comes amid growing international competition for researchers as universities confront changing funding conditions, pressures on academic freedom and shifting patterns of scientific mobility. ViCAS represents a new Austrian investment in attracting international scholars and creating opportunities for interdisciplinary exchange.

The center’s leadership includes Barbara Prainsack, who also chairs the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies, an advisory body to the European Commission.

Security Council watch — Digital threats to children and protection of medical missions

The Security Council opens Monday with a briefing on Haiti’s security crisis, including the work of the U.N. political mission and the Gang Suppression Force. Members are also scheduled to vote on a Greek-drafted resolution addressing the impact of digital technologies on violations and abuses against children.

The Council turns to the Central African Republic and Kosovo on Tuesday, followed by closed consultations Wednesday on implementation of a resolution concerning foreign forces, armed militias and government authority in Lebanon.

Council members will also continue negotiations on a Danish proposal to strengthen protection of medical missions in armed conflict, a measure with direct implications for international humanitarian law and healthcare delivery in conflict zones.

The week concludes with two meetings between Security Council members and the African Union Peace and Security Council: an informal seminar Thursday and their annual joint consultative meeting Friday. Discussions are also expected to continue on developments in the Middle East and northern Ethiopia.

Signals

Emerging weapons technologies enter disarmament discussions. The U.N. Institute for Disarmament Research holds two virtual discussions this week examining scientific developments across conventional, nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and the impact of misleading information on conventional arms control.

European environmental treaties face a new round of scrutiny. The U.N. Economic Commission for Europe briefs journalists Tuesday on upcoming governing-body meetings under three international agreements covering transboundary air pollution, environmental impact assessment and industrial accidents.

Wildlife trade negotiators are progressing toward their next meeting. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora holds a Tuesday briefing ahead of its 81st Standing Committee meeting.

On the calendar

Oct. 19–30 — U.N. Biodiversity Conference, Yerevan, Armenia. COP17 and meetings of the Cartagena and Nagoya protocols consider biodiversity implementation, finance, genetic information and international cooperation.
→ Conference schedule

Oct. 19–24 — Asia-Europe Youth Summit on Science and Technology Diplomacy, Jakarta, Indonesia. Young professionals develop recommendations on scientific cooperation and international policy.
→ Summit information

Oct. 19 — Vienna Centre for Advanced Studies opening, Vienna, Austria. The University of Vienna introduces the inaugural cohort of 19 international fellows.
→ ViCAS website

Oct. 19–22 — WTO Committee on Trade Facilitation, Geneva. Governments review implementation of international measures intended to simplify and improve customs procedures. → Meeting agenda

Oct. 20 — UNIDIR discussion on science and technology developments across the disarmament spectrum, virtual. The session examines technological developments affecting conventional, nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. → Meeting agenda

Oct. 22 — Asia-Europe Youth Communiqué drafting and handover, Jakarta. Participants finalize their collective recommendations on science and technology diplomacy. → Summit program

Oct. 23 — UNESCO–ASEF Intergenerational Dialogue on Science Diplomacy, Jakarta. Young professionals present their communiqué and discuss its recommendations with diplomats, scientists and senior officials.
→ Summit program

Looking ahead — Oct. 27–28: COP17 high-level segment, Yerevan. Ministers and senior government representatives address political priorities for implementing the global biodiversity agreement.
→ Conference website

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Issue No. 26 | Monday, October 12, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

The world’s leading climate science body meets in Addis Ababa this week with a consequential decision still unresolved: whether its next major assessments will be ready in time to inform international climate negotiations in 2028.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) opens its 65th plenary session Monday after nearly three years of disagreement over the timetable for its Seventh Assessment Report. The dispute has divided governments over how quickly the scientific reviews should be completed and whether a faster schedule would disadvantage researchers from countries with fewer resources.

The scientists leading the IPCC’s three working groups have proposed completing their reports by September 2028, ahead of the next global stocktake under the Paris Agreement. But countries including India, China, Kenya, Russia and Saudi Arabia have pressed for more time, arguing that researchers from developing countries need sufficient opportunities to contribute.

According to a Reuters investigation published Friday, some participants believe the timetable is being used to delay findings that could increase pressure for stronger climate action. Others argue that aligning the assessments too closely with international negotiations could compromise the IPCC’s independence.

The disagreement reaches into the foundations of science diplomacy. The IPCC does not conduct original research. It brings scientists from around the world together to assess existing knowledge, with governments participating in the approval of major findings. Its authority depends on both the scientific credibility of its assessments and the legitimacy of the international process behind them.

Governments are expected to assess collective progress under the Paris Agreement in 2028, including the adequacy of emissions reductions and climate financing. Without an updated IPCC assessment, those negotiations could proceed without a comprehensive scientific review of developments since the previous assessment cycle.

The Addis Ababa agenda also includes a review of the IPCC’s principles and procedures, consideration of artificial intelligence in its assessment processes, and decisions on its budget.

Elsewhere this week, the World Health Summit examines the future of international health cooperation in Berlin, the IMF and World Bank convene in Bangkok, and Geneva hosts meetings on emerging technologies, refugee protection and sustainable cities.

Major processes to watch

Climate — The IPCC confronts its assessment timetable

The IPCC’s 65th plenary runs Monday through Friday in Addis Ababa, hosted by Ethiopia and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

The central decision concerns the work plan for the Seventh Assessment Report. The panel’s provisional annotated agenda calls for a decision on the timetable for reports from its three working groups, covering the physical science of climate change, impacts and adaptation, and options for limiting emissions.

The meeting will also consider possible next steps in reviewing the IPCC’s principles and procedures and examine the role of artificial intelligence in its assessment processes.

Financial decisions are on the agenda as well. Governments will consider a revised 2026 budget and proposed 2027 budget, with forecasts for 2028 and 2029.

The outcome to watch is whether governments can settle the assessment timetable, and what any compromise would mean for the availability of scientific evidence during the 2028 climate negotiations.

Global health — Berlin examines financing, governance and pandemic preparedness

The World Health Summit continues Monday and Tuesday in Berlin, bringing together political leaders, scientists, international organizations, civil society and the private sector to examine the future of global health cooperation.

The summit’s organizers identify fragmentation, overlapping initiatives, declining development assistance and concentrated decision-making power as major weaknesses in the international health system.

They cite OECD figures showing that total official development assistance fell 23% in real terms in 2025, with 26 of 34 OECD members reducing their budgets. The decline adds pressure to discussions about the financing of international health institutions and the ability of lower-income countries to sustain essential services.

One unfinished international process is the WHO Pandemic Agreement. Its annex on pathogen access and benefit sharing remains unresolved, leaving questions about how countries will share pathogen materials and sequence information, and how benefits arising from their use will be distributed during future health emergencies.

Sunday’s program included a discussion with prospective candidates for WHO director-general and the launch of findings from the Lancet Commission on 21st Century Global Threats to Health. Another session examined the resilience of healthcare in Ukraine and other crisis settings.

The summit’s six central themes also encompass health equity, AI and data-driven health systems, conflict-related damage to healthcare, and environmental threats including climate change and antimicrobial resistance.

The remaining discussions will examine how scientific evidence, financing and institutional reform can support international health cooperation under increasingly difficult political and economic conditions.

Science diplomacy — Geneva anticipates the next technological challenges

The Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) holds its Anticipation Summit Wednesday and Thursday, with a program devoted to scientific breakthroughs and their implications for international governance.

The summit opens with the launch of the 2027 Science Breakthrough Radar, which maps advances expected to shape societies over the next five, 10 and 25 years.

Wednesday’s sessions address the geopolitics of science, the engineering of living systems, neurotechnology and increasingly autonomous AI-enabled machines.

The program includes the first meeting of a collaborative global network to address the security risks of advanced AI that has both civilian and military uses. Workshops will examine quantum diplomacy, responsible brain-computer interfaces and new foundations for global AI governance.

Thursday brings discussions of commercial activity in space, quantum biology, emerging therapeutics, and AI’s implications for science and society.

The World Intellectual Property Organization and GESDA will also examine future scenarios for quantum computing and intellectual property rights. Other workshops address how governments can anticipate scientific breakthroughs and the use of foresight in bioethics.

GESDA says its Science Breakthrough Radar draws on the cumulative contributions of more than 2,400 scientists in over 90 countries starting with the 2021 edition. The summit’s central challenge is to turn those assessments of emerging technologies into practical cooperation among governments, research institutions and industry.

The meeting takes place as Switzerland prepares to host the AI Summit Geneva 2027. The developments to watch are the priorities identified in the new Radar and whether the summit’s institutional initiatives produce concrete plans for international action.

Global economy — AI, energy and debt dominate the Bangkok meetings

The IMF and World Bank hold their Annual Meetings October 12–18 in Bangkok, bringing finance ministers and central bank governors together amid economic pressures from technological change, energy prices and public debt.

In an October 7 speech ahead of the meetings, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva identified the rapid expansion of AI, persistently high energy prices and record public debt as three major forces affecting the global economy.

She said AI hardware and related technology products now account for more than one-tenth of global goods trade, with investment concentrated in countries that produce or deploy advanced computing infrastructure.

Georgieva warned that this concentration could widen economic disparities between countries benefiting from the AI investment boom and those with limited access to the necessary infrastructure, capital and skills.

AI is also increasing demand for energy at a time when high prices are already putting pressure on households, businesses and government budgets.

Tuesday’s program includes publication of the October 2026 World Economic Outlook, titled Resilience under Strain, Urgent Choices, and the Global Financial Stability Report, titled Resilience, Risk, and Transformation.

Other sessions examine AI’s effects on Asian labor markets and the use of digitally connected public finance systems.

The meetings offer an opportunity to see how international financial institutions are incorporating technological access, AI-related investment risks and energy constraints into their economic assessments and policy recommendations.

Refugees — UNHCR considers its next budget and protection priorities

The UN Refugee Agency’s Executive Committee meets Monday through Friday in Geneva for its 77th session.

The agenda includes consideration and adoption of UNHCR’s 2027 program budget, reports on administrative oversight and evaluation, and discussions of refugee protection across major regions.

Side events address the evidence supporting protection policies, statelessness, the Sudan regional crisis, and the integration of education, health, social protection and economic inclusion into national systems.

One session, “50 by 35: Sustaining the evidence for action,” places evidence directly on the agenda of an international humanitarian institution confronting major operational and financing demands.

The budget deliberations and discussions of national systems will help determine how UNHCR approaches its protection responsibilities in the coming year.

Security Council watch — Healthcare protection and U.N. leadership

The Security Council opens its week Monday with briefings on Colombia and Syria, followed Tuesday by discussions of the Great Lakes region and closed consultations on escalating hostilities in northern Ethiopia.

Council members are also continuing negotiations on two draft resolutions with direct implications for science and health diplomacy: a Danish proposal to strengthen protection of medical missions during armed conflict and a Greek initiative addressing the impact of digital technologies on violations against children in armed conflict.

Wednesday brings a vote on renewing Haiti’s sanctions regime, a briefing on Libya and an Arria-formula meeting on Ukraine organized by Russia. The Council holds its quarterly open debate on the Middle East Thursday, followed by a briefing on Sudan Friday.

Friday also brings the sixth straw poll in the selection of the next U.N. secretary-general, an important step in determining the future leadership of the international organization.

Signals

• The IPCC examines AI in scientific assessment. Governments meeting in Addis Ababa will consider a document on the role of artificial intelligence in IPCC work, bringing questions about emerging technology directly into the governance of international scientific assessment.

  The U.N. Forum of Mayors faces a mandate review. Mayors meeting in Geneva are expected to adopt an outcome document on sustainable urban development while UNECE bodies separately review the forum’s terms of reference. The review concerns the future institutional role of local governments within this U.N. process.

  Geneva wins the 2029 global space congress. The International Astronautical Federation has selected Geneva over Houston and Barcelona to host the 80th International Astronautical Congress in 2029 at Palexpo. The decision brings a major international gathering of space agencies, researchers and industry leaders to Geneva during the 60th anniversary year of the Apollo 11 Moon landing.

On the calendar

Oct. 11–13 — World Health Summit, Berlin. Global health governance, pandemic preparedness, health financing, scientific evidence and the future of international health cooperation. → Program

Oct. 12–16 — IPCC 65th Plenary Session, Addis Ababa. Governments consider the Seventh Assessment Report timetable, institutional procedures, AI in scientific assessment and the panel’s budget. → Agenda

Oct. 12–18 — IMF–World Bank Annual Meetings, Bangkok. Global economic prospects, financial stability, AI, energy prices and public debt. The IMF’s World Economic Outlook and Global Financial Stability Report are scheduled for Tuesday. → Schedule

Oct. 12–16 — UNHCR Executive Committee, Geneva. The agency’s 77th session considers its 2027 program budget, oversight and refugee protection priorities. → Schedule

Oct. 12–13 — U.N. Forum of Mayors, Geneva. Mayors meet under the theme “Cities Delivering for a Sustainable Future,” with an outcome document on sustainable urban development expected. → Program

Oct. 14–15 — GESDA Anticipation Summit, Geneva. Launch of the 2027 Science Breakthrough Radar and discussions on the geopolitics of science, AI, biotechnology, quantum computing, neurotechnology and space governance. → Program

Oct. 15 — Les Nocturnes de GESDA, Geneva. A public evening of science, art and debate following the Anticipation Summit. → Program

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Issue No. 25 | Monday, October 5, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

The future of international scientific cooperation is on the agenda in Kyoto this week, as governments, scientists, research institutions and companies meet amid growing geopolitical pressure on the relationships that underpin global science.

The annual Science and Technology in Society Forum runs through Tuesday under the theme “Navigating Tectonic Shifts in Science, Technology, and Society.” Discussions range across artificial intelligence, energy and biomedical science, but also address digital sovereignty, trust in science, international scientific cooperation and the future of science diplomacy.

The meeting has already produced a diplomatic initiative. The United States and 16 other countries on Sunday endorsed the Kyoto Vision for a Golden Age of Science, a joint declaration calling for changes in how research is funded and organized, greater investment in scientific talent and expanded use of what the declaration calls “super intelligence” in scientific research.

The terminology, introduced by President Trump at the U.N. General Assembly last month as a replacement for “artificial intelligence,” has since been adopted across the U.S. executive branch.

The declaration encourages governments to experiment with funding mechanisms including long-duration awards, rapid grants, prizes and challenges, as well as new institutional models for research. It also calls for wider researcher access to AI tools, scientific data, computing infrastructure and experimental facilities.

The stakes for international science are considerably less abstract in Kyiv.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the badly damaged headquarters of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine on Sunday, a week after a Russian drone strike killed at least two people there.

The academy has said it has no connection to military activities and called the strike “an attack on science.” It went further in its response last week: “There can be no ‘science is above politics’ when science is under armed attacks.”

Merz’s visit puts the damaged academy directly into the diplomacy surrounding the war, as questions about protecting Ukrainian science move beyond the scientific community and into relations between governments.

Elsewhere this week, the global space community gathers in Antalya; sustainable finance takes over several days of the Geneva calendar; the Human Rights Council concludes its 63rd session; and the Security Council begins work under the Greek presidency.

Major processes to watch

Ukraine — An attack on science enters wartime diplomacy

The response to last week’s Russian strike on the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine has moved beyond the scientific community.

Merz and Zelenskyy visited the damaged academy Sunday during the German chancellor’s trip to Kyiv, as Russian strikes continued across the capital. Merz used the visit to call on Russia to end the war and halt attacks on civilians.

The stop was part of a visit that also included German commitments of additional military and energy support. Ukraine’s principal scientific institution has spent years trying to sustain research through war, displacement and damage to scientific infrastructure.

Last week, the academy argued that the attack challenged the idea that science could remain separate from the conflict. European scientific organizations and governments condemned the strike. This week, the visit by Merz puts the protection of Ukraine’s scientific institutions more visibly into high-level diplomacy.

The question extends beyond repairing one building. Ukraine has spent years trying to preserve researchers, laboratories, institutions and international research relationships during the war, while confronting the longer-term task of rebuilding what has been lost.

Space — Antalya puts international cooperation alongside an expanding space economy

The International Astronautical Congress opens Monday in Antalya, bringing space agencies, government officials, scientists, astronauts and companies together for five days of scientific, commercial and policy discussions.

This year’s theme, “The World Needs More Space,” addresses both the expansion of activity beyond Earth and the rules needed to keep space secure, sustainable and accessible as more countries and private companies participate.

International cooperation runs through the program. Discussions include new models for Earth-observation cooperation involving government and commercial satellite fleets, priorities and partnerships for lunar science, and the use of satellite observations in decision-making.

The meetings around the congress broaden that agenda. A U.N.-International Astronautical Federation workshop focuses on using space technologies to strengthen economic resilience in emerging nations, while ministers and parliamentarians meet alongside space agencies, researchers and industry.

There will also be institutional business to watch. On Wednesday, the International Astronautical Federation and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are expected to sign an agreement and present the initial framework for the 2028 Global Space Exploration Conference.

Friday is reserved in part for late breaking news: major missions, discoveries and other significant developments emerging close enough to the congress that they could not be incorporated into the regular program.

Kyoto — Science diplomacy examines its operating environment

The STS Forum continues Monday and Tuesday with science diplomacy itself among the subjects under discussion.

Sessions on digital sovereignty, trust in science and international science and technology cooperation run alongside discussions of artificial intelligence, energy and health. The Kyoto Vision announced Sunday gives those discussions a governmental counterpart, with 17 countries endorsing changes in research funding, institutions, AI access and scientific training.

Other discussions address cooperation across political divisions and how international scientific relationships function as governments place greater emphasis on technological sovereignty and security.

Security Council watch — Africa leads the Council’s week

The Security Council opens its substantive work Tuesday with its annual briefing on cooperation with the African Union, against the backdrop of renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia.

Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, the U.N. special representative to the African Union, and A.U. Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Bankole Adeoye are expected to brief. Council members are also monitoring Ethiopia after large-scale hostilities resumed in September across Tigray, Afar and Amhara.

Western Sahara follows Wednesday and Thursday, including consultations with U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura, while the Council votes Thursday on extending the Sudan sanctions regime. Yemen is on the agenda Friday.

Council members are also expected to continue negotiating a Danish draft resolution on protecting medical missions during conflict.

Friday, the Council’s Military Staff Committee is expected to discuss Lebanon and preparations for the transition associated with the closure of UNIFIL by Dec. 31.

Signals

• Digital technology is entering the Security Council’s children-and-war agenda. Greece has introduced a draft resolution on the impact of digital technologies on violations against children in armed conflict, with Council members expected to continue negotiations.

• Satellite data are moving onto financial balance sheets. Building Bridges will examine how Earth observations and analytics can be turned into rapid agricultural-risk information for insurers, lenders and investors after droughts, conflicts and market shocks.

• Banks are starting to scrutinize the AI supply chain. A Geneva discussion this week asks how lenders should assess human-rights risks among data-center and AI clients, extending scrutiny from the minerals used in servers through to banks’ own use of AI.

On the calendar

Oct. 4–6 — Science and Technology in Society Forum, Kyoto. Government officials, scientists, research institutions and companies meet on the international implications of scientific and technological change, including the future of science diplomacy. → Program

Oct. 4–10 — International School on Science Diplomacy, Erice, Italy. Diplomats, international officials, academics and researchers gather for the second edition of a week-long program on the foundations, actors and future practice of science diplomacy. → Program

Sept. 7–Oct. 7 — Human Rights Council, 63rd session, Geneva. The Council concludes its month-long session Wednesday. → Meeting information

Oct. 5 — Protecting Human Rights of Seafarers, Geneva. OHCHR, ILO, IMO, governments, employers and seafarer representatives discuss protections for seafarers stranded, abandoned or detained during armed conflicts and crises. → Overview

Oct. 5–6 — Water Convention Bureau, Geneva. The Bureau of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes meets. → Members

Oct. 5 — Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions briefing, Geneva. The conventions’ secretariat begins preparations for the 2027 chemicals and waste COPs, scheduled for April 19–30 in Panama. → Meeting

Oct. 5–9 — International Astronautical Congress, Antalya, Turkey. Space agencies, governments, researchers and companies meet for the 77th IAC, with international cooperation, space sustainability and an expanding global space economy among the issues in focus. → Program

Oct. 6–8 — Building Bridges 2026, Geneva. Sustainable finance discussions cover climate and disaster resilience, nature, emerging markets and the use of technologies including Earth observation and AI in investment decisions. The program includes sessions on converting satellite observations into agricultural risk information and using AI to assess nature-related risks at the asset level. → Program

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Issue No. 24 | Monday, September 28, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

Weather satellites, radar and other observing systems depend on radio frequencies to transmit data and, in some cases, to make the observations themselves. Those frequencies are getting more crowded.

The World Meteorological Organization and International Telecommunication Union bring meteorologists, spectrum regulators and telecommunications experts together in Geneva this week to examine growing pressure on the radio spectrum used for weather, climate and water observations. The three-day meeting begins Monday at ITU headquarters.

Demand for usable radio frequencies is increasing from mobile communications, satellite services and other technologies. Some of the frequencies involved are particularly important to meteorology. Passive satellite sensors measure naturally occurring radiation at specific frequencies to determine atmospheric temperature, water vapor and other conditions. Radar and other systems use spectrum to monitor precipitation, storms and the wider Earth system.

Interference can degrade those observations. That can affect the data used for weather forecasting, climate monitoring and early-warning systems.

The rules are negotiated internationally. Governments allocate spectrum through the ITU, while WMO represents the operational requirements of weather and climate services. This week’s seminar will examine interference, evolving requirements and preparations for the 2027 World Radiocommunication Conference, where governments will again negotiate international rules governing spectrum use.

WMO and ITU will also introduce an updated joint handbook on spectrum use for weather, climate, water and other environmental applications.

The issue rarely attracts the attention given to climate negotiations or extreme weather. But the ability to forecast a storm or track a changing climate depends partly on countries agreeing to protect the frequencies used to observe them.

Elsewhere this week: the U.N. General Assembly concludes its General Debate and turns to nuclear disarmament; the Science Summit moves to Nairobi; WIPO releases its Global Innovation Index; and UNECE convenes Sustainable Energy Week.

Major processes to watch

Nairobi — Science Summit turns to African science systems

After two weeks of online programming and last week’s meetings alongside the U.N. General Assembly in New York, the Science Summit opens its final in-person program Monday in Nairobi.

The three-day agenda covers artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, agriculture, health, research infrastructure and science diplomacy. Running through many of those discussions is a more basic question: how to build and finance scientific capacity.

Monday includes sessions on AI governance and investment, cybersecurity and digital resilience, and financing science and innovation. Tuesday turns to agriculture, food security and science diplomacy. Wednesday includes One Health, genomics and precision medicine, research infrastructure and evidence-informed policymaking.

One session examines how governments, development finance institutions, investors and industry can mobilize capital for research, innovation and commercialization. Another focuses on science diplomacy, research partnerships and financing.

The Nairobi program puts those questions in an African context: scientific capacity, access to capital, research infrastructure and the ability of institutions to participate in international scientific and technological cooperation.

Energy — Geneva puts resilience, technology and finance on the same agenda

UNECE Sustainable Energy Week begins Monday at the Palais des Nations, bringing together expert groups on energy efficiency, renewable energy and cleaner electricity systems before the Committee on Sustainable Energy holds its 35th session.

The first discussion is on resilient energy infrastructure. The week’s agenda then covers data centers and grid resilience, biofuel quality and sustainability standards, renewable-energy integration, industry and buildings, digitalization, electric mobility and financing.

On Wednesday, the Committee on Sustainable Energy begins with a high-level segment on energy security, affordability and sustainability. Its formal work includes the future program of the committee and its expert groups.

Electricity grids must absorb new sources of generation and new sources of demand, including data centers and electric vehicles, while governments confront questions of affordability, infrastructure resilience and financing.

Innovation — WIPO measures the geography of scientific entrepreneurship

WIPO releases its 2026 Global Innovation Index on Tuesday, covering the innovation performance of nearly 140 economies and the world’s top 100 innovation clusters.

This year’s theme, “Powering entrepreneurs at the frontier of science,” examines how scientific research produces deep-science startups and spinouts. AI, quantum computing, synthetic biology and advanced materials are among the technologies WIPO identifies as moving from research toward commercial application.

The report also looks at the obstacles: long development timelines, capital gaps and the emergence of deep-science hubs outside established innovation centers. Governments, companies, universities and research institutions all figure in that ecosystem.

UNGA watch

High-Level Week ends. The General Assembly does not.

The General Assembly concludes its annual General Debate on Monday. The same day, governments mark 25 years since the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Program of Action and are expected to endorse a political declaration renewing commitments to its implementation.

On Tuesday, the General Assembly turns to nuclear disarmament.

Its annual high-level meeting on the total elimination of nuclear weapons takes place this year after the expiration of New START. The U.S.-Russian treaty expired in February without a successor, leaving no agreed limits on the two countries’ strategic nuclear arsenals. The U.N. says no nuclear-disarmament negotiations are currently under way.

The NPT Review Conference took place in April and May, while the first Review Conference of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is scheduled for Nov. 30–Dec. 4.

On Thursday, the General Assembly’s Second Committee begins its work on economic, development and environmental issues.

Security Council watch — Middle East opens the week

The Security Council holds a briefing Monday on the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. Ramiz Alakbarov, acting special coordinator and resident coordinator at UNSCO, is expected to brief alongside two civil society representatives.

Tuesday brings a scheduled vote on reauthorizing the Gang Suppression Force in Haiti and a briefing on the U.N. mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Council members also conduct their fourth straw poll Tuesday in the selection of the next U.N. secretary-general. The previous round did not produce a conclusive result.

Signals

• Data centers have become an energy security issue. UNECE puts their impact on electricity grids alongside resilience, electric mobility and energy-system planning this week.

• New deep-science hubs appear on WIPO's map. This year's Global Innovation Index examines emerging concentrations of frontier science entrepreneurship outside established innovation centers.

• Development finance is entering the science financing conversation. Nairobi brings development finance institutions together with governments, investors and industry to discuss financing research, innovation and commercialization.

On the calendar

Sept. 7–Oct. 7 — Human Rights Council, 63rd session, Geneva. The month-long session continues. → Meeting information

Sept. 28 — U.N. General Debate concludes, New York. The General Assembly finishes its annual General Debate. → Daily schedule

Sept. 28 — U.N. High-Level Meeting on the Durban Declaration, New York. Governments mark the 25th anniversary of the international framework against racism and are expected to endorse a political declaration renewing commitments to its implementation. → Concept note

Sept. 28–30 — Science Summit 2026, Nairobi. The final in-person program covers AI, cybersecurity, science financing, agriculture, health, research infrastructure and science diplomacy. → Program

Sept. 28–30 — WMO–ITU Global Seminar on Spectrum Use for Meteorology, Geneva. Experts examine spectrum requirements, interference and preparations for future international spectrum negotiations. → Program

Sept. 28–Oct. 1 — UNECE Sustainable Energy Week, Geneva. Expert groups on energy efficiency, renewable energy and cleaner electricity systems meet alongside the Committee on Sustainable Energy. → Program

Sept. 28–Oct. 2 — FAO Committee on Forestry, Rome. The committee holds its 28th session. → Agenda

Sept. 29 — WIPO Global Innovation Index 2026, Geneva. WIPO releases its annual innovation index with a special focus on entrepreneurship at the frontier of science. The public launch runs from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. → Background

Sept. 29 — U.N. High-Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament, New York. The General Assembly holds its annual meeting promoting the total elimination of nuclear weapons. → Background

Sept. 29 — U.N. secretary-general selection, New York. Security Council members conduct their fourth straw poll to gauge support for candidates to succeed António Guterres. → Process

Sept. 30 — Science Diplomacy Journalism: Communicating Beyond the Expert Community, online. The EU Science Diplomacy Alliance holds a public seminar on communicating science diplomacy to broader audiences, featuring The Science Diplomat’s editors. → Program

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Issue No. 23 | Monday, September 21, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

World leaders arrive in New York this week for the United Nations’ largest annual diplomatic gathering. Along with wars, economic pressures and strains on the multilateral system, they will confront a set of problems that depend heavily on science and technology to find solutions.

The General Debate begins Tuesday under the theme, “Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: A United Nations That Delivers for All.” Artificial intelligence, climate change, sea level rise and pandemic preparedness feature across the week’s formal meetings and the wider network of ministerial gatherings and side events.

On Monday, the U.N. Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies convenes Digital Cooperation Day, with discussions on AI governance, scientific assessment, digital infrastructure, financing and national capacity. Wednesday brings a high-level event on climate action and a just transition. On Thursday, governments are expected to adopt a declaration on sea level rise covering science and data, infrastructure, finance, maritime boundaries and statehood. Friday brings the second U.N. high-level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

Running alongside the official U.N. program is the New York portion of the Science Summit, with sessions on science diplomacy, food security, AI, research financing, One Health, climate resilience, geoengineering, environmental governance, open science and Earth observation. Monday includes a high-level dialogue devoted specifically to science diplomacy and global cooperation amid geopolitical divisions.

The subjects differ, but they raise some of the same practical questions. Who produces the evidence governments rely on? Who has the technical capacity to participate? Who pays? What happens when scientific cooperation runs into disputes over sovereignty, security or access?

Those questions are particularly visible this week. AI discussions will address the capacity of countries outside the major technology powers to help write the rules. The sea level declaration relies on global observation systems while addressing maritime zones and the survival of nations. Pandemic negotiators are still trying to reconcile rapid sharing of pathogen information with equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

High-Level Week offers a concentrated view of science diplomacy in practice: governments using scientific evidence, institutions and technical cooperation to negotiate problems they cannot manage alone.

Elsewhere this week: WTO members begin a new round of fisheries subsidy discussions in Geneva; the Geneva Center for Multilateral Journalism launches a new index measuring global governance reporting; candidates for the next ILO director-general appear together publicly; and a proposal for an international scientific panel on inequality gets a hearing in New York.

Major processes to watch

AI — The U.N. takes up the machinery of global AI governance

The U.N. Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies convenes its second Digital Cooperation Day on Monday with a practical agenda: implementing the Global Digital Compact, narrowing gaps in AI capacity and strengthening international cooperation on artificial intelligence.

This year’s theme, “Shaping A Global AI Future Through Science, Policy, and Capacity,” divides the work into three areas. Scientific research is meant to inform governance; governments will discuss policy, interoperability and digital public infrastructure; and capacity building sessions will cover national AI strategies, skills, financing, disaster resilience and international partnerships.

The political issue underneath that agenda is participation. Countries without large AI industries still need infrastructure, expertise and regulatory capacity if they are to have a meaningful role in writing international rules for the technologies they use.

The program also features the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, alongside governments, industry, academia, civil society and technical experts. Organizers say partnership announcements are expected during the day.

Sea level rise — A declaration reaches beyond the shoreline

Governments are expected to adopt a U.N. Declaration on Sea Level Rise on Thursday covering scientific observation, infrastructure, finance, maritime boundaries and the continuity of nations threatened by rising seas. The provisional program includes its expected approval during the opening segment.

The declaration begins with science. Governments commit to stronger research collaboration and national scientific capacity, better data sharing and coordinated observations, and the text specifically recognizes WMO and UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and calls for interoperable global systems.

The declaration also calls for sea level projections to be incorporated into ports, energy and water systems, health facilities, telecommunications and other coastal infrastructure. Developing countries, particularly small island developing nations and least developed countries, are promised greater financial, technical and policy support.

The legal provisions go further. Governments would affirm that maritime zones established under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea can be maintained despite physical changes caused by sea level rise. The text also states a presumption in favor of continued statehood and calls for support to countries that lose territory but must continue to maintain governmental functions.

The declaration calls for another high-level meeting before the end of the General Assembly’s 84th session, giving governments a mechanism for returning to the issue.

Pandemics — PABS remains unfinished as leaders meet in New York

WHO members ended five days of negotiations in Geneva on Friday without completing the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system at the center of the Pandemic Agreement.

The proposed system would pair rapid sharing of materials and sequence information from pathogens with pandemic potential with fair and timely access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics developed from their use. WHO said governments made progress toward an equitable and workable system, but negotiations continue.

That unfinished business now follows governments to New York. Heads of state and government meet Friday for the second U.N. high-level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. Its expected political declaration calls for timely completion of the PABS annex. Finalizing the annex is also needed so countries can proceed to signing and considering ratification of the Pandemic Agreement.

The high-level meeting has a broader agenda as well: surveillance and early warning, access to vaccines and diagnostics, financing, resilient health systems and One Health. Since the first such meeting in 2023, governments have adopted the Pandemic Agreement, strengthened the International Health Regulations and established or expanded several preparedness institutions. WHO nevertheless says gaps persist in financing, surveillance, laboratory capacity and equitable access to health products.

The PABS dispute remains the clearest test. Countries agree that pathogens and sequence information must travel quickly during an emergency. The harder negotiation concerns what countries receive in return when shared pathogen materials and sequence information contribute to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

UNGA watch

This is António Guterres’s final General Assembly High-Level Week as U.N. secretary-general. His second five-year term ends Dec. 31, and the process to choose his successor is under way.

Several declared candidates are scheduled to appear Wednesday at an Open Society Foundations event on democracy and human rights. The next secretary-general will inherit an institution under financial pressure while governments ask the U.N. to handle a widening range of technological, environmental and health problems.

Security Council watch — AI returns to the Security Council

The Security Council holds a high-level briefing Wednesday on artificial intelligence and international security, one of several meetings scheduled alongside the General Assembly’s General Debate.

France, which holds the Council presidency this month, is organizing the meeting. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot will chair, with Yoshua Bengio, co-chair of the U.N.’s Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, expected to brief alongside private sector representatives, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

The Council has discussed AI before, but its role is unsettled. Diplomats have considered its potential uses in conflict prevention, mediation, peace operations and sanctions monitoring alongside risks from cyber operations, disinformation and increasingly autonomous systems. They differ over how the Council should fit into the wider international architecture for AI governance.

The meeting follows Monday’s Digital Cooperation Day, which addresses AI governance, capacity and implementation across the wider U.N. system. The Council’s discussion will focus on international peace and security.

Signals

• A new index measures how the media cover global governance. The Geneva Center for Multilateral Journalism launches its Multilateral Journalism Index on Monday, based on a six-week pilot covering 247 records from 71 media outlets and 27 multilateral events. Reporting scored highest for substantive information and lowest for source diversity, while the study found that technically important negotiations and governance processes did not always receive attention proportional to their institutional significance. Future editions are expected to expand the observation period and examine additional institutions and centers of multilateral governance.

• An IPCC for inequality? Advocates will use a Thursday UNGA side event to make the case for an International Panel on Inequality, modeled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The proposal came from an inequality report commissioned by South Africa’s G20 presidency. Its backers argue that a standing international expert body could provide governments with a common evidence base for inequality policy.

• The ILO leadership contest goes public. All three candidates for the next director-general appear Wednesday in Geneva before representatives of governments, employers and workers. The candidates are incumbent Gilbert F. Houngbo of Togo, Yolanda Díaz Pérez of Spain and Javier González-Olaechea Franco of Peru. Private hearings follow Nov. 9, with the election slated for Nov. 16.

On the calendar

Sept. 7–Oct. 7 — Human Rights Council, 63rd session, Geneva. The month-long session continues. → Meeting information

Sept. 21 — Multilateral Journalism Index launched, Geneva. The Geneva Center for Multilateral Journalism publishes the first MJI pilot, measuring substance, public understanding, governance literacy and source diversity in coverage of international organizations. → News and New Index

Sept. 21 — Digital Cooperation Day, New York. The U.N. Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies convenes governments and other stakeholders on AI science, governance, capacity, infrastructure and financing. → Program

Sept. 21–25 — Science Summit 2026, New York. The New York program runs alongside High-Level Week, with sessions spanning science diplomacy, AI, health, food systems, research financing and environmental governance. → Program

Sept. 21–25 — WTO fisheries subsidies “Fish Week,” Geneva. Members begin the first of three planned negotiating weeks intended to identify common ground for additional fisheries-subsidy disciplines. The chair has explicitly said this round is for discussion rather than decisions. → Meeting information

Sept. 22 — U.N. General Debate begins, New York. Heads of state and government begin the annual General Assembly debate. → Meeting information

Sept. 22 — AU–EU–Med Innovation Fair application deadline. Science-based and deep-tech startups and SMEs working on food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture have until Tuesday to apply for the Nov. 25 fair in Bari. → Registration

Sept. 23 — High-Level Event on Climate Action and the Just Transition, New York. Leaders address climate action, transition and financing during High-Level Week. → Overview

Sept. 23 — ILO Director-General candidate dialogue, Geneva. The three candidates appear publicly before the organization’s tripartite constituency ahead of private hearings and the November election. → Program

Sept. 24 — U.N. High-Level Meeting on Sea Level Rise, New York. Governments are scheduled to approve the political declaration during the opening segment. → Documents

Sept. 25 — U.N. High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response, New York. Governments review progress since 2023 and are expected to renew commitments on preparedness, financing, equitable access and completion of the PABS annex. → Program

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Issue No. 22 | Monday, September 14, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

The world’s nuclear agency confronts the widening demands on its mandate.

Representatives of 181 countries gather in Vienna on Monday for the 70th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, opening a week that brings some of the most consequential uses — and risks — of nuclear science under the same roof.

The IAEA is best known internationally for its role in nuclear safeguards and nonproliferation. But its mandate extends much further, encompassing nuclear energy, safety and security, cancer treatment, food security, water management and other peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology.

The General Conference is where countries collectively set priorities across that unusually broad mandate. Representatives review the agency’s work and consider resolutions covering nuclear science and applications, technical cooperation, safeguards, safety, security and nonproliferation. Decisions taken during the week help shape the IAEA’s program of work for the year ahead.

This year’s meeting opens against a difficult geopolitical backdrop. Iran is scheduled to be the first country to address Monday’s general debate, with Russia, the United States and China also speaking during the opening session. The European Union, Japan and France are among the other speakers scheduled for the first morning.

That lineup puts nuclear diplomacy immediately alongside the agency’s technical work. The IAEA’s ability to verify nuclear activities depends on access, scientific measurement and cooperation from governments — conditions that become harder to sustain when the countries whose activities it monitors are themselves locked in wider geopolitical disputes.

At the same time, governments are asking nuclear science to do more. Interest in nuclear power is growing alongside efforts to decarbonize energy systems, while nuclear technologies are being deployed in medicine, agriculture, food security and water management.

That second side of the agency’s mandate will be prominent Tuesday and Wednesday, when the IAEA’s annual Scientific Forum focuses on Rays of Hope, its initiative to expand access to cancer care. Scientists, policymakers and ministers will examine partnerships, financing and ways to make radiotherapy and other nuclear-medicine capabilities available where access remains limited.

The juxtaposition captures something fundamental about nuclear diplomacy. The same international institution is expected to verify nuclear materials, reduce proliferation risks and strengthen nuclear safety while helping countries use nuclear science to produce electricity, manage water, improve food security and treat cancer.

As the IAEA enters its 70th General Conference, the question is how an institution built to promote the peaceful uses of nuclear science while guarding against its misuse adapts as both sides of that mandate become more demanding.

Elsewhere, the Science Summit 2026 opens Monday, beginning an online program that will move to New York during U.N. high-level week and then Nairobi at the end of the month.

Countries also return to Geneva for another round of negotiations on the unfinished Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system under the WHO Pandemic Agreement, while UNESCO brings governments and experts to Riyadh to examine how international AI ethics principles can be turned into functioning national governance systems.

The U.N. Human Rights Council continues its month-long session in Geneva, while experts worldwide remain engaged in the first review of the physical-science contribution to the IPCC’s Seventh Assessment Report.

Major processes to watch

Global — Science Summit connects research with international decision-making

The Science Summit 2026 opens Monday, beginning more than two weeks of discussions intended to connect science, technology and innovation more directly with international policymaking, financing and implementation.

Running online from Sept. 14–30, the summit moves into an in-person New York program Sept. 21–25 alongside U.N. high-level week before concluding with its first Nairobi program Sept. 28–30.

The agenda spans artificial intelligence, health, food security, climate, biodiversity, sustainable finance and science diplomacy. Organizers are also seeking to connect researchers with development banks, philanthropies, technology companies and investors — actors that increasingly influence which scientific work is financed and whether emerging technologies move from research into deployment.

The geographic expansion is also significant. Taking part of the summit to Nairobi explicitly seeks to give African scientific leadership a larger role in discussions that have historically concentrated around New York and other established centers of international policymaking.

The process is therefore testing a broader proposition: whether international science diplomacy can build stronger connections not only between science and government, but among research, policy and the institutions that finance implementation.

WHO — Countries return to the unfinished business of the Pandemic Agreement

Countries meet in Geneva through Friday for another round of negotiations on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system, the major component of the WHO Pandemic Agreement that remained unfinished when governments adopted the agreement in 2025.

The proposed system is intended to establish how participating laboratories and manufacturers share pathogens and related information while ensuring that benefits derived from their use — including vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics — are distributed more equitably.

This week’s negotiations move directly into the architecture of that system. Governments discuss implementation Monday and Tuesday, scope and definitions Wednesday, and governance and review Thursday before returning to implementation Friday. The program also includes discussions of a coordinating financial mechanism and lessons from COVID-19 procurement.

The question is whether countries can narrow the remaining differences sufficiently to put PABS on a path toward agreement. The draft annex is the central substantive item on the formal agenda.

Riyadh — AI governance moves from principles toward implementation

Governments and experts gather in Riyadh for UNESCO’s fourth Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, with this year’s meeting focused less on establishing new principles than on putting existing ones into practice.

Five years after UNESCO adopted its Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, more than 75 countries have engaged with its Readiness Assessment Methodology, which examines national institutions and policies for governing AI. The forum will take stock of that implementation and launch a meta-analysis of more than 55 national assessments alongside a new version of the methodology intended to move countries from diagnosis toward policy action.

The agenda also moves into the institutional machinery required for AI oversight: cross-border cooperation among supervisory authorities, government capacity to procure and use AI responsibly, and financing for regulatory systems and public-sector preparedness. Ministers and regulators will separately examine how multilateral processes can bridge increasingly fragmented approaches to AI governance.

The question to watch is whether UNESCO’s global ethics framework is beginning to develop an implementation architecture capable of influencing how governments actually regulate and deploy AI.

Global — New survey finds demand for economic change outpacing trust in governments

A new multinational survey released Monday finds broad agreement that economic systems need substantial change — alongside declining confidence that governments can deliver it.

Across 17 major economies surveyed by Ipsos for Earth4All, 70% of respondents say inequality in their country is too high, 65% believe the economic system is rigged to benefit the rich and powerful, and 69% want major changes to that system. But only 31% believe their government will make decisions benefiting the majority 20 or 30 years from now, down from 39% in 2024.

The survey also finds 67% believe their country is more divided than a decade ago. Support for democracy remains substantial, with 68% calling it the best way to govern, but 40% say their country would be better off with a strong leader unconstrained by parliament and elections.

Released as governments prepare for U.N. high-level week, the findings expose a governance problem extending across many issues on the international agenda: public demand for large-scale change is running well ahead of confidence in the institutions expected to deliver it.

UNGA watch — High-level week begins to take shape

The General Assembly moves closer to its annual high-level meetings this week, with the U.N. beginning the transition from the opening of its 81st session toward the arrival of world leaders in New York.

On Friday, the General Assembly holds its annual SDG Moment, intended to focus political attention on progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals ahead of high-level week. Secretary-General António Guterres is expected to address the meeting.

The general debate begins Sept. 22, alongside a series of high-level meetings addressing climate action and the just transition, sea-level rise, pandemic preparedness and other international priorities.

The timing also overlaps with the Science Summit’s transition from its online program to its in-person New York meetings beginning Sept. 21, bringing the science-policy community into the same institutional ecosystem as the year’s most concentrated period of global diplomacy.

Security Council watch — Iran sanctions dispute moves to a vote

The Security Council is scheduled to vote Thursday on extending the mandate of the Panel of Experts supporting the 1737 sanctions committee on Iran.

The vote brings the institutional dispute surrounding Iran’s nuclear file back before the Council one week after members publicly disagreed over whether the sanctions committee itself legally exists. Western members maintain that U.N. sanctions were restored through the JCPOA’s snapback mechanism, while China and Russia reject that interpretation.

That disagreement has prevented the committee from functioning normally, making the vote a test of whether Council members can maintain an expert-monitoring mechanism even while disputing the legal foundation on which it operates.

The Council also turns to the security of international shipping on Thursday in an informal meeting on protecting freedom of navigation, as members continue to follow disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. On Friday, members hold a debate on peacekeeping reform and conduct their third straw poll on candidates for the next U.N. secretary-general.

Signals

• The IAEA’s dual mandate is becoming more demanding in both directions as geopolitical tensions complicate nuclear verification while governments seek wider access to peaceful nuclear technologies.

• AI governance is moving beyond general principles toward the institutional machinery of implementation, including national assessments, supervisory cooperation, regulatory capacity and financing.

• The PABS negotiations show that scientific cooperation and equity are increasingly inseparable: access to biological materials is being negotiated alongside access to the products and benefits that science produces from them.

• Public demand for large-scale economic change is running well ahead of confidence that governments can deliver it, creating a trust problem for institutions trying to manage long-term challenges.

On the calendar

Aug. 10–Oct. 2 — IPCC Working Group I First Order Draft expert review (Global)
Experts continue reviewing the first draft of the physical science contribution to the IPCC Seventh Assessment Report. → Review information

Sept. 7–Oct. 7 — U.N. Human Rights Council, 63rd session (Geneva)
The Council continues its month-long session spanning global human rights crises alongside issues including hazardous substances and wastes, water and sanitation, climate finance and the human rights consequences of nuclear legacies. → Meeting information

Sept. 8 onward — U.N. General Assembly 81st session (New York)
The General Assembly continues its annual session, with Friday’s SDG Moment beginning the transition toward high-level week and the general debate starting Sept. 22. → Meeting information

Sept. 14 — Earth4All Global Survey 2026 released (Global)
A 17-country survey examines attitudes toward inequality, economic-system change, political trust and social cohesion. → Report

Sept. 14–17 — UNESCO Global Forum on the Ethics of AI (Riyadh)
Governments and experts meet on international approaches to ethical AI governance and implementation. → Forum

Sept. 14–18 — IAEA General Conference, 70th session (Vienna)
Representatives of 181 countries set priorities across nuclear safeguards, safety, security, technical cooperation and the peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology. → Conference

Sept. 14–18 — Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Review Conference (Vientiane)
Countries review implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions and consider priorities for the next review cycle. → Conference

Sept. 14–18 — WHO Pandemic Agreement negotiations (Geneva)
Countries continue negotiating the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing annex, including its scope, implementation, governance and financing. → Agenda

Sept. 14–30 — Science Summit 2026 (Online; New York; Nairobi)
Scientists, policymakers, international organizations, funders and industry examine how science and technology can support global governance, sustainable development and international cooperation. The summit begins online before moving to New York and Nairobi. → Program

Sept. 15 — WMO State of Global Water Resources 2025 released (Geneva)
The World Meteorological Organization releases its latest assessment of global water resources, with senior officials briefing on hydrology and the cryosphere. → Reports

Closing

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Issue No. 21 | Monday, September 7, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

Governments and experts gather in Kunming, China, on Monday for three days of discussions examining collective progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, beginning a new stage in the first global review of the agreement adopted in 2022.

The framework established 23 targets for 2030, covering everything from ecosystem restoration and protected areas to pollution, finance and the sustainable use of biodiversity. But setting global targets was only the beginning. Governments now have to determine collectively how much progress has been made and where efforts remain insufficient.

The Kunming Dialogue is part of that process. Countries agreed at COP16, held at Cali, Colombia, in 2024, that the global review would be led by governments, supported by an informal technical dialogue bringing together national representatives with Indigenous peoples and local communities, scientists, women and youth representatives, businesses, financial institutions and other experts.

Delegates will also confront the lagging progress of the Cali Fund, which was created at COP16 to convert private corporate profits into public conservation projects in developing countries. Its certified financial statement shows that in 2025 it received just $1,000, from the U.K.-based startup TierraViva AI.

That makes the meeting an important interface between evidence and diplomacy. Scientific assessments and national reports can show changes in ecosystems, financing or conservation efforts, but governments must decide how that evidence should be interpreted collectively and what it means for the commitments they made.

The dialogue also brings the biodiversity framework back to the city where its political architecture began taking shape. The first part of COP15 was held in Kunming in 2021 before negotiations concluded the following year in Montreal with adoption of the Kunming-Montreal framework.

The meeting follows biodiversity negotiations in Nairobi this summer that examined the first global assessment of progress and warned that current efforts remain insufficient to achieve the framework’s 2030 mission.

Kunming now moves that process forward: from establishing what the evidence says toward determining what countries should collectively make of it.

Elsewhere this week, governments and other participants gather in Baku for a U.N. Climate Week intended to build momentum toward COP31, while the IPCC convenes its first expert meeting specifically devoted to water and climate change.

The U.N. Human Rights Council opens a month-long session in Geneva on Monday, with environmental health, water, climate finance and nuclear legacies among the issues that will intersect with its broader human rights agenda.

The 81st session of the U.N. General Assembly opens in New York on Tuesday, beginning a month that will culminate in high-level meetings on climate action, sea-level rise and pandemic preparedness alongside the annual general debate. The general debate begins Sept. 22.

And toward the end of the week, leaders of the expanded BRICS grouping are expected to meet in New Delhi, with innovation, resilience and sustainability among the priorities.

Major processes to watch

China — Kunming Dialogue examines collective progress on biodiversity

Countries meet in Kunming through Wednesday for an informal technical dialogue supporting the first global review of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The process brings governments together with scientists, Indigenous peoples and local communities, businesses, finance and other participants to consider collective progress toward the framework’s 2030 targets.

The important question is what the accumulated evidence says about progress at the global level — and how that assessment should shape the next stage of international biodiversity policy.

Azerbaijan — Climate Week builds toward COP31

Governments, international organizations, businesses and other participants gather in Baku for the second U.N. Climate Week of 2026, intended to connect decisions taken through the formal climate negotiations with action on the ground.

The Sept. 7–11 meeting will focus on turning international climate decisions into practical action while generating targeted input for COP31, which opens in Antalya, Turkey, in November.

The meeting provides an intermediate stage between formal negotiating sessions: a place to identify obstacles involving finance, capacity, data and implementation before governments return to the negotiating table later this year.

Geneva — Space security moves from threats to verification

UNIDIR brings governments, researchers, industry and defense experts together on Tuesday and Wednesday as a growing reliance on satellites and the blurred boundary between civilian and military space systems raises new questions about stability in orbit.

Discussions range from threats to space infrastructure and strategic orbital capabilities to current negotiations on preventing an arms race in outer space. One particularly important question is whether sophisticated space-surveillance technologies can do more than prevent collisions: could they eventually help governments verify agreements or monitor compliance with norms of behavior?

The meeting also examines another emerging governance problem: private companies now operate infrastructure and generate data with strategic significance, complicating traditional assumptions about responsibility, neutrality and targetability in conflict.

Sri Lanka — IPCC turns to water in shaping its next climate assessment

The IPCC and International Water Management Institute convene about 60 experts in Colombo for the first IPCC expert meeting specifically devoted to advancing the science of water and climate change.

The Sept. 8–10 meeting will examine the current state of knowledge, identify research priorities and gaps, and generate evidence that could inform the IPCC’s Seventh Assessment Report. The discussions will consider water’s role in climate adaptation, resilience and risk, including the cascading and transboundary consequences of changes in water availability and distribution.

Participants will also develop a synthesis report on water, climate resilience, adaptation and equity. The work connects preparation of the next global climate assessment with wider international discussions over water security and governance.

UNGA watch — The 81st session opens

The 81st session of the U.N. General Assembly opens Tuesday, beginning the institutional run-up to high-level week.

The major political activity comes later: the general debate begins Sept. 22, alongside high-level meetings later that month on climate action, sea-level rise, pandemic preparedness and nuclear weapons.

Plastics treaty watch — Informal consultations continue

Heads of delegation to the negotiations for a global agreement on plastic pollution meet virtually Tuesday and Wednesday as efforts continue to find a path through unresolved differences in the treaty process.

The discussions are part of a series of informal meetings leading toward INC-5.4, scheduled for March 2027. The negotiating committee’s chair has proposed consultations every four to six weeks on priority areas, the roadmap and how the process should proceed.

The meeting does not represent a return to formal negotiations, but it provides another indication of whether governments can narrow differences before they do.

Security Council watch — Iran dispute leaves nuclear oversight in limbo

The Security Council returns to Iran’s nuclear program Thursday amid a deeper dispute over whether the sanctions committee it is scheduled to discuss legally exists.

France, the U.K., the U.S. and other Council members maintain that U.N. sanctions and the 1737 Committee were restored after European countries invoked the JCPOA’s snapback mechanism last year. China and Russia reject that interpretation and argue that the sanctions expired in October 2025. The disagreement has left the committee without an agreed chair and prevented its Panel of Experts from becoming operational.

The institutional paralysis comes as international nuclear monitoring has also been impaired. The International Atomic Energy Agency says it has lost continuity of knowledge across Iran’s declared nuclear facilities and cannot account for the size or whereabouts of the country’s enriched-uranium stockpile.

The dispute has spread beyond the Iran file, contributing to an unprecedented delay in appointing chairs for Security Council subsidiary bodies and constraining the work of sanctions committees and other oversight mechanisms.

Separately, members are expected to continue discussing a Greek-drafted resolution on the impact of digital technologies on violations against children in armed conflict, bringing questions of technology governance into the Council’s established children-and-armed-conflict agenda.

Signals

• The biodiversity framework is moving into a different test: not setting global targets, but determining collectively whether the evidence shows countries are on course to meet them.

• Water is moving closer to the center of the next IPCC assessment as scientists examine how changes in the hydrological cycle cascade through food, ecosystems, economies and adaptation.

• Climate diplomacy between COPs includes meetings designed to connect negotiated decisions with the practical obstacles governments face in carrying them out.

• Improved space surveillance could become part of the verification architecture for future international rules governing activity in orbit.

On the calendar

Sept. 7–8 — Minamata Convention Implementation and Compliance Committee (Virtual)
The treaty’s compliance body reviews implementation issues as new national reporting feeds into the first evaluation of whether the Minamata Convention is proving effective. → Meeting information

Sept. 7–9 — Kunming Dialogue 2026 (Kunming, China)
Countries and other participants examine collective progress toward the 23 targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework as part of preparations for its global review. → Meeting information

Sept. 7–11 — U.N. Climate Week (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Governments and other participants work on translating international climate decisions into action and generating input for COP31 in November. → Meeting information

Sept. 7–Oct. 7 — U.N. Human Rights Council, 63rd session (Geneva)
The Council opens a month-long session spanning global human rights crises alongside issues including hazardous substances and wastes, water and sanitation, climate finance and the human rights consequences of nuclear legacies. → Meeting information

Sept. 8 — U.N. General Assembly 81st session opens (New York)
The General Assembly begins its annual session ahead of the general debate and a series of high-level meetings later in September. → Meeting information

Sept. 8–9 — Plastics treaty heads-of-delegation meeting (Virtual)
Negotiators hold informal consultations on the roadmap toward the next formal session of negotiations on a global agreement on plastic pollution. → Meeting information

Sept. 8–9 — UNIDIR Outer Space Security Conference (Geneva)
Governments, researchers and industry experts examine threats to space systems, strategic stability, efforts to prevent an arms race in outer space and technologies for monitoring and verifying activity in orbit. → Program

Sept. 8–10 — IPCC-IWMI Expert Meeting on Water and Climate Change (Colombo, Sri Lanka)
About 60 experts identify research gaps and priorities on water, climate risk, adaptation and resilience that could inform the IPCC Seventh Assessment Report. → Meeting information

Sept. 12–13 — BRICS Summit (New Delhi)
Leaders are expected to discuss cooperation spanning innovation, AI, digital infrastructure, climate, energy, health and economic resilience. → Schedule

Aug. 10–Oct. 2 — IPCC Working Group I First Order Draft expert review (Global)
Experts continue reviewing the first draft of the physical science contribution to the IPCC Seventh Assessment Report. → Review information

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Issue No. 20 | Monday, August 31, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

Governments return to Geneva on Monday for a final week of expert talks on lethal autonomous weapons systems as pressure grows to turn more than a decade of international discussion into negotiations over legally binding rules.

The meeting comes days after U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and International Committee of the Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric renewed their call for international rules, warning that advances in autonomous weapons are bringing the world “dangerously close to crossing a moral red line”: machines autonomously targeting human beings.

The technology, they argue, is moving faster than diplomacy. Autonomous capabilities are becoming cheaper, more accessible and easier to incorporate into existing weapons, increasing pressure to establish international rules before potentially harmful practices become entrenched.

But the meeting beginning Monday cannot itself negotiate a new treaty. The Group of Governmental Experts operating under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons is authorized only to develop elements that could eventually form the basis of an international instrument. Its current mandate ends with this week’s session.

That puts the diplomatic question ahead of the technical one. Governments have spent more than a decade examining autonomous weapons while the systems themselves have continued to advance. The question now is whether countries are prepared to move from discussing the elements of possible rules toward actually negotiating them.

The U.N. and ICRC are advocating a two-tier approach. They want prohibitions on autonomous weapons that have effects that cannot be adequately predicted, and on systems designed or used to directly target people. Other autonomous weapons would face restrictions involving the targets they can engage, where and for how long they can operate, and the scale of force they can use.

Human control remains at the center of that debate. The problem is particularly acute when weapons target people because an individual’s legal status can change rapidly on a battlefield: a combatant who surrenders or is wounded, for example, becomes protected from attack.

This week’s meeting serves as a bridge to a potentially more consequential decision in November, when countries meet for the convention’s five-year Review Conference and could decide whether to launch formal negotiations.

Elsewhere, the United Nations launches a major report on sea-level rise during the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Palau, while governments and the technology sector gather in The Bahamas for a major ITU forum on global digital policy.

In Geneva, health and technology experts also examine how digital health credentials can move securely across national borders.

Major processes to watch

Autonomous weapons — Final expert session tests the path toward negotiations

Government experts meet through Friday for the second and final session of their 2026 mandate, working from a rolling text intended to identify elements that could eventually form the basis of an international instrument.

UNIDIR will also use battlefield scenarios to test how international humanitarian law applies to autonomous weapons. The immediate question is what governments can agree to carry forward before the CCW Review Conference later this year.

Pacific — Rising seas move from climate science into international law

The United Nations launches a major report on sea-level rise Monday during the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Palau, bringing together scientific evidence with increasingly difficult questions about finance, displacement, sovereignty and international law.

Nearly 770 million people live in coastal areas less than five meters above the high-tide line. The report says sea-level rise is accelerating while gaps in observation networks, coastal mapping and scientific capacity are limiting the ability of countries to forecast impacts and plan for them.

Some of the hardest questions concern what happens when rising seas alter territory itself. Governments are confronting how to preserve statehood, nationality and maritime boundaries if islands become uninhabitable or submerged, alongside protections for people forced to relocate.

The report points to possible next steps ranging from a General Assembly declaration to a dedicated international treaty or other new legal frameworks for sea-level rise. Its recommendations will feed into further international discussions, including a U.N. high-level meeting on sea-level rise in September.

The Bahamas — ITU forum looks for common ground on digital policy

Governments, technology companies, researchers, civil society and the technical community gather in Nassau for the International Telecommunication Union’s World Telecommunication/ICT Policy Forum.

A Strategic Dialogue on Tuesday precedes the formal forum from Wednesday through Friday. Discussions will span connectivity, sustainability, resilience, space, innovation and emerging technologies.

Unlike a treaty negotiation, WTPF does not produce binding rules. Its role is to exchange views and build consensus on major digital-policy questions, with the resulting opinions intended to help shape discussions at the ITU’s forthcoming Plenipotentiary Conference.

That makes Nassau an agenda-setting stage in the larger process of international technology governance: governments are trying to identify areas of agreement before making decisions about the ITU’s future direction.

Geneva — Digital health systems confront the problem of crossing borders

Government officials, international organizations, technical experts and companies meet in Geneva for the Global Digital Collaboration Conference, with WHO focusing on how health information can move securely and reliably between countries.

A central issue is the development of secure and portable digital health wallets. Discussions will examine governance, technical standards, interoperability and trust frameworks needed to allow credentials such as immunization records and professional certifications to be verified across different health systems.

The infrastructure is already operating at significant scale. WHO says its Global Digital Health Certification Network connects more than 80 countries and nearly 2 billion people.

The challenge now is not simply digitizing health records, but establishing the technical and institutional trust required for countries to recognize one another’s digital credentials.

Security Council watch — AI enters the conflict-prevention debate

The U.N. Security Council turns to artificial intelligence on Wednesday in an informal dialogue examining how the technology could be used in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.

The discussion, organized by Bahrain, France, Greece and Latvia, will examine the use of AI in moving from early warning to conflict resolution. Experts from the U.N. Institute for Disarmament Research, the U.N. Department of Peace Operations and Security Council Report are expected to brief.

The meeting comes as the Council is already confronting technology from several other directions. Members continue discussing a proposed resolution on the impact of digital technologies on violations against children in armed conflict, while Thursday’s agenda returns to chemical weapons in Syria.

Separately, the Yemen sanctions committee is expected Monday to examine reports on dual-use components and precursor chemicals and on strengthening information-sharing and flag-state capacity to stop vessels suspected of carrying weapons or related material to Yemen.

Signals

• The autonomous-weapons debate is approaching a procedural test: governments have spent years developing possible rules but still need to decide whether to negotiate them.

• Sea-level rise is beginning to challenge assumptions embedded in international law about territory, maritime boundaries and even the continuity of nations.

• Cross-border digital health depends on countries trusting one another’s technical systems, not simply adopting compatible technology.

• ITU’s policy forum shows how international technology governance can take shape through consensus-building before governments reach formal decisions.

On the calendar

Aug. 31 — U.N. Sea-Level Rise Report (Palau)
The United Nations launches a new assessment of the scientific, financial and legal challenges posed by rising seas during the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting. → Report

Aug. 31–Sept. 4 — Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems GGE (Geneva)
Government experts hold the final session of their current mandate to develop elements that could form the basis of international rules on autonomous weapons. → Overview

Sept. 1–3 — Global Digital Collaboration Conference (Geneva)
WHO and partners examine trusted digital systems, including standards and interoperability for health credentials that can work across borders. → Agenda

Sept. 1–4 — ITU Strategic Dialogue and WTPF-26 (Nassau, The Bahamas)
Governments and the technology sector discuss connectivity, resilience, sustainability, space, innovation and emerging technologies ahead of the ITU’s forthcoming Plenipotentiary Conference. → Program

Sept. 3 — WMO El Niño update (Geneva)
The World Meteorological Organization provides its latest assessment of El Niño conditions and outlook. → El Niño/La Niña Updates

Sept. 1–4 — UNSGM workshop (Geneva)
Experts meet at the Palais des Nations for a workshop on the U.N. secretary-general’s mechanism for investigating alleged use of chemical, biological and toxin weapons. → Timetable

Aug. 10–Oct. 2 — IPCC Working Group I First Order Draft expert review (Global)
Experts continue reviewing the first draft of the physical-science contribution to the IPCC Seventh Assessment Report. → Review information

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Issue No. 19 | Monday, August 24, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

Governments gather in Geneva on Monday for the 12th Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty, opening a week of negotiations that will look beyond the mechanics of regulating international weapons transfers toward a more fundamental question: how should countries measure whether the treaty is actually achieving its purpose?

More than a decade after the ATT entered into force, nations that are party to the treaty are developing a five-year strategy intended to establish priorities, indicators and ways of tracking progress. But the process is also exposing gaps in the architecture used to evaluate the treaty itself. The draft strategy is scheduled for formal discussion on Thursday.

Unlike several other international conventional-arms agreements, the ATT has no dedicated periodic review conference. Its annual meetings examine implementation through working groups on treaty implementation, transparency and reporting, and universalization, but consultations convened by the U.N. Institute for Disarmament Research and Panama found that important aspects of implementation are not being systematically assessed.

Among them is the treaty’s ability to respond to technological change. The ATT requires its member nations to review developments in conventional arms, yet no mechanism currently does so systematically. Researchers point to changes involving weapons components, technology transfers and knowledge shared through joint and licensed production as areas where gaps in national regulation could emerge.

One proposal would use countries’ existing reports as the basis for voluntary peer reviews aimed at identifying gaps, assistance needs and best practices.

The question takes on added significance this week as researchers begin an initiative intended to produce the first comprehensive evaluation of the ATT’s impact on national transfer controls, efforts to prevent weapons diversion and international cooperation.

The conference week also brings the release of the ATT Monitor’s 2026 assessment of treaty implementation, including analysis of national reporting and how governments assess risks involving explosive weapons in populated areas.

The broader question is whether an international regime designed to make the global arms trade more responsible has the institutional machinery to determine whether it is succeeding—and to adapt as weapons and the arms trade change.

Major processes to watch

Arms Trade Treaty — CSP12 looks toward the treaty’s next five years

Member nations meet through Friday, with attention turning from the opening general debate to diversion, transparency, international assistance and the proposed five-year strategy. The question to watch is whether countries begin building more systematic ways to measure the treaty’s performance or leave those questions to future meetings.

Mongolia — COP17 moves from local demands to high-level negotiations

The U.N. desertification summit enters its final week after mayors and regional leaders adopted the Ulaanbaatar Declaration, calling for a stronger role for local governments in global land policy. The declaration is due to feed into the conference’s high-level discussions.

Attention now moves to ministers. Monday’s high-level segment includes a dialogue on innovative financing for healthy land and drought resilience, while Wednesday brings a ministerial dialogue on restoring rangelands and supporting pastoral communities.

That creates a useful second-week question for the Playbook: whether demands for more local authority, better measurement and greater access to finance make their way into the decisions governments take before COP17 closes on Friday.

Geneva — Experts update the rules for dangerous goods on Europe’s waterways

Government and technical experts meet at the Palais des Nations to review the international rules governing the transport of dangerous goods on inland waterways.

The ADN Safety Committee will consider implementation and interpretation of the agreement, special authorizations and derogations, expert training, classification societies and amendments to its technical regulations.

It is the quieter side of science diplomacy: governments converting technical expertise on safety, materials and transportation into common rules that allow hazardous cargo to cross national borders.

Security Council watch — Food security returns to the peace and security agenda

The Security Council holds a high-level debate on Tuesday on the role of conflict in driving global and local food crises, bringing food security back into discussions of international peace and security.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and the World Food Program are expected to brief as Council members examine how warfare disrupts food production, supply chains and humanitarian access, and what role the Council can play in reducing those effects.

The debate comes during a week in which the Council will also address the humanitarian consequences of the conflict in Sudan and developments in the Middle East, Syria and Lebanon. Members are separately expected to continue discussing a draft resolution on the impact of digital technologies on violations against children in armed conflict.

Signals

• Measuring a treaty’s effectiveness requires different tools from monitoring whether countries comply with its rules.

• International arms-control regimes face a recurring problem when technology changes what can be transferred faster than governments update what they regulate.

• Cities and regions are challenging the national-government bottleneck in land-restoration finance by seeking more direct access to funding.

• Cross-border safety rules depend on continual technical revision, from how dangerous goods are classified to when governments permit exemptions.

On the calendar

Aug. 24–28 — Arms Trade Treaty CSP12 (Geneva)
Member nations review implementation of the treaty and consider a proposed five-year strategy, alongside new work evaluating its overall impact. → Program

Aug. 24–28 — ADN Safety Committee, 48th session (Geneva)
Experts review and update international regulations governing dangerous goods transported on inland waterways. → Agenda

Aug. 17–28 — UNCCD COP17 (Ulaanbaatar)
The desertification summit enters its high-level and concluding week, with ministers addressing land finance, drought resilience, rangelands and pastoral communities. → Program

Aug. 10–Oct. 2 — IPCC Working Group I First Order Draft expert review (Global)
Experts continue reviewing the first draft of the physical-science contribution to the IPCC Seventh Assessment Report. → Review information

Closing

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Issue No. 18 | Monday, August 17, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

The world's overlooked land treaty moves into the spotlight.

Governments gather in Ulaanbaatar on Monday for COP17 of the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification, opening two weeks of negotiations over a resource that sits beneath many of the world’s most pressing environmental and development challenges: land.

Up to 40% of the world’s land is already degraded, affecting food production, water supplies, livelihoods and economic stability. The talks will bring together the convention’s 197 Parties alongside scientists, Indigenous peoples, pastoralists, farmers, businesses and civil society to address land restoration, drought resilience, rangelands, food systems and soil health.

The meeting shows how broadly the land agenda now reaches across environmental and development policy. COP17 will examine science-policy integration, technologies and financing while linking degradation and drought to food and water security, migration and political stability.

Mongolia gives those negotiations an unusually tangible setting. Nearly 77% of its territory is affected by degradation, while its vast rangelands support pastoral livelihoods that depend directly on the health of the ecosystems governments are trying to protect and restore.

COP17 also takes place during the U.N. International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, putting greater attention on ecosystems that cover more than half the Earth’s land surface and directly support the livelihoods of roughly 500 million people.

The conference is the first of the three Rio Convention COPs taking place in 2026, ahead of the biodiversity and climate meetings later this year, giving Ulaanbaatar an early opportunity to test how governments connect land, biodiversity and climate policy rather than treating them as separate negotiating tracks.

Major processes to watch

UNCCD — COP17 puts land degradation at the center of environmental diplomacy

Governments gather in Ulaanbaatar for COP17 of the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification, opening two weeks of negotiations on land degradation, drought, restoration and the future of the world’s rangelands.

Held during the U.N. International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, the conference will examine how science, financing, technology and local knowledge can support land restoration and resilience. Mongolia gives the negotiations a particularly relevant setting: its vast rangelands support pastoral communities while facing substantial pressures from degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change.

The meeting also gives the often less-visible third Rio Convention an opportunity to connect land policy more directly with the climate and biodiversity agendas.

Germany — IJCAI-ECAI brings the global AI research community to Bremen

Thousands of AI researchers gather in Bremen for the 35th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, held jointly this year with the European Conference on Artificial Intelligence. Workshops and tutorials began over the weekend, with the main conference running Tuesday through Friday.

The program ranges across frontier AI research while devoting dedicated tracks to human-centered AI, AI for social good, health, robotics and the use of AI to enable other critical technologies. Research on privacy, security, fairness and ethics also features in the conference’s workshops and tutorials.

IPCC — Expert scrutiny of AR7 continues

The first expert review of the Working Group I contribution to the IPCC’s Seventh Assessment Report enters its second week.

Scientists worldwide are examining the draft assessment of the physical science of climate change for accuracy, balance, clarity and comprehensiveness. The review continues through Oct. 2 before the report advances through subsequent stages of the IPCC assessment process.

Security Council watch — Technology, climate and succession

Several processes outside the Security Council’s formal meeting schedule intersect with science, technology and governance this week.

Council members are expected to continue negotiations on a Greek-drafted resolution addressing the impact of digital technologies on violations against children in armed conflict. An informal expert group on climate, peace and security also meets Thursday to examine the Horn of Africa.

Meanwhile, the selection of the next U.N. secretary-general moves forward. Council members meet candidate Olara Otunnu on Thursday before conducting their second confidential straw poll on Friday, providing another indication of support among the candidates seeking to succeed António Guterres.

Signals

• LLand degradation is gaining greater visibility as a problem connecting climate, biodiversity, food security and development policy.

• AI research is expanding into domains where questions of public interest, accountability and governance are becoming part of the scientific agenda itself.

• Climate and security are becoming more closely connected within institutions whose mandates were not originally designed around environmental change.

• The Security Council’s consideration of digital technologies and children in armed conflict shows how technology governance is spreading into established areas of international law and security.

On the calendar

Aug. 10–Oct. 2 — IPCC Working Group I First Order Draft expert review (Global)
Experts worldwide review the first draft of the physical-science contribution to the IPCC Seventh Assessment Report. → Review information

Aug. 15–21 — IJCAI-ECAI 2026 (Bremen, Germany)
The global AI research community gathers for the 35th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, with special tracks spanning human-centered AI, AI for social good, health, robotics and critical technologies. The main technical program runs Aug. 18–21. → Program

Aug. 17–28 — UNCCD COP17 (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)
Governments meet for the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification’s biennial conference, focusing on land degradation, restoration, drought resilience and the world’s rangelands. → Overview

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Issue No. 17 | Monday, August 10, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

The next global climate assessment enters a critical stage.

On Monday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change opens the First Order Draft of the Working Group I contribution to its Seventh Assessment Report to expert review, beginning a nearly two-month process of scrutiny of the scientific foundation for the world’s next major assessment of climate change.

Experts from around the world will be invited to examine the draft for accuracy, balance, clarity and comprehensiveness, identify relevant scientific literature and propose revisions. It is the first formal review stage before the Working Group I assessment is eventually completed.

“Expert review is a cornerstone of the IPCC assessment process. The diverse knowledge, perspectives and expertise provided by reviewers help strengthen the scientific quality, policy relevance and credibility of our reports,” said applied meteorology expert Xiaoye Zhang, who co-chairs Working Group I.

The process offers an unusually clear view into how scientific authority is constructed internationally. IPCC assessments are not simply written by scientists and presented to governments. Drafts undergo successive rounds of expert and government review, with comments considered and documented before reports are approved and released.

That architecture has helped make the IPCC one of the most consequential interfaces between science and international policy. Its assessments inform national climate policies and international negotiations, including the global stocktake under the Paris Agreement.

The review beginning this week concerns the physical science basis of climate change: observed and projected large-scale changes, climate processes and feedbacks, and regional climate information. The eventual Working Group I report will form part of the Seventh Assessment Report, with its synthesis report scheduled for release by late 2029.

Elsewhere, the international AI research community gathers in South Korea for KDD 2026, bringing together researchers and industry around advances in data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence.

And in Nairobi, negotiations under the Convention on Biological Diversity enter their final days as governments consider how to accelerate progress toward the 2030 targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Major processes to watch

IPCC — Expert review begins for the next climate assessment

The First Order Draft of the Working Group I contribution to the Seventh Assessment Report opens for expert review on Monday.

Experts will examine the assessment’s treatment of the physical science of climate change through Oct. 2. Reviewers can comment on its accuracy, balance and comprehensiveness, suggest scientific literature and recommend revisions before the draft moves into subsequent stages of the IPCC assessment process.

The exercise is a central part of the institutional machinery through which the IPCC establishes the scientific foundation used by governments in climate policymaking and international negotiations.

South Korea — KDD puts AI’s expanding role in science on display

Researchers and industry leaders gather in Jeju for KDD 2026, one of the major international conferences in data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence.

This year’s meeting introduces a dedicated AI for Sciences track, bringing AI methods into fields ranging from climate and environmental science to health, materials science and physics. The broader program also includes work on responsible AI, privacy, fairness and algorithmic accountability, alongside sessions examining the next generation of AI development.

The meeting offers a view of the research frontier shaping international debates over AI governance—and of AI’s rapidly expanding role within science itself.

Convention on Biological Diversity — Nairobi talks enter their final days

Governments conclude two weeks of negotiations under the Convention on Biological Diversity on Wednesday.

Following scientific and technical discussions in the first week, the Subsidiary Body on Implementation is considering financing, capacity-building, biodiversity mainstreaming and other measures intended to accelerate progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The meetings feed directly into preparations for COP17 in Yerevan in October, where governments will conduct the first global review of progress since adopting the framework in 2022.

Middle East — Hormuz talks advance but shipping crisis persists

Iran and Oman say talks over navigation through the Strait of Hormuz have reached their final stages, including plans for a new shipping route through the strategic waterway. But the negotiations have yet to produce a reopening of the strait. The U.S. military says it has now redirected 55 commercial vessels away from Iranian ports under its naval blockade, while Tehran says there is no possibility of restarting direct negotiations with Washington under current conditions.

The diplomatic opening comes as the regional conflict continues to spread. Houthi forces have claimed new attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure and Yemeni government positions, while Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have signed a mutual-defense pact that treats an attack on one as an attack on all.

Security Council watch — Middle East and Red Sea return to focus

Strategic waterways remain in focus at the Security Council this week as tensions surrounding the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz continue.

On Tuesday, the Council holds a briefing on the Middle East focused on escalating violence in the West Bank. On Thursday, U.N. Special Envoy Hans Grundberg and humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher are expected to brief on Yemen, followed by closed consultations.

Council members are also expected to continue closely following developments involving Iran and Lebanon and disruption to navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. The Yemen meeting comes as Houthi attacks and threats to shipping have renewed concerns about security in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab.

Signals

• The IPCC review process illustrates how international scientific authority is built through repeated scrutiny rather than a single act of expert consensus.

• AI is becoming scientific infrastructure as well as an object of governance, extending deeper into fields from climate science and health to physics and materials research.

• The biodiversity negotiations move from diagnosing inadequate progress toward the harder question of what governments are prepared to change before 2030.

• The Hormuz talks show how technical arrangements can become channels for diplomacy even while the larger political conflict remains unresolved.

On the calendar

Aug. 9–13 — KDD 2026 (Jeju, South Korea)
Researchers and industry specialists gather for a major international conference on data science and AI, including a new track devoted to AI for scientific discovery. → Program

Aug. 10 — Diplomacy Day, Locarno Film Festival (Locarno, Switzerland)
Diplomats, academics, civil society and cultural figures examine how culture and cross-sector partnerships can contribute to international cooperation. → Program

Aug. 10–Oct. 2 — IPCC Working Group I First Order Draft expert review (Global)
Experts worldwide review the first draft of the physical-science contribution to the IPCC Seventh Assessment Report. → Review information

July 27–Aug. 12 — Convention on Biological Diversity (Nairobi)
Parties conclude two weeks of deliberations centered on the first global assessment of progress against the 23 targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. → Agenda

Closing

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Issue No. 16 | Monday, August 3, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

Europe's AI Act enters a new phase as biodiversity, diplomacy and space shape the week ahead.

Key provisions of the European Union's AI Act took effect on Saturday, ushering in a new phase of enforcement. The law will continue to be implemented in stages over the coming months and years, but the European Commission's AI Office and national authorities now assume new responsibilities for overseeing general-purpose AI models and implementing new transparency requirements.

Providers of certain AI systems must now meet new obligations, including requirements affecting chatbots and AI-generated content. The Commission also begins enforcing rules covering providers of general-purpose AI models, supported by a new scientific panel and a suite of complaint and whistleblower mechanisms intended to strengthen oversight.

The milestone marks the point at which Europe's AI framework begins to be tested in practice, not simply on paper. Although the law applies within the European Union, its influence is expected to extend well beyond Europe as companies adapt products and compliance systems for one of the world’s largest digital markets.

Elsewhere this week, governments are reviewing progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in Nairobi. Delegates are examining the first global assessment of implementation since the framework was adopted in 2022, a draft report that concludes current efforts remain insufficient to achieve its 2030 goals despite unprecedented international engagement.

In Hanoi, Vietnam convenes a national conference highlighting science, technology, innovation and digital transformation as central elements of its diplomatic and development strategy, illustrating how governments are treating science and technology as instruments of statecraft rather than simply research policy.

Meanwhile, thousands of scientists are meeting in Florence for the Committee on Space Research’s Scientific Assembly, one of the world’s largest international meetings on space science.

Major processes to watch

European Union — AI Act enforcement begins

The European Commission begins enforcing key provisions of the Artificial Intelligence Act, including transparency obligations for certain AI systems and oversight responsibilities for providers of general-purpose AI models. The AI Office assumes a central enforcement role alongside national competent authorities.

Vietnam — Science diplomacy moves higher on the national agenda

Vietnam convenes a national conference examining science, technology, innovation and digital transformation as pillars of national development and international engagement.

The meeting reflects a broader trend among emerging economies to integrate science and technology more directly into foreign policy and economic strategy.

Florence — COSPAR opens one of the world’s largest space science meetings

Scientists, space agencies and international organizations gather in Florence for the 46th Scientific Assembly of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR).

The meeting spans planetary science, Earth observation, heliophysics, astrophysics, space sustainability and exploration, providing one of the world’s principal forums linking international scientific collaboration with space policy.

Convention on Biological Diversity — Nairobi shifts to implementation

Negotiators shift from last week's scientific discussions to implementation, financing and institutional questions as the Subsidiary Body on Implementation begins its work.

Central to this week's meetings is the first global assessment of progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The draft review concludes that while countries have generated unprecedented engagement since 2022, implementation remains insufficient to achieve the framework’s 2030 mission without substantially faster progress.

Inside institutions

African Union — Peace and Security Council sets August agenda

Algeria assumes the rotating chairship of the African Union Peace and Security Council this month with a program emphasizing conflict prevention, early warning, governance and coordination with the U.N. Security Council. The Council is expected to address education in conflict, the Sahel, Sudan, South Sudan and continental risk assessment while preparing for an Extraordinary AU Summit on strengthening conflict prevention later this month.

European Commission — AI Office begins enforcement

The Commission’s AI Office starts supervising providers of general-purpose AI models while coordinating with national authorities responsible for enforcing many provisions of the AI Act.

Convention on Biological Diversity — Review continues

Negotiators continue examining financing, implementation, biodiversity mainstreaming and other recommendations that will shape negotiations at COP17 in Armenia later this year.

Security Council watch — New presidency, secretary-general race continues

Denmark begins its presidency of the Security Council by presenting the August program of work on Monday. The Council’s public agenda this week includes briefings on the threat posed by Islamic State, Sudan and South Sudan, alongside continued monitoring of developments related to Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.

At the same time, the race to succeed Secretary-General António Guterres enters a new phase. Following last week’s first confidential straw poll, diplomats are expected to continue assessing support for the seven candidates ahead of further informal ballots in the coming weeks. Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan emerged as the early frontrunner in the initial voting, according to diplomats familiar with the confidential results.

Signals

• AI governance is entering a regulatory phase in which institutions will be judged by enforcement as much as legislation.

• Global environmental agreements are entering a period in which evidence of progress is becoming as politically important as new commitments.

• Science, technology and innovation are becoming more visible instruments of national diplomatic strategy.

On the calendar

Aug. 2 — European Union AI Act enforcement begins

August 1–7 — Vietnam’s 33rd Diplomatic Conference and 22nd National Conference on Foreign Affairs (Hanoi)
National conference on science, technology, innovation and digital transformation. → Overview

Aug. 1–9 — COSPAR Scientific Assembly (Florence)
Thousands of scientists gather for one of the world’s largest international meetings on space research. → Program

July 27–Aug. 12 — Convention on Biological Diversity (Nairobi)
Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity continue two weeks of deliberations to consider key findings of the first global assessment of progress against the 23 targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. → Agenda

Closing

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Issue No. 15 | Monday, July 27, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

This week governments gather in Nairobi for the first global review of implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the landmark agreement adopted in 2022 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. The review comes with a sobering assessment: while the framework has generated unprecedented international engagement, implementation is not advancing quickly enough to meet its 2030 goals.

The Nairobi meeting also reflects a broader shift across international science diplomacy, as institutions move from negotiating global frameworks to measuring implementation and deciding how to respond when progress falls short.

Beyond biodiversity, scientific governance faces new stress tests from oceans to space. The institutions that govern science and technology confront a widening range of strategic questions that no longer fit neatly within traditional diplomatic boundaries.

This week also brings meetings on deep-sea mining, nuclear verification, artificial intelligence, climate resilience, telecommunications standards and international space research. It also opens amid signs that the U.S.-Iran conflict may be shifting back toward diplomacy, putting renewed attention on the international institutions responsible for verification, maritime security and nuclear governance.

That challenge has become a defining feature of science diplomacy. Scientific cooperation depends not only on producing new knowledge but also on trusted institutions capable of managing competition, uncertainty and rapidly advancing technologies.

The International Seabed Authority moves from Council negotiations into its annual Assembly as governments continue debating the future of commercial mining in areas beyond national jurisdiction. Meanwhile, international space researchers prepare to gather in Florence for COSPAR’s Scientific Assembly, where scientists and space agencies will discuss planetary science, Earth observation, solar physics and exploration as scientific cooperation becomes increasingly entangled with geopolitical rivalry.

Elsewhere, climate adaptation, artificial intelligence, telecommunications standards and nuclear governance continue evolving through specialized institutions that often shape global policy before governments negotiate formal treaties.

Major processes to watch

Convention on Biological Diversity — Nairobi begins first global review

Parties begin reviewing the first global assessment of implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The draft report concludes that although the agreement has generated unprecedented international engagement, current implementation remains insufficient to achieve its 2030 mission without substantially faster action. The recommendations negotiated in Nairobi will help shape decisions at COP17 in Armenia this October.

International Seabed Authority — Assembly opens as Mining Code negotiations continue

The ISA enters the final phase of its 31st annual session in Kingston, Jamaica.

Following two weeks of Council negotiations on the Mining Code, attention shifts to the Assembly, where member states consider broader questions of governance while negotiations continue over the future regulatory framework for commercial deep-sea mining.

The negotiations remain a major test of how the international system governs resources beyond national jurisdiction.

Florence — COSPAR opens one of the world's largest international space science meetings

Scientists, space agencies and international organizations convene in Florence for the 46th Scientific Assembly of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR).

The meeting spans nearly every major area of contemporary space science — from planetary exploration and Earth observation to heliophysics, astrophysics and space sustainability — while providing one of the principal global forums linking scientific collaboration with international space governance.

Inside institutions

IAEA — Nuclear cooperation enters a verification phase

The International Atomic Energy Agency says it is awaiting a formal request from Washington and Riyadh to undertake verification work connected to the U.S.–Saudi civilian nuclear cooperation agreement.

The agreement has reopened debate over safeguards, uranium enrichment and the future of international nonproliferation standards.

UNEP — Cities confront extreme heat

Officials from Singapore, Lagos, Barcelona and Antalya join UNEP’s City Diplomacy Lab to examine how cities are sharing approaches to heat resilience, sustainable cooling and urban planning as extreme heat becomes a growing diplomatic and public health challenge.

WHO Climate & Health Alliance — Heat and mental health

Experts launch policy recommendations on integrating mental health into heat action plans, bringing psychological health more directly into climate adaptation planning.

ITU — Environmental efficiency of digital infrastructure

Experts within ITU Study Group 5 examine environmental efficiency standards for telecommunications and ICT infrastructure, reflecting wider attention to the energy demands of AI systems, networks and data centers.

Security Council watch — A week of diplomacy and succession

The Security Council’s formal agenda this week includes a briefing on Ukraine, its quarterly debate on the Middle East, a vote on renewing sanctions against the Central African Republic and consultations on preventive diplomacy in Central Asia. Members are also expected to continue monitoring developments related to Iran, Lebanon and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

Behind the scenes, attention will also focus on the first confidential straw poll in the race to succeed Secretary-General António Guterres. The informal ballots, expected Thursday, will provide the first indication of support for the six declared candidates before additional rounds of voting later this year.

Looking ahead — Denmark prepares to assume the presidency

On Aug. 1, Denmark assumes the rotating presidency of the Security Council, with priorities that include conflict prevention, climate and security, women, peace and security, international law and Council effectiveness.

Across regions

Vienna — IAEA technical meetings continue

The IAEA hosts multiple technical meetings covering artificial intelligence in nuclear fuel manufacturing, radioactive waste retrieval, nuclear security and nuclear energy management, illustrating the multidisciplinary nature of nuclear governance.

Global

Earth Overshoot Day falls on Thursday, marking the point at which humanity’s annual demand for ecological resources exceeds what Earth can regenerate during the year. The Global Footprint Network emphasizes that this year’s later date reflects updated calculations rather than reduced environmental pressure.

Signals

• Specialized institutions are carrying more of the practical burden of technology governance.

• Civil, commercial and strategic interests are becoming harder to separate in international space cooperation.

• Climate adaptation is expanding beyond environmental policy into urban governance and public health.

• AI governance continues spreading through specialized technical organizations rather than a single global framework.

• Verification and regulatory institutions remain central to international confidence in nuclear cooperation.

On the calendar

July 27–31 — International Seabed Authority Assembly (Kingston, Jamaica)
Member states begin the Assembly portion of the Authority’s annual session while negotiations continue over the Mining Code governing deep-sea mineral resources. → Overview

July 27–Aug. 12 — Convention on Biological Diversity (Nairobi)
Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity begin two weeks of deliberations to consider key findings of the first global assessment of progress against the 23 targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. → Agenda

July 29 — UNEP: Beating the Heat Together (Online)
Cities discuss diplomacy, urban resilience and adaptation to extreme heat. → Overview

July 29 — Policy Brief: Protecting Mental Health from Extreme Heat (Online)
Global health experts launch recommendations on integrating mental health into heat action planning. → Agenda

July 29 — ITU Study Group 5 Rapporteur Meeting (Online)
Experts review work on environmental efficiency standards for telecommunications and ICTs. → Background

July 30 — Earth Overshoot Day
Researchers mark the point at which humanity’s ecological demand exceeds Earth’s annual regenerative capacity. → Overview

Aug. 1–9 — COSPAR Scientific Assembly (Florence)
Thousands of scientists gather for one of the world’s largest international meetings on space research. → Program

Closing

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Issue No. 14 | Monday, July 20, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

Three years on, the AU–EU Innovation Agenda turns from ambition to delivery.

African Union and European officials have largely moved beyond defining the ambitions of their joint research and innovation partnership. This week, they turn to a more difficult question: how to convert those ambitions into durable partnerships, stronger innovation ecosystems and new opportunities for young researchers and entrepreneurs.

Launched in July 2023, the agenda provides a framework for strengthening research, innovation and entrepreneurship between Africa and Europe to support sustainable and inclusive growth. The sixth implementation workshop on Thursday shifts attention from political commitments to the practical work of expanding research collaboration, strengthening innovation ecosystems and supporting a new generation of entrepreneurs.

The workshop also reflects a broader shift in international science diplomacy. After years of launching new frameworks and partnerships, many institutions now face the harder task of making them work.

The agenda was created to provide a common framework for cooperation in research, innovation, entrepreneurship and scientific capacity building across five priority areas, including the green transition, public health, science and technology, and research capacity.

A series of implementation workshops has brought together researchers, policymakers, entrepreneurs, innovation hubs and youth organizations to translate those objectives into practical collaborations.

This year’s workshop focuses on youth-led innovation, highlighting how startups, universities, innovation hubs and policymakers can strengthen cross-continental partnerships. Sessions will examine mobility programs, entrepreneurship support, intellectual property, university-industry partnerships and funding opportunities while taking stock of progress under the first phase of the 2023–2033 agenda.

As one AU official told us, the main task is no longer simply financing collaboration but building institutional capacity that turns research into innovation partnerships.

Major processes to watch

International Seabed Authority — Negotiations on the Mining Code deepen

The international organization in Kingston, Jamaica, enters another week of intensive negotiations on the Mining Code, the rules that would govern commercial exploitation of mineral resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

This week’s agenda moves beyond broad principles into the architecture of regulation, including compliance and enforcement mechanisms, closure plans for mining operations, regulatory provisions and environmental protections. Parallel discussions examine regional environmental management plans, transparency of environmental data and the relationship between the ISA and the U.N. High Seas (BBNJ) Agreement.

The Council meets through July 24 before the ISA Assembly opens the following week to consider broader institutional, budgetary and governance questions.

Geneva — CITES moves from decisions to implementation

The CITES Plants Committee meets for the first time since CoP20 in Samarkand to begin the scientific work of implementing conference decisions.

While governments adopted new resolutions and species listings at CoP20, the Plants Committee now begins translating those political decisions into technical guidance on sustainable trade, species identification and scientific assessments used by national authorities.

This week, the Plants Committee will work to advance the scientific priorities and measures for sustainable trade in medicinal and aromatic plants, rosewood trees, orchids, and other wild flora.

Inside institutions

WMO — Ozone assessment panel meets

Scientists meet at World Meteorological Organization headquarters to finalize the Executive Summary for the 2026 Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion, the quadrennial report that informs Parties to the Montreal Protocol.

U.N. Global Mechanism — Strengthening ICT security

Diplomats begin the first plenary session of the General Assembly's new permanent mechanism on developments in information and communications technologies in the context of international security.

The meeting is scheduled for Monday through Thursday, starting with statements from U.N. Undersecretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu and El Salvador’s U.N. Ambassador Egriselda López, who chairs the global mechanism.

Security Council watch — Diplomats examine governance beyond crisis response

The U.N. Security Council convenes two debates that look beyond immediate conflicts toward the institutions designed to prevent them.

On Wednesday, diplomats examine how governance of natural resources, including critical minerals, affects peace and security. On Thursday, the Council considers U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres’ recommendations for strengthening mediation and other Chapter VI mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of disputes.

Across regions

Africa–Europe — The AU–EU Innovation Agenda implementation workshop explores how young innovators, entrepreneurs and research organizations can strengthen cross-continental collaboration through funding, mobility and innovation partnerships.

New York — The High-Level Political Forum concludes its annual review of progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, with ministers focusing on accelerating implementation in the final years before 2030.

Signals

• International partnerships are judged more by implementation than new commitments.

• Scientific advisory bodies continue to play a larger role in translating political agreements into operational guidance.

• Capacity building has become a central objective of international science cooperation.

• Governance of strategic resources, from biodiversity to critical minerals, is moving closer to the center of global diplomacy.

• Preventive governance is receiving renewed attention across domains ranging from cybersecurity to conflict prevention.

On the calendar

July 14–23 — High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (New York)
Governments continue annual reviews of progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. → Program

July 17–23 — CITES Plants Committee (Geneva)
Scientific experts meet for the first time since CITES CoP20 to advance implementation of new species listings and guidance on sustainable trade in medicinal plants, rosewoods, orchids and other wild flora. → Agenda

July 20–24 — Plenary Session, Global Mechanism on ICTs in the Context of International Security (New York)

Diplomats hold the first substantive plenary session of the new Global Mechanism on ICT Security. → Documents

July 23 — AU–EU Innovation Agenda Workshop (Online)

African Union and European Commission officials review implementation of the 10-year Innovation Agenda, with a focus on youth-led innovation and entrepreneurship. → Program

July 13–31 — International Seabed Authority Annual Session (Kingston, Jamaica)
Delegates continue negotiations on rules governing potential deep-sea mining activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction. → Overview

Closing

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Issue No. 13 | Monday, July 13, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

IIASA launches the Howard Raiffa Academy to explore how decision science can strengthen diplomacy and public policy.

As governments struggle to navigate complex challenges ranging from artificial intelligence and climate change to public health, resource security and geopolitical competition, a gathering at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis this week will explore a question that sits at the heart of science diplomacy: How can decision-makers make better choices under conditions of uncertainty?

The inaugural Howard Raiffa Academy Short Course, taking place Tuesday through Thursday in Laxenburg, Austria, brings together scientists, diplomats, policymakers, negotiators and decision-analysis experts to examine how analytical tools can improve decision-making and international cooperation. Organized with support from Friends of IIASA and named after Howard Raiffa, IIASA’s first director and one of the founders of modern decision and negotiation analysis, the initiative reflects growing interest in the role of decision science in addressing complex global challenges.

The timing is notable. The international system faces pressure from rapid technological change, rising geopolitical tensions, climate risks and interconnected crises. Yet many of the institutions responsible for managing these challenges were designed for a different era. The Raiffa Academy begins from the premise that scientific evidence alone is often insufficient. What matters equally is how uncertainty is understood, competing objectives are weighed, negotiations are structured and scientific knowledge is incorporated into policy decisions.

The three-day course combines methodological sessions with real-world case studies ranging from transboundary air pollution negotiations and Colorado River water allocation disputes to Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI. Participants will examine how decision analysis, negotiation analysis and systems thinking can be applied to public policy, diplomacy and governance.

A highlight of the week will be the annual Howard Raiffa Lecture at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, where former U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, now president-elect of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, will speak on “The Ethics of National Security Decisions: Lessons from the Social Sciences.”

The inaugural course is intended as a pilot for a broader effort. Organizers hope to build a network of scientists, policymakers and advisers capable of applying decision-science tools to international challenges where uncertainty is unavoidable, interests diverge and the stakes are high. In that sense, the Raiffa Academy is an experiment in strengthening the analytical foundations of international cooperation itself.

Major processes to watch

WHO Pandemic Agreement — Negotiations move to the implementation phase

Negotiators gather in Geneva for the last week of the seventh meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement, which runs through Friday. Governments will continue work on one of the most difficult unresolved elements of the accord: the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) annex.

Adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2025, the Pandemic Agreement established a framework for strengthening pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. But negotiators have yet to finalize the system governing how pathogen samples, genetic sequence data and resulting benefits, including vaccines, diagnostics and treatments, would be shared during future outbreaks.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged that governments had hoped to complete the negotiations before this year’s World Health Assembly. Instead, talks have been extended as countries search for consensus on issues at the intersection of public health, equity, intellectual property and global access.

The negotiations will test whether governments can move from agreeing on broad principles to constructing the mechanisms needed to make the agreement operational.

U.S.-Iran diplomacy — Switzerland may host another round

Reports indicate that U.S. and Iranian negotiators could return to Switzerland in the coming week as regional mediators seek to stabilize a fragile diplomatic process following renewed tensions.

Although details remain uncertain, a new round of talks would place questions of nuclear governance, verification, monitoring and regional security back at the center of international diplomacy. Switzerland has already hosted direct discussions between the two sides this year and remains one of the most important venues for sensitive negotiations involving science, technology and security issues.

Whether diplomacy can regain momentum after recent setbacks remains one of the key questions to watch.

High-Level Political Forum — The SDG deadline approaches

The High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development continues in New York through Wednesday, as governments assess progress toward the 2030 Agenda with less than five years remaining before the deadline.

This year’s review focuses on water and sanitation, energy, infrastructure and innovation, sustainable cities and international partnerships. Discussions center not on setting new goals but on accelerating implementation of existing commitments.

Inside institutions

IIASA — Building a new bridge between science and policy

Beyond the Raiffa Academy itself, the initiative reflects a broader effort at IIASA to strengthen connections between scientific analysis and decision-making.

The institute has long specialized in systems analysis and international scientific cooperation. The new program seeks to expand that tradition by incorporating decision analysis, negotiation science and emerging AI-enabled approaches into frameworks for public policy and diplomacy. Organizers describe the effort as a way of helping researchers, policymakers and negotiators work more effectively across the science-policy interface.

WHO — Multilateralism under pressure

The Pandemic Agreement negotiations have become one of the most visible tests of contemporary multilateral health diplomacy.

The challenge is whether they can agree on how benefits, responsibilities and access should be distributed when the next global health emergency emerges.

Security Council watch — Resources, governance and the causes of conflict

Congo is using its Security Council presidency to elevate an important question in international affairs: whether competition over natural resources is adequately addressed as a source of conflict and instability.

An Arria-formula meeting on Monday will examine what organizers describe as normative gaps linking natural resources and peace, while a high-level Council debate later this month will focus on “Natural resource governance: The foundation of peace, security and prosperity.”

The discussions come as governments place growing strategic importance on critical minerals, energy resources and industrial supply chains. While the Council traditionally focuses on conflicts after they erupt, Congo’s presidency is seeking to draw greater attention to governance failures, resource competition and institutional weaknesses that can contribute to instability long before violence begins.

Across regions

Paris — UNESCO takes stock of the Science Decade

UNESCO convenes the first Global Conference of the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development this week, bringing together governments, researchers, industry leaders, civil society organizations and Indigenous knowledge communities to assess progress since the Decade’s launch in 2024.

The gathering comes as policymakers look beyond individual scientific breakthroughs toward broader questions of how science can support sustainable development, strengthen science-policy interfaces and inform the post-2030 development agenda. A high-level session on “Science diplomacy in action: governing global commons” highlights the growing role of scientific cooperation in addressing challenges that transcend national borders.

Two years into the Decade, the conference offers an opportunity to evaluate whether governments are translating commitments on science for sustainable development into concrete action.

Bangkok — The Montreal Protocol faces a new funding test

Negotiators meet in Bangkok for the Open-ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol as governments begin preparations for the next replenishment of the Multilateral Fund, the financial mechanism that helps developing countries implement the treaty.

Often cited as one of the most successful environmental agreements ever negotiated, the Montreal Protocol now faces a new challenge: maintaining momentum on ozone protection and hydrofluorocarbon phase-down efforts amid mounting fiscal pressures on both governments and multilateral institutions.

The discussions will help shape decisions expected later this year in Kigali, Rwanda, where countries will mark the tenth anniversary of the Kigali Amendment and consider the next phase of funding for one of the world’s most effective science-based international agreements.

Kingston — Deep sea mining negotiations enter another critical phase

The International Seabed Authority resumes negotiations in Jamaica over rules that would govern commercial mining of mineral resources in international waters, one of the most consequential unresolved questions in ocean governance.

Delegates continue efforts to balance competing pressures from countries and companies seeking access to critical minerals used in energy and technology systems and those calling for a moratorium or precautionary pause until environmental risks are better understood.

At stake is more than a mining code. The negotiations are viewed as a test of how the international system manages scientific uncertainty, environmental protection and resource competition in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

Signals

• Institutions are investing more in decision-making capacity, not just scientific expertise.

• The hardest phase of global governance begins after agreements are reached.

• Access to data is becoming as politically contested as access to physical resources.

• AI is moving from a governance challenge to a governance tool.

• Resource governance is emerging as a central question in both security and sustainability.

• Infrastructure resilience is becoming a core governance challenge.

On the calendar

July 14–16 — Howard Raiffa Academy Short Course (Laxenburg, Austria)
Scientists, diplomats, policymakers and decision-analysis experts examine how analytical tools can support decision-making, negotiation and diplomacy under uncertainty. → Information

July 15 — Howard Raiffa Lecture: Avril Haines (Vienna)
The former U.S. Director of National Intelligence delivers a lecture on the ethics of national security decision-making and lessons from the social sciences. → Program

July 6–17 — Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement (Geneva)
Negotiators continue work on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing annex to the Pandemic Agreement. → Information

July 14–23 — High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (New York)
Governments continue annual reviews of progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. → Program

July 15–17 — Global Conference of the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (Paris)
UNESCO convenes governments, researchers and other stakeholders to assess progress on the Science Decade and explore science-policy cooperation beyond 2030. → Information

July 13–31 — International Seabed Authority Annual Session (Kingston, Jamaica)
Delegates continue negotiations on rules governing potential deep-sea mining activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction. → Overview

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Issue No. 12 | Monday, July 6, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

The global conversation about artificial intelligence moves from scientific assessment to political negotiation this week as governments, technology companies, researchers and international organizations converge on Geneva for a series of meetings that are helping define the emerging architecture of international AI governance.

More than 1,500 participants are expected for the inaugural Global Dialogue on AI Governance, a new United Nations process established by the General Assembly to provide a forum where governments and stakeholders can discuss international cooperation on artificial intelligence. The meeting follows last week’s release of the preliminary report of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, which warned that access to AI technologies does not necessarily translate into influence over the infrastructure, expertise, standards and governance systems shaping their development.

Now the political conversation begins.

The Global Dialogue takes place alongside the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum and the AI for Good Global Summit, bringing together many of the institutions, governments and organizations shaping the future of digital cooperation, technology governance and artificial intelligence.

Together, the three gatherings illustrate how the international system is beginning to organize itself around AI. WSIS provides the broader framework for digital cooperation and development. The Global Dialogue creates a new political forum for governments to discuss AI governance. AI for Good focuses on practical applications and implementation ranging from health and education to climate and development.

The week also follows the launch of the AI for Good Global Commission, a new high-level initiative bringing together heads of government, business leaders and U.N. officials under the co-chairmanship of Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. The commission aims to identify practical pathways for expanding access to AI while addressing questions of trust, governance and digital inequality.

The coming days will provide an early indication of how governments respond to the scientific panel’s findings, whether the Global Dialogue develops into a recurring intergovernmental process, and how the various institutions emerging around AI begin to relate to one another.

Major processes to watch

Global Dialogue on AI Governance — Governments enter the conversation

The inaugural Global Dialogue on AI Governance opens Monday in Geneva as governments, international organizations, companies, researchers and civil society groups gather to discuss international cooperation on artificial intelligence.

Established by the U.N. General Assembly, the Dialogue is intended to provide a dedicated forum where countries can exchange views on AI opportunities and risks, capacity-building, AI divides, human rights and governance. The meeting follows last week’s release of the preliminary report of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and represents the first opportunity for governments to collectively respond to its findings.

The Dialogue will provide an early indication of whether countries can begin building common approaches to AI governance despite differing national priorities, levels of technological development and regulatory philosophies.

AI for Good Global Summit — From governance to implementation

The AI for Good Global Summit opens Tuesday in Geneva, bringing together governments, technology companies, researchers and international organizations to examine how artificial intelligence can be applied to challenges ranging from health and education to climate change and sustainable development.

The summit follows last week’s launch of the AI for Good Global Commission, a new initiative co-chaired by Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff that brings together heads of government, business leaders and U.N. officials to identify practical pathways for expanding access to AI while addressing questions of trust, governance and digital inequality.

The Commission’s creation reflects growing efforts to move beyond discussions of AI risks and regulation toward questions of implementation, access and governance at scale.

WSIS Forum — Twenty years of digital cooperation

The World Summit on the Information Society Forum convenes governments, U.N. agencies, technical organizations, companies and civil society groups to assess progress on digital cooperation and the information society.

Established following the original WSIS process, the forum addresses issues including connectivity, digital inclusion, cybersecurity, digital development and internet governance. While artificial intelligence dominates many discussions this year, the forum provides the broader institutional framework linking digital development, technology governance and international cooperation.

Together with the Global Dialogue and AI for Good, the gathering helps illustrate how a broader ecosystem of AI and digital governance institutions is taking shape.

ICRC Digital Emblem Project — Humanitarian law enters cyberspace

The International Committee of the Red Cross launches the second phase of its Digital Emblem Project on Thursday at CERN’s Globe of Science and Innovation, moving an effort to protect humanitarian and medical services in cyberspace from concept development toward operational implementation.

The project seeks to translate the protective function of the Red Cross, Red Crescent and Red Crystal emblems into the digital environment. The goal is to create a technical means for hospitals, humanitarian organizations and other protected entities to signal their protected status during cyber operations and armed conflict.

The next phase will focus on testing, adoption pathways and implementation. Participants include representatives from the ICRC, Switzerland, the International Telecommunication Union, Microsoft, Cloudflare, UNESCO and other organizations working on humanitarian law, cybersecurity and technology governance.

The initiative highlights a broader challenge confronting international institutions: how legal protections developed for the physical world can be adapted to digital forms of conflict.

High-Level Political Forum — The U.N. takes stock of the Sustainable Development Goals

The High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development opens Tuesday at U.N. headquarters in New York as governments assess progress toward the 2030 Agenda with less than five years remaining before the deadline.

This year’s forum will review water and sanitation, energy, infrastructure and innovation, sustainable cities, and international partnerships. Thirty-six countries, including Switzerland, Brazil, Italy, Norway and the United Arab Emirates, will present Voluntary National Reviews outlining their progress, challenges and lessons learned in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.

The forum also will feature the release of the Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026, providing an updated assessment of global progress.

As with many U.N. processes this year, the central challenge remains implementation. With 2030 approaching, discussions are focused on how to accelerate progress rather than simply measuring it.

Inside institutions

Human Rights Council — Decisions and conclusions

The Human Rights Council resumes consideration of draft resolutions on Monday as its sixty-second session moves through a crowded agenda covering Sudan, Eritrea, Myanmar, humanitarian access in armed conflict, business and human rights, disability rights, education, disinformation, freedom of expression, judicial independence, gender equality and climate change.

Several items intersect directly with this week’s broader technology and governance agenda, including draft texts on disinformation, freedom of expression, business and human rights, and climate change.

The session’s final decisions will provide an indication of how human rights institutions are adapting to interconnected challenges involving conflict, information integrity, humanitarian access, climate impacts and emerging technologies.

UN Trade and Development — Following the investment flows

UN Trade and Development releases its World Investment Report 2026 on Tuesday, offering one of the year’s most comprehensive assessments of global investment patterns.

The report arrives as governments link economic resilience, technological competitiveness, industrial policy and national security. Particular attention is likely to focus on the distribution of investment between developed and developing economies, the concentration of capital in strategic sectors, and whether foreign direct investment is helping countries participate in emerging technological and industrial systems.

The findings will provide another measure of a question that runs through many international debates this year: who benefits from technological transformation, and who risks being left behind.

Security Council watch — Accountability, resources and the causes of conflict

Congo assumes the Security Council presidency this month with an agenda that links accountability, protection and resource governance—three issues that sit at the center of international security debates.

The Council’s work begins this week with a briefing on the International Criminal Court’s Darfur-related activities in Sudan and its annual open debate on conflict-related sexual violence under the theme, “Honouring the promise of international law to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.”

Later in the month, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi is expected to chair a high-level debate on “Natural resource governance: the foundation of peace, security and prosperity,” while Secretary-General António Guterres is expected to brief. The Council will also discuss recommendations for strengthening mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of disputes under a report requested through Resolution 2788.

The agenda reflects a broader question confronting the Council: whether addressing conflict requires not only responding to violence and violations of international law, but also tackling governance failures, resource competition and institutional weaknesses that contribute to instability in the first place.

Across regions

Brussels — Europe’s regions prepare for the post-2027 era

Officials, regional authorities and policy experts gather in Brussels this week for the Macro-regional and Sea Basin Strategies Days, an annual meeting focused on cross-border cooperation in eight European regional and maritime frameworks, including the Alpine, Danube, Baltic Sea, Adriatic-Ionian and Atlantic regions.

This year’s discussions are expected to focus heavily on the European Union’s next budget cycle and the shape of regional policy after 2027.

Organizers point to growing emphasis on security, resilience, competitiveness, enlargement and place-based implementation amid geopolitical tensions, climate pressures and economic transformation.

Workshops will examine issues ranging from enlargement and support for candidate countries to resilience, civil preparedness, green and digital transitions, and regional cooperation in Europe’s maritime basins.

House of Commons — Britain examines science diplomacy

The Foundation for Science and Technology, the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee and Sense about Science host a discussion on science diplomacy on Tuesday as Parliament considers recommendations from a recent inquiry into the role of science in foreign policy.

The event follows a parliamentary inquiry examining how scientific research, international partnerships and foreign policy can be aligned to advance national interests and strengthen international relationships. Participants include committee chair Dame Chi Onwurah, former science minister George Freeman, Wellcome Trust Executive Director Charlotte Watts and former universities minister David Willetts.

It reflects growing interest among governments in treating scientific cooperation not only as a tool for addressing shared challenges but also as an instrument of foreign policy, technological competitiveness and alliance-building.

Signals

• AI governance is entering its political phase.

• Infrastructure is becoming the new source of influence.

• Implementation is replacing aspiration as the dominant theme of multilateral governance.

• Institutions are adapting existing rules to digital realities rather than building entirely new systems.

• Resource governance is emerging as a central security issue.

On the calendar

July 6-7 — Global Dialogue on AI Governance (Geneva)

The inaugural U.N. forum created by the General Assembly to enable governments and stakeholders to discuss international cooperation on artificial intelligence. → Information → Closing Sessions

July 6-10 — WSIS Forum 2026 (Geneva)

The annual World Summit on the Information Society gathering focused on digital cooperation, connectivity, development and technology governance. → Overview

July 7-10 — AI for Good Global Summit (Geneva)

ITU’s flagship event bringing together governments, companies and researchers to explore practical applications of AI for global challenges. → Program

July 7 — Launch of the Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026 (New York)

The United Nations releases its annual assessment of global progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. → Information

July 7 — U.K. science diplomacy discussion (London)

A House of Commons event exploring how science diplomacy can support international cooperation, alliances and technological competitiveness as Parliament considers recommendations from a recent inquiry. → Program

July 7-15 — High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (New York)

The U.N.’s principal annual review of implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. → Overview

July 7 — Security Council briefing on ICC Sudan (New York)

The International Criminal Court updates the Security Council on investigations and accountability efforts related to crimes in Darfur. → Information

July 8 — Security Council open debate on conflict-related sexual violence (New York)

A high-level discussion examining implementation of international law and protections for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. → Overview

July 9 — Global Launch of the Digital Emblem Project, Phase II (CERN, Geneva)

The ICRC unveils the next phase of its effort to extend the protective function of humanitarian emblems into cyberspace. → Program

July 9 — HLPF Science Day 2026 (New York)

A special forum exploring the role of science, technology and innovation in accelerating progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. → Program

Closing

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Issue No. 11 | Monday, June 29, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

Switzerland’s glaciers are reaching a threshold that extends beyond ice loss.

On Monday, Switzerland reaches what glaciologists call “Glacier Loss Day” — the point at which seasonal snow reserves have been exhausted and every additional liter of meltwater comes directly from glacier ice. Researchers at ETH Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research say the date arrives unusually early this year following a June heatwave, with melt patterns already resembling those recorded during 2022, the worst year on record for glacier loss in Switzerland.

The more consequential finding may be what scientists are now observing downstream. During the extreme summer of 2022, Swiss glaciers lost more ice than they did during Europe’s historic 2003 heatwave. Yet they contributed less meltwater to river systems. The explanation is simple: there is less glacier left.

For decades, Alpine glaciers functioned as natural reservoirs, releasing water during hot and dry periods. New research suggests that this buffering capacity is beginning to weaken. The question is no longer only how quickly glaciers are disappearing, but what happens when the ice reserves that have long supported rivers, agriculture, hydropower and ecosystems continue to shrink.

The week ahead highlights a similar question across international institutions: what happens when long-term trends become operational realities? From artificial intelligence and migration to trade, development and environmental governance, policymakers are increasingly focused on adaptation rather than anticipation.

Major Processes to Watch

Counterterrorism Week — The U.N. reviews a 20-year-old security framework

Counterterrorism Week opens at U.N. headquarters as governments prepare for the ninth review of the U.N. Global Counterterrorism Strategy, one of the world’s most comprehensive multilateral security frameworks.

Adopted by consensus in 2006 and reviewed every two years by the General Assembly, the strategy has evolved into a broad framework for international cooperation on prevention, capacity-building, human rights, border security, financing, online radicalization and emerging threats. This week’s review process includes the Fourth High-Level Conference of Heads of Counterterrorism Agencies, a General Assembly review involving all U.N. member states, and approximately 40 side events bringing together governments, U.N. entities, regional organizations, researchers, civil society organizations and private-sector representatives.

The timing is notable. The review comes as governments confront a threat landscape that differs substantially from the one that existed when the strategy was adopted two decades ago. Artificial intelligence, digital platforms, encrypted communications, drone technologies and other emerging capabilities are reshaping how security institutions assess risks and coordinate responses.

A dedicated session on the misuse of AI and emerging technologies reflects the growing prominence of technical expertise within international security discussions. Other sessions will examine terrorism in conflict-affected environments, networked forms of multilateral cooperation and preparations for the twentieth anniversary of the strategy in 2026.

For observers of international governance, the review offers a window into how governments are attempting to update a major global framework for a different technological and geopolitical era.

U.S.-Iran Technical Talks

The status of planned U.S.-Iran technical talks, initially expected to continue in Switzerland, may offer the clearest indication this week of whether the recently negotiated ceasefire framework remains intact.

The U.S. and Iran will “stand down” and technical teams are expected to meet Tuesday in Doha after several days of military exchanges threatened to derail the process, according to Axios, Reuters, and CNN. Discussions are expected to focus on implementation of the ceasefire framework, including arrangements governing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, while broader talks on other provisions of the agreement are expected to continue.

The talks follow a weekend agreement by Washington and Tehran to halt attacks and resume negotiations after both sides accused the other of violating the June 17 memorandum of understanding intended to end the conflict. Under that agreement, Iran committed to facilitate commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz while the United States agreed to lift its blockade of Iranian ports.

Whether negotiators can keep technical channels functioning may prove as important to the durability of the agreement as developments on the battlefield.

Inside institutions

International Telecommunication Union — AI governance moves into implementation

The ITU’s Joint Coordination Activity on Artificial Intelligence convenes Monday in Geneva.

The meeting brings together experts working across technical standards, governance frameworks and policy coordination. While public attention often focuses on AI regulation, much of the practical work now involves standards-setting, interoperability and institutional coordination among governments, companies and international organizations.

United Nations Trade and Development Commission — Development under pressure

The sixteenth session of the Trade and Development Commission opens at the Palais des Nations in Geneva this week.

Delegates will examine trade, development financing, economic resilience and structural challenges facing developing countries. The discussions come as many developing countries face the difficult task of financing development while coping with debt pressures, trade disruptions and rising demands for investment in energy, infrastructure and technology.

Human Rights Council — Multiple crises compete for attention

The Human Rights Council continues its sixty-second session in Geneva.

Monday’s agenda includes discussions on Venezuela, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Belarus, Myanmar and Nicaragua, highlighting the breadth of simultaneous crises confronting the international human rights system.

Security Council watch

The Security Council meets Monday morning on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

Council members are expected to receive updates on Gaza, implementation of existing Council resolutions, settlement activity in the West Bank and broader efforts to sustain diplomatic progress. The discussion comes amid continuing debate over reconstruction, governance and long-term security arrangements.

Congo assumes the Council presidency on July 1.

The council also is likely to negotiate a Panama-authored draft presidential statement on cooperation between the Council and the Organization of American States, and to begin negotiations on a draft resolution, initiated by Greece, on the impact of digital technologies on violations against children in armed conflict.

Across regions

Portugal — Climate migration research broadens

Researchers gather this week at the World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists in Carcavelos, Portugal.

Among the notable discussions, IIASA researchers will present new work arguing that climate migration research must move beyond identifying climate drivers of migration and focus more directly on adaptation, resilience and policy responses.

New research presented at the conference finds that simultaneous exposure to drought and violent conflict can nearly double migration aspirations, from an average of 23% to 45%, underscoring the importance of understanding compound risks rather than treating climate and security challenges separately.

European Union — Science diplomacy enters implementation

European diplomats continue adjusting to the newly adopted E.U. Framework for Science Diplomacy.

The framework reflects a growing effort to treat international scientific cooperation as a strategic foreign-policy tool while balancing research openness, economic competitiveness and security concerns.

Geneva — Marine biotechnology and sustainable development

The U.N. Global Seaweed Initiative holds its annual meeting this week, examining how marine biotechnology, scientific research and ocean governance can support economic development, food systems and climate resilience.

Signals

• Switzerland’s glaciers are beginning to reveal not only the pace of climate change but also its consequences for water systems.

• AI governance discussions are shifting from principles and declarations toward standards, coordination and implementation.

• Climate migration research is focusing more heavily on compound risks involving conflict, adaptation and resilience.

• Governments are devoting greater attention to how scientific and technical expertise is incorporated into security, migration and technology governance.

On the calendar

June 29 — ITU Joint Coordination Activity on Artificial Intelligence (Geneva)

Experts meet to coordinate standards, governance approaches and international cooperation related to artificial intelligence. → Information

June 29–30 — Fourth High-Level Conference of Heads of Counterterrorism Agencies (New York) → Overview

June 29–July 3 — Trade and Development Commission (Geneva)

Governments examine trade, development and economic resilience challenges. → Agenda

June 29–July 3 — U.N. Global Seaweed Initiative Annual Meeting

Researchers and policymakers discuss marine biotechnology, sustainability and climate resilience. → Overview

July 1–2 — Climate Change and Migration Sessions, World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists (Portugal)

Researchers present new findings on climate migration, adaptation and compound risks. → Program

July 2 — UNIDIR: Due Diligence in Cyberspace (Geneva)

Discussion on how principles of state responsibility are being interpreted in cyberspace and international law. → Agenda

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Issue No. 10 | Monday, June 22, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

Implementation is becoming one of the defining challenges of international diplomacy.

At Switzerland’s Bürgenstock resort, U.S. and Iranian negotiators have moved from ceasefire negotiations to implementation diplomacy. U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf opened talks on Sunday aimed at translating last week’s memorandum of understanding into operational arrangements covering nuclear oversight, sanctions relief, regional security and maritime access.

Technical working groups were established during the opening round of talks, which concluded early Monday after more than a day of negotiations. Mediators Qatar and Pakistan said the parties had agreed to a roadmap toward a final agreement within 60 days, while technical discussions are expected to continue this week.

The challenge now is turning a preliminary political agreement into a durable implementation framework. Switzerland, which is facilitating the talks alongside Pakistan and Qatar, said discussions are focused on translating the memorandum into “concrete and operational steps.” The International Atomic Energy Agency is preparing for technical discussions on verification, while negotiators continue to wrestle with disputes involving Lebanon and the Strait of Hormuz.

The same implementation challenge appears elsewhere on this week’s international agenda. WHO is convening governments and technical experts to advance digital health standards. Delegates under the Basel Convention are returning to questions of plastic waste, e-waste and cross-border waste controls. Parties to the Aarhus Convention are reviewing compliance with commitments on environmental information, participation and justice.

Much of the international system is increasingly focused on what happens after agreements are reached. Institutions are being asked to build the standards, verification systems, reporting mechanisms and compliance structures that turn political commitments into operational arrangements.

Inside institutions

International Atomic Energy Agency — Verification after Bürgenstock

The first round of implementation talks concluded early Monday at the Bürgenstock, with technical discussions expected to continue this week.

The IAEA is expected to play a central role in future verification arrangements. Director General Rafael Grossi said in Geneva last week that the agency was preparing to begin technical discussions with both governments, describing implementation as the next critical phase.

Much of the discussion is expected to focus on Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile and the verification mechanisms needed to ensure that any future agreement can be monitored and enforced. While negotiators have not disclosed what arrangements are under consideration, any lasting settlement would depend heavily on inspection access, monitoring and verification.

The talks also arrive amid continuing disputes over Lebanon and the Strait of Hormuz, illustrating how quickly implementation challenges can emerge even after a political agreement has been reached.

World Health Organization — Building digital health infrastructure

WHO hosts the third Global Initiative on Digital Health Convening in Geneva from June 22–24 under the theme of building resilient health systems through digital foundations, learning and partnerships.

Governments, development agencies, technical experts and private-sector participants will discuss interoperability, standards, digital public infrastructure and health-system transformation.

The discussions reflect growing recognition that digital governance increasingly depends on shared standards and technical frameworks rather than formal treaties alone.

Basel Convention — Waste governance and implementation

Delegates meet in Geneva this week for the fifteenth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention.

The agenda includes plastic waste, e-waste, used textiles, mercury waste, waste batteries and customs cooperation. While highly technical, the discussions affect how countries manage growing environmental and trade disputes involving cross-border waste flows.

The meeting follows compliance discussions concluded last week under the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, highlighting the increasing importance of compliance and reporting systems across environmental governance.

Aarhus Convention — Environmental rights under pressure

Parties to the Aarhus Convention gather in Geneva from June 24–26 to review implementation of commitments related to access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters.

Delegates are also expected to discuss resource constraints, compliance procedures and longer-term planning for the convention’s future work.

Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons — Building scientific security networks

A week after the OPCW and the U.N. Office for Disarmament Affairs launched a new partnership focused on chemical and biological security, attention is shifting toward implementation.

Twenty-five scientists from twenty-four countries recently completed training designed to strengthen links between research communities and international security institutions. The initiative reflects a growing effort to embed scientific expertise directly within non-proliferation and disarmament frameworks.

Security Council watch

The Security Council is expected to continue closely monitoring developments related to Iran, Lebanon and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Although the current negotiations are taking place outside the Council framework, questions surrounding sanctions relief, nuclear verification and future international guarantees could eventually return to the Security Council if negotiations progress toward a broader settlement.

Council members are also expected to follow developments in Syria, Ukraine and Sudan this week, while scheduled meetings include debates on children and armed conflict, peacekeeper accountability and several peace operations mandates.

Across regions

Geneva Science Diplomacy Week — Science diplomacy examines implementation

Geneva Science Diplomacy Week begins Monday, bringing together diplomats, scientists, policymakers and institutional leaders across Geneva’s international ecosystem.

The invitation-only program focuses on anticipatory governance, emerging technologies, science advice and the growing role of scientific expertise in international decision-making.

Africa — Cyber diplomacy gains momentum

DiploFoundation hosts an online discussion on June 24 examining developments in African cyber diplomacy.

The discussion will explore African Union initiatives, digital sovereignty efforts, cybersecurity cooperation and national cyber strategies across the continent.

Middle East — Diplomacy enters a technical phase

Whether negotiators can translate broad commitments into operational arrangements on nuclear verification, sanctions relief, maritime access and regional security may determine the trajectory of the wider process over the coming weeks.

Signals

• The Bürgenstock talks have moved the U.S.-Iran process into an implementation phase where technical arrangements may matter more than political declarations.

• Verification, standards and compliance systems are becoming central instruments of international governance.

• Scientific expertise is increasingly being embedded directly into security, environmental and technology governance frameworks.

On the calendar

June 22–24 — WHO Global Initiative on Digital Health Convening (Geneva)

Governments, technical experts and development partners meet to discuss digital health standards, interoperability and health-system transformation. → Information

June 22–26 — Geneva Science Diplomacy Week (Geneva)

Practitioners, diplomats and researchers meet across Geneva institutions to examine anticipatory governance, emerging technologies and the future role of science in international decision-making. → Private agenda

June 23 — At a Crossroads: Worker Voice and the Future of Workplace Technology (Online)

ILO webinar examining AI governance, algorithmic management and worker participation in technology decisions. → Registration

June 23–26 — Basel Convention Open-ended Working Group (Geneva)

Delegates advance negotiations on plastic waste, e-waste, used textiles, mercury waste and related implementation issues. → Documents

June 24 — Developments in Africa Cyber Diplomacy (Online)

DiploFoundation discussion on African cyber diplomacy initiatives and regional digital governance. → Registration

June 24–26 — Aarhus Convention Working Group of the Parties (Geneva)

Governments review implementation of environmental rights commitments and discuss future priorities. → Agenda

Closing

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Issue No. 9 | Monday, June 15, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

From nuclear verification to military AI, governments are relying on scientific expertise, inspections and monitoring to manage political disputes.

As G7 leaders gather in Évian-les-Bains, attention is focused on a newly announced U.S.-Iran framework agreement that could reduce tensions over Iran's nuclear program and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the agreement on Sunday as "a critical step towards the peaceful settlement of the conflict." While many details remain unresolved, diplomats, inspectors and nuclear experts are assessing the implications of last week's International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, where safeguards, verification and Iran's nuclear material were among the central issues under discussion.

The emerging agreement leaves unresolved some of the most difficult questions surrounding Iran's nuclear activities. Any lasting arrangement would depend heavily on verification, monitoring and access arrangements capable of establishing confidence among governments that remain deeply divided on the issue.

In Geneva, governments, military officials and technical experts are meeting under U.N. auspices to discuss artificial intelligence in the military domain. The informal exchanges, convened by the U.N. Office for Disarmament Affairs, are part of a General Assembly process examining how military AI should be governed before new technologies outpace existing rules and institutions.

The week’s agenda points to a recurring feature of international affairs: political agreements often depend on institutions capable of establishing facts, monitoring compliance and evaluating technical claims.

Inside institutions

International Atomic Energy Agency — Verification after Vienna

The IAEA Board of Governors concluded its June meeting on Friday after discussions on Iran, Syria, North Korea, Ukraine and AUKUS. The emerging U.S.-Iran framework places renewed attention on verification, monitoring and inspector access, areas where the Agency would be expected to play a central role should negotiations progress toward a broader nuclear agreement.

United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs — Military AI enters a new phase

Governments convene in Geneva for three days of informal exchanges on artificial intelligence in the military domain and its implications for international peace and security. Mandated by the General Assembly, the discussions are intended to clarify concepts, identify areas of convergence and inform future negotiations on military AI and autonomous weapons systems.

The exchanges take place alongside broader international efforts to establish rules and norms for military AI, including ongoing discussions under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons on lethal autonomous weapons systems.

World Health Organization — Ebola preparedness and response

WHO continues coordinating the international response to the Ebola outbreak affecting Congo and Uganda, including implementation of the joint WHO–Africa CDC response plan.

United Nations Human Rights Council — Twenty years after reform

The Human Rights Council opens a new session in Geneva as the U.N.’s principal human rights body marks two decades since replacing the former Commission on Human Rights in 2006. The anniversary comes amid continued debate over accountability, state sovereignty and the effectiveness of international human rights mechanisms.

Security Council watch

Colombia continues its presidency of the United Nations Security Council with a focus on mediation, dialogue and conflict prevention.

Council members are expected to follow developments related to Iran, Ukraine, Lebanon and maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz. The Council will also receive a briefing on Yemen, where regional security dynamics intersect with broader discussions surrounding Iran and maritime stability.

On June 17, the Council will hold an open debate on women, peace and security under the theme “Peace is Decided with Women: Emerging from Conflict by Enhancing Their Participation.”

As the secretary-general race gathers momentum, questions of nuclear verification remain at the center of international diplomacy. Following last week's candidates' debate in Geneva and Monday's General Assembly dialogue with María Fernanda Espinosa, contenders are entering a period of greater public scrutiny as they seek to distinguish their visions for the future of the United Nations.

Across regions

G7 Summit — Diplomacy under pressure

Leaders of the Group of Seven meet in Évian-les-Bains amid discussions surrounding Iran, energy security, Ukraine, artificial intelligence and global economic stability. Any movement toward a U.S.-Iran understanding is likely to shape conversations throughout the summit.

Climate diplomacy — Bonn enters its final week

Negotiators continue work at the Bonn climate meetings ahead of COP31 in Antalya. Discussions on adaptation, implementation and the future direction of the climate regime are expected to intensify as delegates move toward the conclusion of the session.

Europe — Science diplomacy examines itself

Researchers, practitioners and policymakers gather in Aarhus for a conference on the future of science diplomacy, with sessions addressing geopolitics, research security, public engagement, space governance and international scientific cooperation. The meeting reflects a broader debate about how the field is adapting to technological change, geopolitical competition and shifting patterns of global cooperation.

Signals

• Verification remains central to efforts to manage nuclear risks and sustain diplomatic agreements.

• Military AI moves from expert discussions into formal multilateral processes.

• Technical institutions are central to how governments manage disputes involving security, technology and global risks.

On the calendar

June 15 — U.N. General Assembly interactive dialogue with María Fernanda Espinosa (New York)

The former president of the General Assembly and former foreign minister of Ecuador presents her vision for the United Nations and answers questions from member states and civil society as part of the formal process to select the next secretary-general. The session follows last week’s public candidates’ debate in Geneva and offers another opportunity to compare competing visions for the future of multilateralism. → Watch

June 15–17 — U.N. informal exchanges on artificial intelligence in the military domain (Geneva)

Governments, international organizations, industry, researchers and civil society gather under a General Assembly mandate to discuss military AI and international security. The meetings represent one of the most significant efforts yet to establish common concepts and governance frameworks ahead of future U.N. and autonomous weapons negotiations. → Background

June 15–17 — G7 Summit (Évian-les-Bains, France)

Leaders of the Group of Seven meet amid continuing uncertainty over Iran, Ukraine, global trade and economic security. The summit opens one day after the United Nations welcomed a newly announced U.S.-Iran framework agreement that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and reduce regional tensions. → Agenda

June 15–18 — UNHCR Standing Committee (Geneva)

The U.N. refugee agency’s Standing Committee reviews operational, financial and protection challenges facing one of the world’s largest humanitarian organizations as displacement remains near historic highs. → Schedule

June 16–17 — Rethinking Science Diplomacy Conference (Aarhus, Denmark)

Researchers and practitioners examine how science diplomacy is evolving in response to artificial intelligence, geopolitical competition, research security and changing global power dynamics. → Program

June 17 — U.N. Security Council debate on women, peace and security (New York)

Council members and U.N. member states discuss women’s participation in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and post-conflict recovery under Colombia’s presidency of the Security Council. → Background

June 17–19 — ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment (New York)

Governments, U.N. agencies and humanitarian organizations, including the ICRC, discuss humanitarian financing, protection challenges and coordination in an increasingly complex crisis environment. → Background

June 18 — Rafael Grossi on the future of multilateral organizations (Geneva)

The IAEA director general and declared candidate for U.N. secretary-general reflects on leadership, international organizations and multilateral cooperation. The campaign to succeed António Guterres is picking up speed and questions of nuclear verification remain at the center of international diplomacy. → Program

June 18 — Bonn climate meetings conclude (Bonn, Germany)

Negotiators wrap up the mid-year U.N. climate talks, offering an early indication of priorities, fault lines and expectations heading into COP31 in Antalya, Turkey. → Schedule

Closing

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Issue No. 8 | Monday, June 8, 2026

Good morning,

Welcome to The Science Diplomat Playbook, your Monday morning guide to what’s shaping the week ahead in global science diplomacy.

The lead

Scientific verification is taking on added importance in international security as governments turn to technical institutions to manage political disputes.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors convenes in Vienna this week with Iran, Ukraine, Syria, North Korea and AUKUS all on the agenda. The meeting brings together diplomats, nuclear experts and regulators at a moment when some of the world’s most sensitive security questions depend on scientific monitoring, technical verification and international inspection systems.

The agenda includes safeguards implementation in Iran and Syria, nuclear safety and security in Ukraine, safeguards questions surrounding AUKUS and the IAEA's annual review of global safeguards activities. Iran's cooperation with international inspectors and the status of its nuclear material are expected to be among the most closely watched issues.

While political disagreements often dominate headlines, the Board’s work highlights a broader reality: many international security disputes now rely on scientific expertise to establish facts, monitor compliance and build confidence among governments.

Similar dynamics are emerging elsewhere across the multilateral system. The United Nations will hold a high-level debate on wildlife trafficking and environmental crime. The World Trade Organization will continue discussions on plastics pollution and sustainable plastics trade. Climate negotiators meeting in Bonn will focus on adaptation and implementation ahead of COP31.

The discussions illustrate how technical expertise increasingly shapes decisions traditionally associated with diplomacy, trade and security.

Inside institutions

International Atomic Energy Agency — Nuclear verification and international security

The IAEA Board of Governors meets in Vienna through June 12 with safeguards implementation in Iran, Syria and North Korea among the most closely watched agenda items. Nuclear safety and security in Ukraine, technical cooperation activities and safeguards questions related to AUKUS are also expected to feature prominently in discussions.

World Health Organization — Ebola response enters a new phase

WHO hosts a global webinar this week on the Ebola outbreak affecting Congo and Uganda, providing an update on the Bundibugyo strain, border health measures and preparedness efforts. The event follows the declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and continued implementation of the joint WHO–Africa CDC response plan.

United Nations — Environmental crime moves up the agenda

The General Assembly holds a high-level debate on preventing and combating wildlife trafficking and other crimes affecting the environment. The discussion reflects growing concern about the links between environmental degradation, organized crime, biodiversity loss and sustainable development.

World Trade Organization — Plastics negotiations continue

Trade officials meet in Geneva for discussions on plastics pollution and environmentally sustainable plastics trade. The dialogue forms part of broader efforts to connect trade policy with environmental objectives and sustainable production systems.

Security Council watch

Colombia continues its presidency of the United Nations Security Council with an emphasis on mediation, climate-related security risks and multilateral diplomacy.

Council members are expected to follow developments related to Iran, Lebanon, Ukraine and maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz. The Council will also receive a briefing on Iran under its nonproliferation agenda, linking diplomatic debates in New York with safeguards discussions taking place simultaneously at the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna.

In Geneva, several declared candidates for secretary-general will participate in one of the most visible public debates of the leadership contest to date.

Across regions

Climate diplomacy — Bonn meetings continue

Negotiators and experts meeting in Bonn will focus on climate adaptation, implementation of National Adaptation Plans and preparations for COP31 in Antalya, Turkey. Several discussions this week will examine how countries translate climate commitments into practical policy measures.

Asia-Pacific — Trade facilitation and digital cooperation

The Asia-Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum and Paperless Trade Week convene in Bangkok, bringing together policymakers, international organizations and technical experts to discuss digital trade systems, customs modernization and regional economic integration.

Europe — Women, peace and security

The Council of Europe hosts its annual Gender Equality Commission conference in Strasbourg, focusing on women’s participation in conflict resolution, peacebuilding and post-conflict recovery.

Signals

• Scientific verification is becoming central to international security governance.

• Environmental issues are being framed as questions of security, trade and international cooperation.

• The contest to succeed António Guterres is attracting greater public attention as candidates outline competing visions for the future of multilateralism.

On the calendar

June 8–12 — IAEA Board of Governors (Vienna)

The Board usually meets in March and June, twice in September, and in November. → Background

June 8 — U.N. General Assembly debate on wildlife trafficking and environmental crime (New York)

Organizers say the debate aims to raise awareness on the scale and complexity of crimes that affect the environment. → Watch

June 8 — Immersive new ‘Portail des Nations’ multilateralism center opens to the public

Years in the making, the new center on the grounds of the Palais des Nations in Geneva combines multimedia storytelling, negotiation simulations and interactive exhibits. → Details

June 8–12 — International Labor Conference (Geneva)

Delegates from the ILO’s 187 member nations conclude meetings on AI, platform work, social dialogue and gender equality in the world of work. → Program

June 8–18 — UNFCCC climate meetings (Bonn)

Mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology and capacity-building are up for discussions as nations prepare for COP 31 at Antalya in November. → Schedule

June 9 — WHO webinar: Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease: what we know (Virtual)

This webinar with WHO officials will aim to explain why the outbreak is significant, WHO’s recommendations for dealing with it, and the rationale behind them. → Program

June 9 — Secretary-General candidates debate (Geneva)

The Geneva Graduate Institute will host a debate organised by GWL Voices, in partnership with the U.N. Foundation, featuring candidates for the position of United Nations Secretary-General. → Program

June 9 — Fourth International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding (Ottawa, Ontario)

A free day of virtual talks is offered ahead of the in-person conference at the University of Ottawa from June 16-19, 2026. → Program

June 10–18 — U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (Vienna)

Lunar governance, space traffic coordination and the long-term sustainability of space activities are on the agenda. → Program

Closing

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