ISIS Report 01/04/05
Call on European Commission to Support Independent
Science
Dozens of prominent scientists from all over the world are calling on the European Commission to support independent science in its next round of science funding, and to ensure maximum transparency and democratic input in deciding funding and research priorities.
The scientists want Europe's next round of public ressearch funding - Framework Programme 7 (2007 to 2013) - to establish broad funding criteria that put public interest ahead of 'wealth creation', and to include ethical and safety considerations before the research is funded. They are demanding a redistribution of the research budget away from industry and technology driven areas like genomics and information technologies towards sustainable agriculture, ecology and energy use in sustainable systems, and holistic health. In particular, they would like to see top priority given to scientists working with local communities to revitalize and protect traditional agricultural and healthcare systems.
The detailed Comment follows. Please add your name and/or your
organisation to
endorse the
comment at http://www.indsp.org/endorsements/endorsementISP-FP7.php, or see which organisations and individuals have already endorsed the comments at http://www.indsp.org/endorsements/signed.php.
Independent Science Panel
The Overriding Need for Independent Science
Comment to European Commission on Framework Programme
7
Submission to the European Commission on Framework 7
(revised 4 June 2007)
The Independent Science Panel (ISP), launched 10 May 2003 at a public
conference in London, UK, consists of dozens of prominent scientists from all
over the world, spanning the disciplines of agroecology, agronomy,
biomathematics, botany, chemical medicine, ecology, epidemiology,
histopathology, microbial ecology, molecular genetics, nutritional
biochemistry, physiology, plant biotechnology, taxonomy, toxicology and
virology (http://www.indsp.org/ISPMembers.php).
They share a deep concern over the commercialisation of genetic
modification (GM) and other technologies without the due process of thorough
scientific assessment, informed public consultation and public consent; and are
dedicated to researching and actively promoting science for a sustainable world
through education, advocacy and social engagement.
The overriding need for independent science
Science has been playing an increasingly major role in national and
international policy decisions that affect not only our everyday lives but also
the very survival of our planet. Unfortunately, science has also become more
and more closely tied to industrial interests that all too often conflict with
public good and public safety.
Science wars are being fought at national and international forums over
global warming, nuclear wastes, industrial pollution, and GM crops in the name
of ‘national competitiveness’, ‘national security’,
‘free trade’ and ‘feeding the world’.
There has never been a greater need to re-establish independent,
disinterested science that can both protect the public from the negative
impacts of emerging technologies and genuinely deliver a safe, secure,
equitable and sustainable world. This presents the European Union (EU)
Framework 7 programme for funding scientific research with challenges and
opportunities in equal measure.
The ISP propose the following measures for the EU Framework 7 funding
programme to go some way towards meeting the challenges and opportunities.
1. Establishing broad funding criteria that put public interest ahead
of ‘wealth creation’
The following explicit criteria should be used both in setting
priorities for areas of research, and in funding specific programmes and
projects:
- Does it contribute to public good?
- Is it ethical?
- Is it safe?
- Will it contribute to furthering fundamental understanding of
nature?
All too often, questions on safety, in particular, are being raised
after the research has been done, and worse, after the technology has
been commercialised. At that stage, it is very difficult to reach a consensus
on account of the large amount of investment at stake. Recent cases in point
include the safety of electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones and masts,
and the safety of GM crops.
2. Ensuring the greatest transparency, independence and public
participation in deciding research priorities
Committees deciding funding priorities and areas must include
representatives of appropriate public interest organisations.
No member of any committee making decisions on funding priorities and
areas should have, or should recently have had, a financial interest in the
outcome of the decision being made.
More than that, the membership of such committees must include
scientists with relevant expertise who are not involved directly or indirectly
in the research area to be funded.
3. Ensuring the greatest transparency and independence in deciding
research funding
No member of any committee making funding decisions on specific projects
should have current or recent-past financial or commercial link with an
industry involved in the proposal under consideration.
4. Ensuring that all scientific research considered by EC and Member State Advisory Committees is genuinely independent and replicable
Up to now, independent science is almost non-existent. Instead, advisory committees have accepted the applicants' own research findings, however flawed, to support their case for GM marketing or release consents. Such “advocacy science” is open to abuse and corruption. The research is non-replicable in practice, as the applicants simply will not provide reference materials for independent researchers and laboratories. In future, no research results submitted by applicants should be considered unless it is accompanied by a written statement to the effect that the applicants will facilitate repeat or follow-up experiments by other researchers, through the provision of the materials requested and other relevant information.
5. Ensuring support for independent science and scientists
The increasing tendency to fund big research programmes in big
established research groups has served to reinforce entrenched scientific
opinions that are often not in the public interest. This has resulted in the
wrong decisions being made, excessive delays in applying appropriate regulatory
or remedial measures, and the lack of precaution, all of which have cost the
taxpayer hundreds of billions in compensation for damages to health and the
environment. The cases that have been resolved against the entrenched
scientific opinions include asbestos, thalidomide, cigarette smoking, BSE and
foot-and-mouth disease.
These entrenched opinions have colonized our academic institutions,
where they are ruthlessly deployed to persecute independent scientists who try
to report their research results honestly or to tell the public what they know.
This not only intimidates staff and students, it is stultifying innovation and
obstructing real progress in understanding nature, resulting in a deterioration
of science education at all levels. It has also contributed to a growing,
pervasive mistrust of science and scientists across the globe.
To protect the integrity of science and scientists, 10% of Framework
7’s budget should be earmarked for supporting independent scientists
adopting novel approaches, and in particular, scientists who have been
persecuted for research findings ‘uncomfortable’ for industry, and to
ensure that research funding is not concentrated exclusively in big, mainstream
research groups.
To overcome the public mistrust of science and scientists, Framework 7
should give priority to research partnerships between scientists and local
communities so that people’s concerns and aspirations can help shape the
research, and importantly, scientists could benefit from local knowledge. For
the same reasons, top priority should be given to revitalising and protecting
traditional agricultural and healthcare systems from biopiracy and
globalisation, and to developing sciences and technologies appropriate for the
local community.
6. Redistributing the research budget to give priority to science and
technologies that contribute to sustainability
The research spending of Framework Programme 7 (FP7) is expected to
double that of Framework Programme 6 (FP6) to nearly €40 billion over 5
years. While the funding priorities are yet to be decided, there will be a
continuation of the FP6 areas with the addition of ‘security’ and
‘space’ and ‘basic’ research. These priorities have already
been thoroughly criticized as being predominantly led by industry and
technology, with little regard for solving real problems in society or
addressing safety concerns.
The two top priorities are "Information society technologies" and "Life
sciences, genomics and biotechnology for health". The first includes
telecommunications, mobile phones and masts, now raising serious safety
concerns all over the world. The second, biotechnology and genomics research,
was heralded to "revolutionize" healthcare, but the entire sector has failed
financially as well as scientifically to deliver its promises. In contrast,
environmental health and nutrition are completely missing from the list, as are
whole areas of biophysics research into sustainable systems, cell biology and
health.
We propose the following additions to the list of priorities, some of
them may overlap with those already included under "Sustainable development,
global change and ecosystems", but we want to give them more specific
emphasis.
7. Support science and technologies that contribute to sustainability
These include:
Ecology and energy use in sustainable systems
Sustainable systems refer ultimately to entire ways of life, including agricultural and industrial production, transport, health and economic and social relationships. Of course, subsystems within the whole could also be studied in their own right. The need for energy efficient production and transport technologies is widely accepted. Not as well acknowledged are the following topics:
- Complexity and bio-diversity in agro-ecological systems
- Energy-relationships, energy use and renewable energies
- Concept of ‘waste' and sustainability
- Renewable energy generation and bio-degradable technologies
- New forms of public ownership
- Minimum waste generation and efficient processes in agriculture and industry
- Novel ecological accounting procedures for sustainability
- Biophysical indicators of ecosystem health and monitoring technologies
- Decentralised energy-efficient technologies that promote local autonomy and participation
- Social environmental indicators of sustainability
- Localisation and regionalisation versus globalisation
Science of the organism and holistic health
Many new research programmes fall potentially within the general area of “science of the organism”. The emphasis is on non-linear complex dynamics, feedback and coherence, which are necessary for understanding complex systems in general. Especially important is the scientific underpinning of complementary and alternative medical practices, in view of the fact that homeopathy is entering mainstream medicine. The biological effects of mobile phones and other electrical installations in the environment, for example, also requires an appropriate biophysical understanding of the organism. We have identified the following topics:
- Biophysical model of the organism
- Understanding complementary and alternative medical practices
- Concept of holistic health that includes the social and ecological environment
- Biophysical, dynamical indicators of health
- Social and environmental indicators of health
- Non-invasive, non-destructive technologies for monitoring health and food quality
- Effective therapeutic methods based on minimum intervention.
Please add your name and/or your
organisation to
endorse the
comment at http://www.indsp.org/endorsements/endorsementISP-FP7.php, or see which organisations and individuals have already endorsed the comments at http://www.indsp.org/endorsements/signed.php.
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