EU Explanation of Position – UN General Assembly 2nd Committee: Science, technology and innovation for sustainable development

Mister Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia^*, Montenegro^*, Serbia^*, Albania^*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, and Bosnia and Herzegovina^* align themselves with this statement.

I wish to commend the work of the facilitator, Mr Walter Mira from the Permanent Mission of El Salvador for his masterful steering of the informal consultations. I also wish to thank the Secretariat and other delegations for their dedication and constructive engagement on this resolution.

The EU and its Member States welcome the adoption of this resolution, a year after we adopted the Pact for the Future. The EU is committed to harnessing science and technology for the effective delivery of sustainable, resilient, and innovative solutions to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A prime example of our commitment is the EU’s Research Framework Programme, Horizon Europe, which allocates over 60% of its budget to sustainable development, encouraging international participation to foster innovative solutions that address global challenges.

In particular, the EU and its Member States are committed to promoting an open, fair and inclusive environment for scientific and technological development. However, we wish to put on record our reservations regarding the term “non-discriminatory” that is used in PP16, as this can be interpreted as undermining legitimate policy instruments which legally create differentiated approaches. 

We do recall, nonetheless, that to ensure that science, technology and innovation effectively help us achieve the SDGs, building on our commitment to evidence-informed policy-making, a safe, inclusive, and supportive working environment for researchers and innovators is absolutely indispensable, regardless of their background, sex, age, or sexual orientation. 

It is our firm conviction that international cooperation in science, technology and innovation should be guided by compliance with international law, in particular international humanitarian and human rights law,  as well as the promotion of democratic values, cooperation for peace, achievement of the SDGs, access to the most up-to-date knowledge, as well as fostering collaboration and circulation of talents worldwide, especially young researchers. 

International cooperation on STI is necessary to face global challenges and we are committed to remaining a trusted global partner in this regard. At the UN, notably through collaboration with the Inter-Agency Task Team on STI for the SDGs, the EU aims to embed these goals into locally tailored research and innovation agendas, including by supporting national STI for SDGs roadmaps. 

Excellencies, dear colleagues,

We must acknowledge that academic freedom is under pressure globally, and scientists worldwide are increasingly challenged and instrumentalised. While the EU is not immune to such challenges and backlash, we remain a global leader in academic freedom. And our commitment to freedom of scientific research runs through all our policies. This is fully in line with the UN Membership’s commitment in the Pact for the Future to protect the autonomy, freedom and safety of scientific researchers.

Mr Chair, finally, we regret that a vote has been called on this normally consensual resolution. We believe this undermines our collective effort and the constructive spirit of striving for consensus which has been a tradition in this committee and has also guided the negotiations on this resolution this year. The EU and its Member States fully support this important resolution. 

Let me conclude by saying that you can count on the EU to pursue its dedication to protecting academic freedom in international research and innovation cooperation, in order to leverage science, technology and innovation to create a sustainable, resilient, and innovative future for all. 

Thank you.

*North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.