1

Towards a Code of Conduct for Scientists?

- UNESCO and the ethics of science -

Division of Ethics of Science and Technology

UNESCO__________________________________________

2

BIOETHICS AND ETHICS OF SCIENCE AT UNESCO

1970 UNESCO first reflections on ethics of life sciences

1974 Recommendation on the Status of Scientific Researchers

1993 Start bioethics program with creation of International Bioethics Committee (IBC), composed of 36 independent experts designated by DG

1998 Creation of Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee (IGBC) composed of representatives of 36 Member States elected by the

General Conference

1998 Expansion of program to ethics of scientific knowledge and technology. Creation of the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST), composed of 18

independent experts, designated by DG and selected in consultation with Nat Coms and Academies of Sciences

3

The Division of the Ethics of Science and Technology in

Paris HQ acts as the Secretariat of these three advisory bodies.

These Committees cooperate to produce advice, recommendations and proposals that each submits to the Director-General for consideration by UNESCO’s governing bodies and adoption by Member States.

4

The World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology

What is the task of COMEST?

To formulate, on a scientific basis, ethical principles that can shed light on the various choices and impacts occasioned by new advancements in scientific and technological fields, thus fostering a constructive ethical dialogue on the values at stake.

5

For the biennium 2006-2007, the action of COMEST is centered on new topics that have been identified as core issues:

Environmental ethics

Feasibility study on an ethical code of conduct for scientists

Ethics of new and emerging technology (nanotechnology)

Ethics teaching

6

COMEST has held four Ordinary Sessions

Oslo (Norway), April 1999

Berlin (Germany), December 2001

Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), December 2003

Bangkok (Thailand), March 2005

Next Session: AFRICA, 2007

Youth Forum

Youth Forum Ministerial Meeting

Youth Forum Ministerial Meeting

Members of COMEST (Jan 2006)

Mrs. Pilar Armanet Armanet, Chairperson, Chile, educator

Mr. Khalid Abdulla Al-Ali, Qatar, scientist

Mr. Ruben Apressyan, Russian Federation, philosopher

Mrs. Midge Decter, United States of America, educator

Mr. Cheick Modibo Diarra, Mali, scientist

Mr. Jun Fudano, Japan, philosopher

Mr. Diego Gracia, Spain, philosopher

Mr. Johan Hattingh, South Africa, philosopher

Mrs. Tafeeda Jarbawi, Palestine, educator

Mr. Luiz Hildebrando Pereira da Silva, Brazil, scientist

Mrs. Marta Kollárová, Slovak Republic, scientist

Mr. Ulrich Heinz Jürgen Körtner, Austria, philosopher

Mr. Alain Pompidou, France, medical doctor

Mrs. Leila Seth, India, jurist

Mr. Sang-yong Song, South Korea, historian

Mrs. Nadja Tollemache, New Zealand, jurist

Mr. Zhihong Xu , People's Republic of China, scientist

Areas of work Capacity building

- “Ethics around the world”: rotating conferences- providing information about UNESCO’s activities- contacting and networking with national and regional

experts

- Global Ethics Observatory (GEObs): system of databases

1. Who’s who in ethics?

2. Institutions, departments, centers, commissions

3. Teaching ethics programs

4. Legislation, guidelines, policies

5. Codes of Conduct

9

Areas of work standard setting

•Code of Conduct for Scientists

•Ethical Principles for Environment

•Ethical Principles for Outer Space

Towards a Code of Conduct for scientists

1. Why is there new discussion?

- changing context of science

- basic values of science unclear

- challenges of implementation of UN texts and international codes in different cultures…

2. Call for new reflection on international level

1999: World Conference on Science, Budapest

2001: ICSU research

2002: UN Policy Working Group

2003: UN Interagency meeting at UNESCO

2004: UNESCO

3. UNESCO/COMEST activities

14

Changing context of science Hostile and dual use Political pressures Economic pressures Pressure to publish Scientific misconduct

Nov.2005: South Korea: Professor Woo Suk Hwangand stem cell research

Jan.2006: NorwayThe Lancet 2005; 366: 1359-66Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the risk of oral cancer: a nested case-control study.Sudbo J, Lee JJ, Lippman SM, Mork J, Sagen S, Flatner N, Ristimaki A, Sudbo A, Mao L, Zhou X, Kildal W, Evensen JF, Reith A, Dannenberg AJ.

15

Changing context of science

Hostile and dual use Political pressures Pressure to publish Economic pressures Scientific misconduct

New reflection on the basic values of science

January 2006: Indian Science Congress,

Swiss Nobel laureate Richard Ernst:

- “there is a loss of the accepted ethical foundations of research”

- It is insufficient to simply train specialists in science and technology; ethics and social responsibilities must be considered as important as scientific skills, knowledge and understanding

16

BASIC VALUES OF SCIENCE

autonomous values heteronomous values

values intrinsic to science

Science = pursuitof truth

Science = knowledgeproduction

Robert K. Merton (1957):

1. Organized scepticism

2. Independence

3. Universalism

4. Communalism

Personal interests/values

Political interest/values

Economic interests/values

Military interests/values

17

The call for a new reflection on international level

Nov. 1974 – UNESCO 18th General Conference adopts the “Recommendation on the Status of Scientific Researchers” calling for:

Scientific researchers’ highly responsible attitude Encouragement of spirit of community service Development of educational techniques for awakening and

stimulating ethical personal qualities and habits of mind Reinforcement of scientific researchers’ sense of vocation Definition of scientific researcher’s ethical responsibilities

and rights

18

The call for a new reflection on international level

World Conference on Science, Budapest, 1999

Special attention to ethical principles and responsibilities in the practice of science

The WCS International Forum of Young Scientists strongly supports the establishment of a scientific Hippocratic Oath

The final document “Science Agenda – A framework for action” states:

“Ethics and responsibility in science should be an integral part of the education and training of all scientists” …

“Young scientists should be appropriately encouraged to respect and adhere to the basic ethical principles and responsibilities of science”.

UNESCO’s World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST) and ICSU have a special responsibility to follow up on this issue

19

Report of the Secretary-General Policy Working Groupon the UN and Terrorism (2002)

11 Sept. 2001 - the terrorist attack against USA adds a specific anti-terrorist concern to the scientific ethics agenda

October 2001 - UN Secretary-General establishes a "Policy Working Group on the United Nations and Terrorism" to identify longer-term implications and broad policy dimensions of terrorism for the United Nations

2002 - The Working Group issues a Report with 31 Recommendations

20

Report of the Secretary-General Policy Working Groupon the UN and Terrorism (2002)

Recommendation 21

“Relevant UN offices should be tasked with producing proposals to reinforce ethical norms, and the creation of codes of conduct for scientists, through international and national scientific societies and institutions that teach sciences or engineering skills related to weapons technologies, should be encouraged.

Such codes of conduct would aim to prevent the involvement of defence scientists or technical experts in terrorist activities and restrict public access to knowledge and expertise on the development, production, stockpiling and use of weapons of mass destruction or related technologies.”

21

Report of the Secretary-General Policy Working Groupon the UN and Terrorism (2002)

The UN General Assembly and Security Council endorse the Report and its Recommendations, transmitting it to all the Organizations and Specialized Agencies of the United Nations System

February 2003 - A UN Inter-Agency Consultative Meeting is held at UNESCO HQs in Paris, to discuss Recommendation 10 (focused on education, tolerance and respect of human dignity) and Recommendation 21 of the Report

22

United Nations Inter-Agency consultative meeting, 26 February 2003 – UNESCO Headquarters, Paris

General Recommendations: Encouraging ethical codes of conduct for scientists and engineers Promoting ethics of science education and awareness COMEST could play a decisive role in fostering dialogue on

education and ethics of science Involvement of COMEST together with ICSU in the field of ethics

of science and responsibility of scientists

The ethical task given by the WCS to COMEST and ICSU is recalled and reinforced

23

ICSU Standards for Ethics and Responsibility in Science

(2001)

ICSU research

takes into account 115 ethical standards for science (39 international and 23 national)

shows an exponential increase of the number of standards over the years (6 before 1970; more than 40 during last 5 years)

24

ICSU Standards for Ethics and Responsibility in Science

(2001)

Material is classified into 15 categories oath, pledge, code, guidelines, declaration, principles,

appeal, recommendation, manifesto, statement, declaration, resolution, convention, charter, law, others

Five cluster groups pledge, guidelines, statement, law, others

Out of 115 ethical standards, only 6 are oaths and pledges, as an oath is perceived to be of a more binding nature than mere guidelines

25

ICSU Standards for Ethics and Responsibility in Science(2001) Core traits or virtues related to individual behaviour:

Honesty | Openness | FairnessTruthfulness | Accuracy | ConscientiousnessRespect | Collaboration | Loyalty

Core traits or virtues related to the scientific community:

Social responsibility | Environmental responsibilitySustainable development | Socio-economic developmentSocial welfare | Socio economic equityGender equality | Scientific freedomPeace | Democratic developmentHuman rights

26

UNESCO – COMEST activities

Executive Board, April 2004

169 EX/Decision 3.6.1 requests the Director-General, with COMEST and ICSU advice, to undertake studies on the advisability of elaborating an international declaration on science ethics to serve as a basis for an ethical code of conduct for scientists

27

Expert Meeting, March 2005 (UNESCO, Paris)

Mr Robert Coupland, International Red Cross, Legal DivisionMr Malcolm Dando, United Nations Institute for DisarmamentMr. Pieter Drenth, All European AcademiesMr. Jens Fenstad, Chair of COMESTMr. Andre Jaegle, World Federation of Scientific WorkersMrs Michele Jean, President of the International Bioethics CommitteeMr. Alex Michaelos, Canadian Commission for UNESCOMr. Graham Pearson, University of Bradford, Department of Peace StudiesMr. Cathage Smith, International Council for Science (ICSU)Mr. Sang-yong Song, Member of COMESTMr. Zbigniew Szawarski, Warsaw University, Faculty of Philosophy and SociologyMr. Hub Zwart, Radboud University Nijmegen, Faculty of SciencesMs. Julia Hasler, Natural Science Sector, UNESCO

28

Recommendations of Expert Group:

1. A two-tier approach is feasible:

- UNESCO focuses on a universal normative framework (a declaration on science ethics

- academic and professional organizations develop (national, regional, professional) codes of conduct

2. Scope: wide, not exclusively referring to the context of bio-terrorism.

3. Range: cover science in general, not only life sciences

4. Usefulness: A declaration on science ethics will provide a framework for ethics teaching in the sciences.

29

Based on the conclusions of the Expert Group, at its

4th Ordinary Session (23-25 March, 2005, Bangkok) COMEST made the following recommendations:

UNESCO should focus on a general framework of ethical principles for sciences - general principles that underline the responsibilities of scientists.

On the basis of such general framework codes of conduct can be elaborated in various regions and for different sciences, primarily by scientists and scientific organizations themselves.

In order to analyse the modalities, it is advised to carry out a feasibility study.

30

UNESCO organs

• September 2005, 172nd Executive Board:

“…prepare a feasibility study … on the elaboration of an international declaration on science ethics to serve as a basis for an ethical code of conduct for scientists”

• October 2005, 33rd General Conference:

“…to continue…the reflection on the subject…and to submit a report to the Executive Board at its 175th session”

(Sept/Oct.2006)

31

Planned activities

1. International Consultations

Europe and North America Region and International Organizations

11-12 May 2006: Geneva, Switzerland

Asia Region

14 April 2006: Tokyo, Japan

24-25 April 2006: New Delhi, India

15-16 May: Bangkok, Thailand

Latin America and Caribbean

30 and 31 May 2006: Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Africa and Arab Regions: 2007

32

Planned activities

2. Review of previous work of UNESCO

Recommendations on the Status of Scientific Researcher, 1974

• taken as basis of assessment in the consultations

• necessary to update?

• useful as basis of explicitly ethical document?

33

Planned activities

3. Analysis of existing codes of conduct

• Establishing a collection of all codes

• Critical comparative analysis of strengths and weaknesses

• Creating a database in the Global Ethics Observatory (GEObs)

34

Planned activities

international consultations analysis of codes

June 27-28: Paris: Extraordinary Session of COMEST

Report to 175th Executive Board September/October 2006

35

Why Regional Consultations?

1. Take account of identified needs and priorities at the regional level in a coordinated manner with HQ and field

2. Advise and assist Member States in the identification of their needs and priorities and oversee the preparation and implementation of activities throughout the regions in regard to ethics of science and technology and bioethics in accordance with the UNESCO Programme of Ethics of Science and Technology and bioethics

3. Promote the role of ethics in the formulation and evaluation of development strategies and programmes, and disseminate information on the UNESCO Programme of Ethics of Science and Technology and bioethics. This meeting is one of the steps in this process to interact and to identify network partners, needs and priorities, learning from progress to date.

36

Thank you!

UNESCO Social and Human Sciences Sector

Division of Ethics of Science and Technology

1, rue Miollis, B 1-17

75732 Paris Cedex 15, France

Tel: + 33-1.45.68.49.98

Fax: + 33 1 45 68 5515

Our website:

http://www.unesco.org/ethics