General Assembly President to Convene Science-based Briefing to Member States  

Eminent scientists and academics to brief UN General Assembly on the economics of water; climate, conflict and cooperation; and early warning for pandemic preparedness

02 February 2023 – The President of the United Nations General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi, will convene a briefing with scientists and academics from different parts of the world on Tuesday, 7 February, from 10am EST to 6pm EST in the Trusteeship Council Chamber, to focus on science-based evidence in support of sustainable solutions on the Economics of Water; Climate, Conflict and Cooperation; and Early Warning for Pandemic Preparedness.

The informal briefing will offer scientific decision support for Member States to contribute to the UN 2023 Water Conference in March 2024, the pandemic preparedness negotiations, and preparations for the SDG Summit in September 2023.

In addition, some members of the Independent Group of Scientists – a group of 15 eminent scientists appointed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres from Australia, Botswana, Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan, Malawi, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, the Russian Federation, Senegal, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago – will update on the Global Sustainable Development Report 2023.

Organizing this event aligns with President Kőrösi’s motto of “Solutions through Solidarity, Sustainability and Science” and aims to support the 13 negotiating processes currently underway in the General Assembly related to transformation.

The in-person briefing, which will be available on UN WebTV, will be held in three separate sessions on the same day. Each session will be followed by an interactive discussion.

In addition to Member States, Observers of the General Assembly and ECOSOC accredited NGOs are able to participate.

 

BRIEFING OUTLINE:

10:00am – 10:05am: Opening by Csaba Kőrösi, President of the General Assembly

10:05am – 11:30am: Panel 1 – The Economics of Water

11:30am – 1:00pm: Panel 2 – Climate, Conflict and Cooperation

3:00pm – 4:30pm: Panel 3 – Early Warning for Pandemic Preparedness

4:30pm – 6:00 pm: Briefing on the Global Sustainable Development Report

 

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

Short summaries of the briefings and the contributions and recommendations by Member States expressed during the interactive discussions will be made available in the weeks after the briefing.

Press releases on each of the panels will be made available within 24 hours of the briefing.

 

PRESS ARRANGEMENTS

The briefing is open to UN-accredited press, and will be available on UN WebTV.

Journalists interested in attending may obtain accreditation from the UN Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit https://www.un.org/en/media/accreditation/accreditation.shtml

 

WEBCAST

The briefing will be broadcast live and on-demand by UN WebTV.

The 10am-1pm session can be followed live at https://media.un.org/en/asset/k10/k10cv0ir1f

The 3pm-6pm session can be followed live at https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1p/k1p7keefgv