InterAcademy Panel

The InterAcademy Panel: The Global Network of Science Academies (IAP) is a global network consisting of over 106 national science academies. Founded in 1993, its stated goal is to help member academies advise the public on the scientific aspects of critical global issues. It has released official statements on socially important topics, including human population growth, global warming, human reproductive cloning, and evolution.

The highest decisive body of IAP is the General Council, which meets every third year, and where each member organization has one vote. In between the meetings, the work is directed by an executive committee with 11 member academies, convening each year; by two co-chairs, and of a secretariat at the present host academy. One of the chairs shall be the president or another prominent person from an academy in a developing country; the other shall have a similar standing in an academy from an industrialized country. Similar rules of diversity of members hold for the executive committee. The present co-chairs are Howard Alper (serving a second three-year period 2010-2012) and Mohamed H.A. Hassan (first three-year period).

In 2000, the panel founded the InterAcademy Council (IAC), which is governed by a board including a rotating group of 15 Academy presidents from around the world. In order to represent a global view, the governing nations are of diverse levels of economic development. The current co-chairs of the board are Robbert Dijkgraaf and Lu Yongxiang.

IAP has also advanced science diplomacy by bringing regional networks together to address global problems.

One major way for IAP to promote its goal is to take initiatives to "joint statements on issues of fundamental importance to humanity". A statement first appears as a draft, which all members are encouraged to comment and amend; decisions on formulations are "reached by consensus". The final statement then is put to a vote, and is only accepted as an official IAP document if at least two thirds of the members (i.e., of the member academies) agree to sign it. [1], p. 4. Thus, the statements are intended to represent the consensus of the scientific community rather than statements of IAP as an organisation in itself.

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