Series on Science for Sustainable Development No. 8: Making Science for Sustainable Development More Policy Relevant: New Tools for Analysis.

A new generation of tools for scientific analysis is emerging. These tools will address the policy relevance of science for sustainable development. A list of such improved tools includes: conceptual frameworks, which provide powerful insight and organizing qualities for sustainability analyses; indicators and indices of development status and environmental change; specific forms of analysis - cost burden, cost benefit, risk analysis, and so forth - relying on indicators that are best selected through the use of sound conceptual frameworks; and assessments that are carefully constructed and produced to provide policy input. To date there has been no comprehensive evaluation of the major scientific assessments of the past two decades that addresses the following questions. What topics have been covered? Are there important topic gaps? What are the successes and failures? What aspects of design and process make for successful assessments? Can we combine the successful aspects of design and process into a new assessment framework that makes science highly policy relevant? This report proposes that the relevant international scientific organizations, in co-operation with intergovernmental organizations jointly undertake such a comprehensive evaluation.