By: Salsabila Sufyan)*
The G20 Summit is an international event that deserves support from all parties. This multilateral cooperation is not only able to encourage economic recovery but also the development of research and technology for the advancement of mankind.
In the future, research is an important thing to do. Especially research in the fields of technology and medical. Where these two things are part of efforts to advance the Indonesian nation. Therefore, the G20 Summit (Summit) must be the driving force for research and technology cooperation.
On the occasion of the G20 Summit, Indonesia proactively encouraged the establishment of biodiversity research partnerships to face global challenges in efforts to manage, restore and use biodiversity in a sustainable manner.
Head of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Laksana Tri Handoko said, “Biodiversity and its use, including health and medical research is the key to the future of the Indonesian nation. Handoko said that the establishment of a global partnership is important because until now there is no established mechanism and mutual agreement on global biodiversity research.
Support for a more massive use of biodiversity is very much needed, one of which is through collaboration based on equality for the prosperity of mankind.
According to him, Indonesia as one of the countries with megabiodiversity considers that the G20 needs to create a global research partnership scheme on biodiversity to encourage collaborative use of biodiversity in a sustainable manner.
At the beginning of the G20 Research and Innovation Initiative Meeting held by BRIN, Handoko said that Indonesia is now more ready to contribute to realizing a global biodiversity research partnership. We also cannot close our eyes that the research and development culture is still lacking so that the transfer of innovation, technology and knowledge is still minimal.
The current condition of the Covid-19 pandemic is still being faced by G20 member countries and at the same time they are also required to take real action on climate change. Related to these two things, Handoko emphasized, there is no need to question the importance of research and innovation.
During the pandemic since 2020, Handoko observed, the world has learned a lot how research and innovation play a very significant role in fighting Covid-19. On the other hand, he also highlighted the drastic changes in the scientific community, especially in the medical field, to fight side by side against the pandemic.
There is also a lot of volunteer work and volunteer work across borders, including the awareness to open up data for the benefit of the people. For example, the GIS-AID platform for sharing Covid-19 genomic data worldwide.
As one of the mega biodiversity countries, Indonesia believes that the Global Biodiversity Research Partnership (GBRP) scheme should be established in order to take more concrete actions to encourage the use of global biodiversity and global collaboration within it.
On this occasion, Handoko also saw that several G20 member countries seemed already familiar with the Group of Senior Officials on Global Research Infrastructures (GSO-GRI) scheme which focuses on research infrastructure to support big science.
He emphasized that it is likely that his party can adopt some of its best practices to realize the Global Biodiversity Research Partnership as soon as possible. It is hoped that this partnership will accelerate research and innovation based on biodiversity which is more advanced and global in the future, he stressed.
In response to this, the Heads of the G20 Ring Delegations from various countries also supported and appreciated the two proposals. The Italian and Japanese delegations also encourage cooperation in these two fields and must be poured into more specific programs in the form of concrete concepts or platforms that are global in nature.
The delegation from Canada seemed enthusiastic about providing support for the BRIN proposal. The green and blue economy concept that has been implemented by Canada relies on the sustainable use of resources which provides a better function for climate change regulation, social and environmental aspects.
Meanwhile, the delegation from the UK was interested in considering the relationship between the biodiversity sector and other fields such as agriculture and food, forestry, land use and so on. Likewise the relationship between marine and ocean research with these various sectors.
The G2O Summit can of course be a stage for coordination between countries to establish cooperation in the field of research and technology, all support and input from G20 member countries will of course be very beneficial for Indonesia’s progress.
)* The author is a contributor to Pertiwi Institute