Inside Geneva: Can a science and diplomacy partnership save the world?

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On Inside Geneva this week: world leaders are gathering in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos, but do they have any answers?

Inside Geneva

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“I think we are at an amazing moment in history. We have in our hands the opportunity to do well, to save our own environment, the planet, to take the right decisions to bring humanity onto a good path,” says Marilyne Andersen, Director General of the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA).

But will they take that path? Technology is racing ahead.

“Human rights, like every other field, are very much under the influence now of what’s happening in technology and science. It’s one of the destabilising factors right now,” says Jürg Lauber, Swiss ambassador to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva.

“I was absolutely sure that a robot can kill a human. We are living in a situation where we don’t even have these AI ethics,” says Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva.

“If we just do things when they have already happened, then it’s too late and technology has already evolved to the next stage,” says Sylvie Briand, Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO).

International law is being abandoned.

“War is a terrible thing, but at some stage in the past, human beings decided to write the Geneva Conventions to at least reduce a little bit the horror of war,” adds Sami Kanaan, former mayor of Geneva.

In Geneva, a group is pushing for partnerships between science and politics, so we’re ready for the challenges ahead.

“Let’s take advantage of knowing what is coming to act on it now and not be in reactive mode, not in catch‑up mode,” says Andersen.

Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva.

Find out more about the ‘Inside Geneva’ podcast and our other Swiss podcasts in English here.

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