Ten years on from the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, thousands of international policy makers gathered in Johannesburg between August 26 and September 4 at the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development. Politicians, scientists and pressure groups attempted to set out plans to counter the current global trend: that environmental degradation is the price to be paid for prosperity. Issues high on the agenda included depletion of fresh-water reserves, population growth, the use of unsustainable energy sources, food security, habitat loss and global health - all addressed in the context of social justice in balance with environmental sustainability.

Science is no longer on the fringes in attempting to solve these problems. Unlike Rio in 1992, consultation with researchers from a host of relevant disciplines was widely sought during the summit's preparatory meetings, and organisations such as the Paris-based International Council for Science have been asked to submit formal contributions to the summit.