GLOBAL CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Abstract

Promote research, education and training in the environmental sciences. romote the systematic application of all relevant scientific disciplines to the evaluation of chemical hazards. articipate in the scientific interpretation of issues concerned with hazard assessment and risk analysis. upport forums (meetings and publications) for communication among professionals in government, business, and academia and other segments of society involved in the use, protection, and management of our environment. SETAC's success reflects not only the foresight and soundness of the original concept, but also the priorities and changes in society at large during the last several decades. Society's awareness of environmental problems and issues grew tremendously from the mid-1970s through the 1990s. A more informed public demanded that environmental hazards be addressed and that corporations accept responsibility for environmental impacts caused by action or negligence. As government and industry responded to the public's demand for prevention and better environmental solutions, SETAC was uniquely positioned to contribute. The Society provided a venue for presenting data, discussing scientific questions, and working on practical solutions to complex problems, with participants able to transcend affiliations with industry, government, or academia. As the science and technology for addressing and solving environmental problems grew more sophisticated, so did SETAC, and this was reflected in its journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, at annual meetings, and by the increasing number and complexity of problems considered at workshops. As developments in information technology and global travel occurred, the Society kept pace, increasing the number, quality, and frequency of publications; communicating more rapidly and effectively to more individuals, institutions, and organizations; and improving member services overall. As SETAC matures, the focus, aspect, and breadth of vision of the Society continue to evolve. SETAC's membership is increasingly international. Much of the international growth of SETAC reflects the response of scientists worldwide to a winning model for furthering environmental science and solving environmental problems. Members have different priorities, needs, and contributions, largely dependent on their cultural, economic, geographical, and political context. Additionally, the scale and pace of environmental issues are changing worldwide. Many environmental management decisions must be made on a spatially large scale or a temporally significant one. Research is needed at all levels of complexity, from the subcellular level to that of the global ecosystem, to support these decision needs. Although the spatial scale creates difficulties in problem formulation, data collection, and interpretation, it increases the likelihood that studies are designed and data collected to answer the large-scale and/or long-term questions key to protecting and managing ecological and natural resources. The internationalization of SETAC and the need to address environmental problems on a large-scale, prospective basis present the Society with challenges and exciting opportunities as it enters its 20th year. The challenges and opportunities involve growing in a manner that continues to further environmental science and contributes to informed environmental management—and is also satisfying to individual members during the journey. onducting efficiently the Society's business around the world and equitably allocating costs. nsuring that the Society speaks with a consistent voice in keeping with its mission, when so many different cultural, political, geographical, and technical backgrounds represent it. ransferring the SETAC culture of balanced representation across disciplines and sectors in membership, scientific events, and leadership. aintaining the continental/regional autonomies that have worked so well while growing as a united, single Society with worldwide membership. etaining the quality and relevance of our publications while responding to the needs of members in countries at various stages of economic development. eeting the demand to review and publish original, fast-breaking science promptly, given the increasing volume and changing breadth of environmental science. Based on these considerations and many others, changes in how the Society is managed and administrated may occur. Decisions for specific changes will require affirmative responses to the following: Does the change better serve members? Is this the best way to achieve the Society's long-term goals of furthering science and promoting informed environmental management? Under most definitions, sustainable development provides an umbrella under which many of the difficult environmental, economic, and social issues that must be faced by society in the coming years can be addressed. The world population is expected to double by 2050, with 90% of the increase in developing countries. To simply maintain the current standard of living in those countries will require economic growth. The challenge will be to deliver an acceptable standard of living for many more people while ensuring that the ecological foundations upon which society depends are protected and are themselves sustainable. Successfully integrating economic growth, social enhancement, and environmental improvement on a local scale while understanding the broader consequences of decisions on a national or regional scale will be required. The most exciting opportunities for the foreseeable future of the Society stem from participating and contributing to progress toward sustainable development. The priorities for SETAC involvement and action identified by the long-range planning activities of the SETAC Board and Long-Range Planning Committee during 1997 and 1998 are directly related or relevant to this topic. Sustainable development encompasses much more than the science or technologies that are the traditional purview of SETAC and that fit the expertise of most SETAC members. It involves integration of social, ethical, political, economic, and environmental issues. Environmental toxicology and chemistry are relevant for only a subset of sustainable development discussions. They are, however, relevant to the environmental component of sustainability. The culture, history, and scientific focus of SETAC position it to contribute meaningfully. A larger international membership and more global perspective bring additional value to the Society's traditional strengths. Solving the most complex (and often most important) environmental problems facing society and the planet today demand the multi-and interdisciplinary and multisectoral approaches that are the strength of SETAC. The scale and linkages required will stretch even SETAC. Two areas of SETAC's strength with particular relevance for contributing to sustainability are the experience of working effectively across boundaries of expertise and affiliation to solve environmental problems and the development and use of science-based methodologies to aid decision makers. SETAC has been crossing boundaries and building bridges since its inception. The scientific questions and management decisions required for sustainable development are ones that will require multidisciplinary, multistakeholder input. Boundaries between scientific disciplines, between scientists and managers, between scientists and policy makers, and between people (specifically scientists) of different languages and cultures need to be crossed to achieve sustainability. Partnerships between ecologists versed in the complex questions of how ecological communities function, as well as closer partnerships with soil scientists, microbiologists, biochemists, and geochemists, need to be cultivated with SETAC's toxicologists and chemists. Issues to be addressed include ecosystem management, ecosystem restoration and rehabilitation, resource valuation and management, assimilation capacity, and biodiversity. In ecosystems on every continent, species exist that have not yet been discovered, much less studied to understand their functions within their ecological community or potential values to humans. There are gaps in knowledge with regard to understanding the sources, mechanisms of action, and means for mitigating the effects of ecosystem stressors (biological, chemical, and physical). The toxicological effects of the chemical synergy or antagonism are not well defined for many combinations of chemicals in the laboratory, and much less well defined in the environment, where, to name a few, the influences of temperature, moisture, soil type, shelter, and species interactions are present. Significant challenges exist in elucidating the spatial and temporal extent of environmental contamination on a large scale. Physical alterations, such as loss of habitat, can be more important to species survival and ecosystem sustainability than chemical contamination and yet are rarely considered when assessing ecological risk. It must be acknowledged that human beings are part of, not separate from, the environment. The assumption of interconnections between human health and ecosystem function is a given; it is intuitive and significant [1]. While this may be so, recognition by many SETAC members that our Society has a role to play in the assessment of risk to human health has been slow. Equally slow has been recognition by mammalian toxicologists and human/public health experts that surrounding (natural) environments must be considered when assessing risk to people. Bridges are already being built in this area, with SETAC members actively engaged in making scientific contributions in both toxicology and ecotoxicology as well as to ecological and human risk assessments. SETAC has formally begun enhancing its relationships with professional societies on both sides of our traditional boundaries, including the Ecological Society of America and the Society of Toxicology. The theme of the 1998 annual meeting, The Natural Connection: Environmental Integrity and Human Health, clearly demonstrates the commitment to expanding activities and collaborations in this area. In addition to communication and cross-fertilization between scientific communities, more interaction and mutual learning experiences are needed between environmental specialists and environmental managers in both business and government. Better and deeper understanding of science needs to be inserted into environmental management and decision making. Every day people in governments and multinational corporations use readily available knowledge and experience acquired over the years to make decisions that have long-lasting, and in some cases permanent, impacts on the environment. Not only does basic science need to be conducted, results and interpretations must also be communicated in a meaningful way to policymakers, regulatory experts, and business leaders to ensure that state-of-the-art science plays an appropriate role in decision making. Transcending boundaries, even those between scientific disciplines, has not been without controversy within SETAC. Even more controversial is moving into the realm of policy. Out of the comfort zone of our laboratories, study sites, and offices, we are in a world that in large part lacks environmental literacy [2]. SETAC has already moved in the last five years toward being much more engaged in communicating “good or sound” science and crossing the boundary between scientists and policymakers. Examples include the Science Fellow Program and Technical Issue Papers. Another recent initiative is the Peer Review Program, where SETAC will facilitate balanced, objective peer reviews of environmental programs or documents for governmental or other organizations. In all cases thus far, when SETAC has moved towards bridging gaps, the results have been beneficial for the Society and the issues have been better served by the diversity of environmental expertise and outlook. SETAC members have been instrumental in developing and bringing into common usage methodologies for evaluating different aspects of human-initiated impacts on the environment: ecological risk and life-cycle assessment (LCA). Ecological risk assessment provides a systematic method for estimating the nature and likelihood of adverse effects on the environment. It provides a structure for interaction and cooperation and makes it more likely that management decisions will be science-based, transparent, objective, and ecologically relevant. Although many criticisms can be made of ecological risk assessment, it is the best tool available now. Improvements continue to sharpen the inputs for both exposure and effects. LCA is a tool for evaluating the potential impacts resulting from the use of resources and the potential environmental impacts associated with a product or process. Practitioners of LCA recognize its limitations (implementation and interpretation of results can be difficult), but it is a structured methodology already accepted as a tool for furthering sustainable development. Life-cycle considerations are included in the basic principles of a framework for eco-efficiency indicators [3] and are being used in some industries to evaluate process inefficiencies and in others to provide information for product design and specification. These tools will continue to be refined to provide better (more precise, more accurate, more relevant) answers for environmental management questions. Additional tools are needed to be able to evaluate and compare global environmental performance by measuring appropriate environmental indicators within and across industries. Better tools are needed for translating ecological knowledge to models that will give reliable predictions of the consequences and potential for recovery to environmental changes. Despite the sophistication that exists, better models for predicting the fate and transport of chemicals through and across media, across geopolitical boundaries, and on a long-term temporal scale are needed. Tools are also needed to help understand and manage some of the broadest and most complex environmental issues facing society today. These issues, including climate change, drought, famine, ozone layer depletion, uncontrolled population growth, transboundary pollution, natural resource exploitation, water quality and availability, and waste transport and disposal transcend the boundaries of any scientific discipline, professional organization, or governmental body. Although we are continuing to support and nurture the science that is the foundation of the Society, we are now poised to contribute more directly to the creation of environmental policy used in environmental management. Every opportunity for participation will require serious and cautious evaluation to ensure that we never compromise the integrity of our science or the reputation of the Society. The need for engagement is real and in some cases, the time frame for intervention is short. Although very few management or policy decisions are based on science alone, science should inflluence the decision, and to do that its representatives must be present at the table. This is equally true whether the debates are within industries or governments or between them. Many of these decisions will affect the long-term viability of the natural environment (managed or pristine) and should not be based solely on political expediency, economic priorities, or emotional responses to perceptions of risk. Many specific examples can be given of large-scale or complex environmental problems that will need considerable technical and political skill to resolve. Although many of these problems appear to fall outside of the traditional purview of SETAC, many are squarely in our court. There are others to which we can make considerable contributions, in conjunction with scientists of different expertise. While few simple solutions exist, the paths forward are discernible. The leadership of SETAC over the next several years will make decisions regarding the commitments of the Society toward many of these issues. I hope we continue moving toward policies of engagement and education, taking advantage of opportunities to advance environmental science and the informed management of our environment.