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2. Science and Politics - Is there a role for science in regulation, policy and forming public perception? (TU8/13) From Science to regulations - An industry perspective. Taalman, Rob 1, 1 CEFIC Research & Science, Brussels, Belgium ABSTRACT- Discussions about bridging the gap between research and regulation are as much an issue for the science and research communities as it is for the policy community. On the one hand there is a need for scientists to address complexity and uncertainty, to generate an awareness of what could be called "the political economy of science", to manage the tension between relevance and independence and to recognize the importance of addressing both the detail and the big picture. Politicians need to look at their commitments and strategies if an attempt is to be made to maximize the benefit from research in developing legislation. In particular the policy world needs to have the capacity to engage in the issues being explored by research needs to be flexible and agile in its ability to respond quickly to emerging issues and needs to be willing to face up to difficult political choices sometimes triggered by research. Industry recognizes that it needs to strengthen the research and science base and enhance the ability of the science community to respond to the regulatory challenges. The chemicals sector has agreed to support science that can grasp highly complex issues that are riddled with deep uncertainties. Our strategy is to develop methods/approaches that tackle rather than avoid uncertainty and ignorance. As part of this strategy two major initiatives have been nurtured by the European chemical industry council (Cefic) within its extensive Research & Science programme: SUSTECH (Sustainable Technologies) and the Long-range Research Initiative (LRI). SUSTECH promotes collaborative research on sustainable and clean technology, bringing together the European chemical industry, academia and other research institutes. These partnerships operate self-managed research programmes, known as thematic research clusters that are funded by both private and public funds. The LRI initiative sponsors publicly available research to increase the scientific knowledge of the potential impacts of chemicals on human health, wildlife and the environment. Such knowledge will help informed decision making and increase certainty about risks of chemicals. It will benefit regulators in making risk assessments judgments as well as industry with tools to develop more sustainable product portfolio's. Key words: LRI, CEFIC, SUSTECH |
