Institutional Needs for Sustainability Science

In this paper, I summarize 3 years of intensive consultation among members of the world's scientific community on the question of how science and technology could be more effectively harnessed to meet the goals of sustainable development. I begin with a review of the historical roots of the sustainability science movement and characterize the R&D agenda that has begun to emerge from that movement. I then turn to the question of how the institutions governing the S&T enterprise would need to change in order to support sustainability science at a scale commensurate with the challenges before us. I place particular emphasis on questions of mobilizing solution-driven R&D, facilitating integration across disciplines, capacity building, and financing.