International environmental research and assessment: Proposals for better organization and decision making

Many countries have developed sophisticated mechanisms to advise and assist governmental decision making as it is affected by and affects science and technology at the national level. In the United States such mechanisms include the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)--which is directed by the President's Science Advisor, the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), and the National Research Council (NRC). In this age of interdependence it is natural that the question of science advising at the international level also arises. This report focuses on international needs for science advice in the field of the Environment. Environment and health are among the fields in which the need for information and advice, developed and provided in a multilateral way, are most obvious and pressing. One need only mention such problems as stratospheric ozone depletion, climate change, loss of biological diversity, AIDS, and tuberculosis, to see the large number of opportunities for international cooperation.