Towards a Code of Conduct for
Scientists?
- UNESCO and the ethics of science Division of Ethics of Science and Technology
UNESCO
__________________________________________
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BIOETHICS AND ETHICS OF SCIENCE AT UNESCO
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1970
UNESCO first reflections on ethics of life sciences
1974
Recommendation on the Status of Scientific Researchers
1993
Start bioethics program with creation of International Bioethics
Committee (IBC), composed of 36 independent experts designated
by DG
1998
Creation of Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee (IGBC)
composed of representatives of 36 Member States elected by the
General Conference
1998
Expansion of program to ethics of scientific knowledge and
technology. Creation of the World Commission on the Ethics of
Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST), composed of 18
independent experts, designated by DG and selected in
consultation with Nat Coms and Academies of Sciences
The Division of the Ethics of Science and Technology in
Paris HQ acts as the Secretariat of these three advisory
bodies.
These Committees cooperate to produce advice,
recommendations and proposals that each submits to the
Director-General for consideration by UNESCO’s governing
bodies and adoption by Member States.
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The World Commission on the Ethics of
Scientific Knowledge and Technology
What is the task of COMEST?
To formulate, on a scientific basis, ethical principles that can
shed light on the various choices and impacts occasioned by
new advancements in scientific and technological fields, thus
fostering a constructive ethical dialogue on the values at stake.
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For the biennium 2006-2007, the action of COMEST is
centered on new topics that have been identified as core
issues:
Environmental ethics
Feasibility study on an ethical code of conduct for
scientists
Ethics of new and emerging technology (nanotechnology)
Ethics teaching
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COMEST has held four Ordinary Sessions

Oslo (Norway), April 1999
 Berlin (Germany), December 2001
Youth Forum
 Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), December 2003
Youth Forum
Ministerial Meeting
 Bangkok (Thailand), March 2005
Youth Forum
Ministerial Meeting
Next Session: AFRICA, 2007
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Members of COMEST (Jan 2006)
Mrs. Pilar Armanet Armanet, Chairperson, Chile, educator
Mr. Khalid Abdulla Al-Ali, Qatar, scientist
Mr. Ruben Apressyan, Russian Federation, philosopher
Mrs. Midge Decter, United States of America, educator
Mr. Cheick Modibo Diarra, Mali, scientist
Mr. Jun Fudano, Japan, philosopher
Mr. Diego Gracia, Spain, philosopher
Mr. Johan Hattingh, South Africa, philosopher
Mrs. Tafeeda Jarbawi, Palestine, educator
Mr. Luiz Hildebrando Pereira da Silva, Brazil, scientist
Mrs. Marta Kollárová, Slovak Republic, scientist
Mr. Ulrich Heinz Jürgen Körtner, Austria, philosopher
Mr. Alain Pompidou, France, medical doctor
Mrs. Leila Seth, India, jurist
Mr. Sang-yong Song, South Korea, historian
Mrs. Nadja Tollemache, New Zealand, jurist
Mr. Zhihong Xu , People's Republic of China, scientist
Areas of work Capacity building
- “Ethics around the world”: rotating conferences
-
providing information about UNESCO’s activities
contacting and networking with national and regional
experts
- Global Ethics Observatory (GEObs): system of databases
1. Who’s who in ethics?
2. Institutions, departments, centers, commissions
3. Teaching ethics programs
4. Legislation, guidelines, policies
5. Codes of Conduct
Areas of work standard setting
•Code of Conduct for Scientists
•Ethical Principles for Environment
•Ethical Principles for Outer Space
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Towards a Code of Conduct for scientists
1. Why is there new discussion?
- changing context of science
- basic values of science unclear
- challenges of implementation of UN texts and international
codes in different cultures…
2. Call for new reflection on international level
1999: World Conference on Science, Budapest
2001: ICSU research
2002: UN Policy Working Group
2003: UN Interagency meeting at UNESCO
2004: UNESCO
3. UNESCO/COMEST activities
Changing context of science
Hostile and dual use
 Political pressures
 Economic pressures
 Pressure to publish
 Scientific misconduct

Nov.2005: South Korea:
Professor Woo Suk Hwang
and stem cell research
Jan.2006: Norway
The Lancet 2005; 366: 1359-66
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the risk of oral cancer:
a nested case-control study.
Sudbo J, Lee JJ, Lippman SM, Mork J, Sagen S, Flatner N, Ristimaki
A, Sudbo A, Mao L, Zhou X, Kildal W, Evensen JF, Reith A,
Dannenberg AJ.
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Changing context of science
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Hostile and dual use
Political pressures
Pressure to publish
Economic pressures
Scientific misconduct
New reflection on the basic values of science
January 2006: Indian Science Congress,
Swiss Nobel laureate Richard Ernst:
- “there is a loss of the accepted ethical foundations
of research”
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- It is insufficient to simply train specialists in science
and technology; ethics and social responsibilities
must be considered as important as scientific skills,
knowledge and understanding
BASIC VALUES OF
SCIENCE
autonomous values
values intrinsic
to science
Science = pursuit
of truth
Robert K. Merton (1957):
1.
Organized scepticism
2.
Independence
3.
Universalism
4.
Communalism
Science = knowledge
production
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heteronomous values
Personal
interests/values
Political
interest/values
Economic
interests/values
Military
interests/values
The call for a new reflection on international level
Nov. 1974 – UNESCO 18th General Conference adopts the
“Recommendation on the Status of Scientific Researchers” calling
for:
 Scientific researchers’ highly responsible attitude
 Encouragement of spirit of community service
 Development of educational techniques for awakening and
stimulating ethical personal qualities and habits of mind
 Reinforcement of scientific researchers’ sense of vocation
 Definition of scientific researcher’s ethical responsibilities
and rights
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The call for a new reflection on international level
World Conference on Science, Budapest, 1999
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Special attention to ethical principles and responsibilities in the
practice of science
The WCS International Forum of Young Scientists strongly supports
the establishment of a scientific Hippocratic Oath
The final document “Science Agenda – A framework for action”
states:
 “Ethics and responsibility in science should be an integral part
of the education and training of all scientists” …
 “Young scientists should be appropriately encouraged to
respect and adhere to the basic ethical principles and
responsibilities of science”.
 UNESCO’s World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific
Knowledge and Technology (COMEST) and ICSU have a
special responsibility to follow up on this issue
Report of the Secretary-General Policy Working Group
on the UN and Terrorism (2002)
11 Sept. 2001 - the terrorist attack against USA adds a specific antiterrorist concern to the scientific ethics agenda

October 2001 - UN Secretary-General establishes a "Policy Working
Group on the United Nations and Terrorism" to identify longer-term
implications and broad policy dimensions of terrorism for the United
Nations
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2002 - The Working Group issues a Report with 31 Recommendations
Report of the Secretary-General Policy Working Group
on the UN and Terrorism (2002)
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Recommendation 21
“Relevant UN offices should be tasked with producing
proposals to reinforce ethical norms, and the creation of codes
of conduct for scientists, through international and national
scientific societies and institutions that teach sciences or engineering
skills related to weapons technologies, should be encouraged.
Such codes of conduct would aim to prevent the
involvement of defence scientists or technical experts in terrorist
activities and restrict public access to knowledge and expertise on
the development, production, stockpiling and use of weapons of
mass destruction or related technologies.”
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Report of the Secretary-General Policy Working Group
on the UN and Terrorism (2002)
The UN General Assembly and Security Council endorse the Report
and its Recommendations, transmitting it to all the Organizations and
Specialized Agencies of the United Nations System
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February 2003 - A UN Inter-Agency Consultative Meeting is held at
UNESCO HQs in Paris, to discuss Recommendation 10 (focused on
education, tolerance and respect of human dignity) and
Recommendation 21 of the Report
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United Nations Inter-Agency consultative meeting,
26 February 2003 – UNESCO Headquarters, Paris
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General Recommendations:
 Encouraging ethical codes of conduct for scientists and engineers
 Promoting ethics of science education and awareness
 COMEST could play a decisive role in fostering dialogue on
education and ethics of science
 Involvement of COMEST together with ICSU in the field of ethics
of science and responsibility of scientists
The ethical task given by the WCS to COMEST and ICSU is recalled
and reinforced
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ICSU Standards for Ethics and Responsibility in Science
(2001)
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ICSU research
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takes into account 115 ethical standards for science
(39 international and 23 national)
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shows an exponential increase of the number of standards
over the years (6 before 1970; more than 40 during last 5
years)
ICSU Standards for Ethics and Responsibility in Science
(2001)
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Material is classified into 15 categories
 oath, pledge, code, guidelines, declaration, principles,
appeal, recommendation, manifesto, statement,
declaration, resolution, convention, charter, law, others
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Five cluster groups
 pledge, guidelines, statement, law, others
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Out of 115 ethical standards, only 6 are oaths and pledges, as
an oath is perceived to be of a more binding nature than mere
guidelines
ICSU Standards for Ethics and Responsibility in Science
(2001)
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Core traits or virtues related to individual behaviour:
Honesty
| Openness
| Fairness
Truthfulness | Accuracy
| Conscientiousness
Respect
| Collaboration | Loyalty

Core traits or virtues related to the scientific community:
Social responsibility
Sustainable development
Social welfare
Gender equality
Peace
Human rights
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| Environmental responsibility
| Socio-economic development
| Socio economic equity
| Scientific freedom
| Democratic development
UNESCO – COMEST activities
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Executive Board, April 2004
169 EX/Decision 3.6.1 requests the Director-General, with
COMEST and ICSU advice, to undertake studies on the
advisability of elaborating an international declaration on
science ethics to serve as a basis for an ethical code of
conduct for scientists
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Expert Meeting, March 2005 (UNESCO, Paris)
Mr Robert Coupland, International Red Cross, Legal Division
Mr Malcolm Dando, United Nations Institute for Disarmament
Mr. Pieter Drenth, All European Academies
Mr. Jens Fenstad, Chair of COMEST
Mr. Andre Jaegle, World Federation of Scientific Workers
Mrs Michele Jean, President of the International Bioethics Committee
Mr. Alex Michaelos, Canadian Commission for UNESCO
Mr. Graham Pearson, University of Bradford, Department of Peace Studies
Mr. Cathage Smith, International Council for Science (ICSU)
Mr. Sang-yong Song, Member of COMEST
Mr. Zbigniew Szawarski, Warsaw University, Faculty of Philosophy and Sociology
Mr. Hub Zwart, Radboud University Nijmegen, Faculty of Sciences
Ms. Julia Hasler, Natural Science Sector, UNESCO

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Recommendations of Expert Group:
1. A two-tier approach is feasible:
- UNESCO focuses on a universal normative
framework (a declaration on science ethics
- academic and professional organizations develop
(national, regional, professional) codes of conduct
2. Scope: wide, not exclusively referring to the context of
bio-terrorism.
3. Range: cover science in general, not only life sciences
4. Usefulness: A declaration on science ethics will provide
a framework for ethics teaching in the sciences.
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Based on the conclusions of the Expert Group, at its
4th Ordinary Session (23-25 March, 2005, Bangkok)
COMEST made the following recommendations:
UNESCO should focus on a general framework of ethical
principles for sciences - general principles that underline the
responsibilities of scientists.
On the basis of such general framework codes of conduct can be
elaborated in various regions and for different sciences, primarily
by scientists and scientific organizations themselves.
In order to analyse the modalities, it is advised to carry out a
feasibility study.
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UNESCO organs
•
September 2005, 172nd Executive Board:
“…prepare a feasibility study … on the elaboration of an international
declaration on science ethics to serve as a basis for an ethical code of
conduct for scientists”
•
October 2005, 33rd General Conference:
“…to continue…the reflection on the subject…and to submit a report to
the Executive Board at its 175th session”
(Sept/Oct.2006)
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Planned activities
1. International Consultations
Europe and North America Region and International Organizations
11-12 May 2006: Geneva, Switzerland
Asia Region
14 April 2006: Tokyo, Japan
24-25 April 2006: New Delhi, India
15-16 May: Bangkok, Thailand
Latin America and Caribbean
30 and 31 May 2006: Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Africa and Arab Regions: 2007
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Planned activities
2. Review of previous work of UNESCO
Recommendations on the Status of Scientific
Researcher, 1974
• taken as basis of assessment in the consultations
• necessary to update?
• useful as basis of explicitly ethical document?
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Planned activities
3. Analysis of existing codes of conduct
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Establishing a collection of all codes
•
Critical comparative analysis of strengths and
weaknesses
•
Creating a database in the Global Ethics
Observatory (GEObs)
Planned activities
international consultations
analysis of codes
June 27-28: Paris: Extraordinary Session of COMEST
Report to 175th Executive Board
September/October 2006
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Why Regional Consultations?
1. Take account of identified needs and priorities at the regional level
in a coordinated manner with HQ and field
2. Advise and assist Member States in the identification of their needs
and priorities and oversee the preparation and implementation of
activities throughout the regions in regard to ethics of science and
technology and bioethics in accordance with the UNESCO
Programme of Ethics of Science and Technology and bioethics
3. Promote the role of ethics in the formulation and evaluation of
development strategies and programmes, and disseminate
information on the UNESCO Programme of Ethics of Science and
Technology and bioethics.
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This meeting is one of the steps in this process to interact
and to identify network partners, needs and priorities,
learning from progress to date.
Thank you!
UNESCO Social and Human Sciences Sector
Division of Ethics of Science and Technology
1, rue Miollis, B 1-17
75732 Paris Cedex 15, France
Tel: + 33-1.45.68.49.98
Fax: + 33 1 45 68 5515
Our website:
http://www.unesco.org/ethics
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