Science and politics – a match made in heaven?

A ship with giant towers pumping out white clouds to reflect the suns energy and hence act to alleviate warming across the Arctic – sounds like a child’s solution to the environmental issues of the day. It is in fact not a solution from a child, but rather a respected renewable energy expert speaking at a meeting in Westminster organised by the Arctic Methane Emergency Group.

To me this perfectly highlights an ever growing problem faced by modern politics – just what scientific advice should politicians act upon, and indeed, when should they ask for it?

Few are in doubt that science is absolutely vital in forming public policy, but recent years have seen a growing debate over how this is best achieved. Yet, the absolute answers that politics seems to demand are regularly at odds with the intricacies and nuance of a scientific stance on a given subject. And it is this disconnect that so often causes the strain on the bond between public policy and science.

As such I was very pleased, and somewhat relieved, to see that the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Science and Policy has made great progress into understanding how science and policy making can best work together.

For the first time, 52 leading scientists, policy makers and academics who study science policy have come together to agree a common research agenda.

Let’s be clear, they have no real answers as yet, but they now at least know how to ask the right questions. To be specific they have 40 questions which they say will help us to understand if the current way politicians seek scientific advice is working, and if not how to improve it.

So should politicians consider often highly controversial geo-engineering solutions such as the cloud whitener? It is clearly a tough question, and one like so many others that makes interaction between policy makers and scientists ever more vital. The complexities of the environment cannot be smoothed over for the sake of political gain – let’s hope that the 40 questions soon get answers so that we can close the gap between science and politics.