- Email: [email protected]
2.2. Statement of the executive board of the ICSU to the 2nd special disarmament session of the UN general assembly
volume of data taken. The data transmission systems, the data analysis system, and the inter-organizational liaisons worked without flaw. Post-campaign analysis has proven that the data themselves, sparse though they are, are of extremely high quality for Earth rotation applications. VI. Formal Termination of EROLD The EROLD Steering Committee met in Grasse in May 1981, at IAU Colloquium 63. It was there proposed that the original objectives of the EROLD project had been largely achieved and that its prolonged existence was no longer justified. The point that we wished to demonstrate has been made, and made successfully. We even feel that EROLD was a catalyst in the formation of MERIT. The Steering Committee has therefore since voted itself, and EROLD, out of existence as of 3 1 December 1981. J. DERRALMULHOLLAND Chairman, EROLD Steering Committee and ODILECALAME EROLD representative to CSTG
2.2. STATEMENT OFTHE EXECUTIVE BOARD OFTHE ICSU TO THE 2ND SPECIAL DISARMAMENT
SESSION OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
In accordance with the decisions of the 1st United Nations General Assembly Disarmament Session (May-June 1978) which recognized the important role played by international non-governmental organisations in mobilizing world public opinion for disarmament (Decision 10/2, par. 99, 100, 106 etc.), the Executive Board of the International Council of Scientific Unions, a major nongovernmental and non-political scientific organization, comprising many international scientific bodies and leading scientific organizations of more than 70 countries, among them 36 national Academies of Sciences, considers it its duty to draw attention of the participants of the 2nd Special Disarmament Session of the UN General Assembly to the concern of scientists about the grave situation in the world arising from the continuing arms race. We are guided in this by deep concern about the common fate of the whole of mankind. Some scientists, by the nature of their profession, are particularly aware of the effects of a nuclear holocaust. Our knowledge enables us to state responsibly that, for the first time in history, mankind has come to a critical stage, with the threat to its very existence being more real than ever before. Calculations show that the total amount of explosives used throughout the whole history of mankind did not reach 10 megatons of TNT. But today existing nuclear weapons 46
apart from their damaging radioactive effects have an explosive power equivalent to some tens of thousands of megatons of TNT. Of course, this formidable destructive power must not be evaluated only quantitatively. It presents a qualitatively new, global danger that threatens not only individual countries, and peoples, but all mankind. Civilization on earth may be at stake. We can definitely say that a global nuclear war would lead to the deaths of many hundreds of millions of people and would cause irreparable damage to future generations. We believe that there is only one way to save the human race from this direct and most terrible threat to its existence and this is to stop the arms race, to start disarmament including the curtailment of nuclear weapons and their eventual elimination and to improve the international climate. Only by firmly embarking on this course can we be sure of our future. We can and must use the huge material and intellectual resources, now wasted on military preparations, to improve human life, to solve national and global problems, to start seriously to combat hunger and malnutrition which affect hundreds of millions of people, to secure ecological balance and to develop new sources of energy and raw materials, The world scientific community has been increasingly concerned with the application of science and technology to human development. World peace is a necessary prerequisite to the development of creative activity of nations, the advancement of science and technology, the accumulation and fair distribution of material and spiritual wealth for present and future generations. Being aware of our great responsibility, we call upon the UN member countries to make every effort to save mankind from the threat to its very existence. It is imperative to take urgent measures and achieve tangible progress in the banning of the scientific and technological development, production, accumulation and deployment of nuclear weapons. The Executive Board of the International Council of Scientific Unions confidently hopes that the participants of the 2nd Special Disarmament Session of the UN General Assembly will make a substantial contribution to the cause of eliminating the threat of nuclear war. Paris, 14 May 1982
2.3. ICSU-UNESCO DISTINGUISHED FELLOWSHIPS IN SCIENCE”’ The International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization announce the creation of the ICSU-Unesco Distinguished Fellowships in Science. A small number of Fellowships have been established in the natural sciences, including their application to development, in order to strengthen the scientific capacity of developing nations. “‘Extract
from ICSLJ Newsletter
No. 9 of March 1982.
47
2.2. STATEMENT OFTHE EXECUTIVE BOARD OFTHE ICSU TO THE 2ND SPECIAL DISARMAMENT
SESSION OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
In accordance with the decisions of the 1st United Nations General Assembly Disarmament Session (May-June 1978) which recognized the important role played by international non-governmental organisations in mobilizing world public opinion for disarmament (Decision 10/2, par. 99, 100, 106 etc.), the Executive Board of the International Council of Scientific Unions, a major nongovernmental and non-political scientific organization, comprising many international scientific bodies and leading scientific organizations of more than 70 countries, among them 36 national Academies of Sciences, considers it its duty to draw attention of the participants of the 2nd Special Disarmament Session of the UN General Assembly to the concern of scientists about the grave situation in the world arising from the continuing arms race. We are guided in this by deep concern about the common fate of the whole of mankind. Some scientists, by the nature of their profession, are particularly aware of the effects of a nuclear holocaust. Our knowledge enables us to state responsibly that, for the first time in history, mankind has come to a critical stage, with the threat to its very existence being more real than ever before. Calculations show that the total amount of explosives used throughout the whole history of mankind did not reach 10 megatons of TNT. But today existing nuclear weapons 46
apart from their damaging radioactive effects have an explosive power equivalent to some tens of thousands of megatons of TNT. Of course, this formidable destructive power must not be evaluated only quantitatively. It presents a qualitatively new, global danger that threatens not only individual countries, and peoples, but all mankind. Civilization on earth may be at stake. We can definitely say that a global nuclear war would lead to the deaths of many hundreds of millions of people and would cause irreparable damage to future generations. We believe that there is only one way to save the human race from this direct and most terrible threat to its existence and this is to stop the arms race, to start disarmament including the curtailment of nuclear weapons and their eventual elimination and to improve the international climate. Only by firmly embarking on this course can we be sure of our future. We can and must use the huge material and intellectual resources, now wasted on military preparations, to improve human life, to solve national and global problems, to start seriously to combat hunger and malnutrition which affect hundreds of millions of people, to secure ecological balance and to develop new sources of energy and raw materials, The world scientific community has been increasingly concerned with the application of science and technology to human development. World peace is a necessary prerequisite to the development of creative activity of nations, the advancement of science and technology, the accumulation and fair distribution of material and spiritual wealth for present and future generations. Being aware of our great responsibility, we call upon the UN member countries to make every effort to save mankind from the threat to its very existence. It is imperative to take urgent measures and achieve tangible progress in the banning of the scientific and technological development, production, accumulation and deployment of nuclear weapons. The Executive Board of the International Council of Scientific Unions confidently hopes that the participants of the 2nd Special Disarmament Session of the UN General Assembly will make a substantial contribution to the cause of eliminating the threat of nuclear war. Paris, 14 May 1982
2.3. ICSU-UNESCO DISTINGUISHED FELLOWSHIPS IN SCIENCE”’ The International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization announce the creation of the ICSU-Unesco Distinguished Fellowships in Science. A small number of Fellowships have been established in the natural sciences, including their application to development, in order to strengthen the scientific capacity of developing nations. “‘Extract
from ICSLJ Newsletter
No. 9 of March 1982.
47