Excellencies

Ladies and Gentlemen

Dear Guests

Last year, I ended my speech with the words of Nobel laureate Hermann Hesse: "To achieve the possible, we must attempt the impossible – again and again."

And that’s exactly what we do, year after year. The rapid technological advances we’re witnessing are expanding the boundaries of civilization in ways we once considered impossible.

This is where GESDA plays its role: it opens new frontiers, enabling us to not only imagine but also anticipate the future and prepare for the changes ahead with tangible, inclusive solutions.

Things are moving fast, and so is GESDA.

Following last year’s launch of the Open Quantum Institute, GESDA now presents the Anticipation Gateway Initiative, its second pioneering project, which is now entering a three-year prototyping phase.

I want to congratulate the entire GESDA team and its supporters for their unwavering commitment to pushing boundaries for multilateralism and humanity.

New technologies are reshaping relationships —between people, organisations, and our environment. While this is not new, the pace of progress now far exceeds human evolution, creating deeper divides in our societies.

Ladies and gentlemen

What’s on GESDA’s radar? What’s cooking in the labs? Let me highlight two rapidly advancing fields: synthetic biology and neuroscience.

1) Synthetic biology: This field merges biology and engineering, allowing us to create new living organisms or modify existing ones to perform novel tasks—potentially enabling us to program living cells like computers in the future.

Over the next five years, integrating synthetic biology with AI will speed up the development of new biological agents:

On the upside, it could lead to the rapid development of vaccines and treatments, helping us live healthier, longer lives.
On the downside, some agents could be misused as biological weapons.

2) Neurotechnology: This field involves technologies that interact with the nervous system to monitor or influence brain activity. GESDA foresees that next-gen implants will stimulate multiple brain regions, with AI and brain-computer interfaces becoming a reality soon.

· The bright side: Neurotechnology could help paraplegics walk again.

· The dark side: It might also be used to enhance soldiers' abilities, improving precision, resilience, and reducing sleep needs—raising ethical concerns we must address.

Dear guests

The rapid acceleration of science will deeply impact every aspect of our lives, including international peace and security. Given Switzerland’s history of innovation and mediation, we believe it’s crucial to focus on preventing and managing conflicts that may arise from emerging technologies.

As science advances, diplomacy must keep pace.

In this spirit, during our presidency of the UN Security Council this October, Switzerland will propose a presidential statement to highlight the importance of monitoring scientific advances and their effects on global peace and security.

While the UNSC currently addresses pressing issues such as the Middle East, Ukraine, Yemen, and Sudan, we must also view global dynamics through the lens of science. Leaders need to prepare for future science-driven challenges, as they will increasingly face conflicts fuelled by technology.

This will be my message as President of the Security Council on 21 October in New York. Specifically, this will mean discussing the forms of warfare we wish to avoid, establishing rules, and setting clear limits.

Thanks to GESDA’s Anticipation Gateway Initiative, we can begin shaping this vision with three key instruments:

1. The training framework for anticipatory leadership prepares decision-makers for a rapidly evolving world, helping them understand breakthrough technologies.

2. The public portal raises global awareness on these issues (this will also feature at the Swiss Pavilion at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Kansai).

3. The anticipation observatory provides a platform for everyone to engage in these vital conversations.

Ladies and gentlemen

I began with a Nobel laureate, so I'll close with another. Marie Curie once said: "In life, nothing is to be feared, everything is to be understood. It is time to understand more, so that we may fear less."

As we conclude this month’s Swiss presidency of the UNSC, my hope is that we leave New York with a sense of accomplishment—having made progress in ensuring the Council remains committed to monitoring scientific developments and their impact on global peace and security.

In UN terms, the Council must stay engaged and encourage others to continue this crucial discussion. The more we understand, the less we will fear.

Now, turning 'back to the present', I look forward to hearing the perspectives and insights from my ministerial colleagues.

Thank you.

GESDA Summit 2024: Democratizing Science Literacy - High-Level Political Segment