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7.2. Crowd-sourcing science briefs for policy makersThe Prototype Global Sustainable Development Reportpublished in 2014 already provided initial information onexisting lists of “emerging issues” and how they wereidentified. The report also compared these lists of issues toan open process in which issues were “crowdsourced” frommore than 1,000 participating scientists who identifiedissues they wanted to bring to the attention of policymakers. The differences in results between the opencrowdsourcing for the prototype report and more“managed” established processes were significant (Table 7-2).In the open crowdsourcing exercise for the Prototype GSDRlast year, participants could simply propose an issue anddid not have to “invest” time and resources in writing abrief with all the necessary analysis and information tocarry the issue forward to the policy level.The performance of scientists is often measured by thenumber of peer-reviewed publications in high-impactjournals. Hence, when scientists have to invest significanttime in preparing a brief, it suggests that they perceive theissue as very important. Against this background, for thisyear’s Report, it was decided to issue an open call forscience briefs, inviting researchers and scientists to submitshort papers on issues relevant to sustainabledevelopment. Table 7-2 compares the top issueshighlighted in the scientific briefs this year with thoseidentified in last year’s prototype report, the WorldEconomic Forum’s Global Risk report and the WorldwatchInstitute’s State of the World Report 2015.Table 7-2. Top sustainable development issues scientists worldwide would like decision-makers to consider for actionTop-15 emerging issues identifiedby scientists for the PrototypeGSDR Regional 2014 conflicts due to globalcompetition for natural resources(oil and minerals)The climate–land–energy–water–development nexusPolitical instability and socialunrest from increased income andwealth inequalitiesChild labourNon-existent or decreasingenvironmental justice indeveloping and developedcountries.Youth unemploymentPersistence of poverty in poor andeven in rich countriesAnthropogenic reductions in netTop-10 “Global risks”identified by World EconomicForum stakeholders in 2014Fiscal crises in key economiesWorldwatch Institute: State of theWorld 2015*Expensive energy undermininggrowth and welfareTop-15 issues covered by 173 sciencebriefs prepared for the present report(#)Energy (19)Structurally highunemployment/Unsustainable economic growth Natural resource management (16)underemploymentWater crises Risk of stranded assets Governance (15)Severe income disparityFailure of climate changemitigation and adaptationGreater incidence of extremeweather events (e.g. floods,storms, fires)Loss of agricultural resources(land, water, stable climate)Climate change (13)Putting resilience of oceans at risk Water (13)Artic and indigenous peoplesGlobal governance failure Emerging diseases from animals Urbanization (11)Sustainable consumption and production(14)Health (10)primary productivity 543 Food crises Failure of a major financialWeak family structuresmechanism/institutionThe poor and the weakeverywhere are the losers ofincreasingly market-basedsolutionsLarge-scale increases in geneticmutations in humans due toaccumulation of toxic chemicals inClimate change-induced migrationour environment and in foodchainsHuman appropriation of netprimary productionAsteroid threat to humancivilizationProfound political and socialinstability132Disaster risk reduction (9)Biodiversity (9)Measurement (8)Violence in schools Oceans (7)Poverty eradication (7)Monitoring and accountability (7)Ethnic violence Economic development (7)Sources: left column: Results of crowdsourcing issues from scientists, conducted by the United Nations for the Prototype Global Sustainable Development report2014. Second from left: Global Risks Perception Survey 2013-2014, as reported in WEF’s Global Risks Report 2014 544 . Second from right: State of the World 2015:Confronting Hidden Threats to Sustainability, Worldwatch Institute. 545 *Listing unranked. Right column: Briefs submitted by scientists in response to an open call forthe present report. 546, 552 Note: In the WEF survey, from a list of 31 risks, survey respondents were asked to identify the 5 they are most concerned about. The rightcolumn covers the first 173 of 187 accepted science briefs only.