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The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, theprimary United Nations body dealing with space, haspromoted the use of space-based data for development(for example, remote sensing data can provide informationneeded to monitor trends and changes in, as well as toformulate relevant public policies related to: climatechange, sea level, ozone layer, glacier coverage, globalhealth, impact of human activities on the environment,agriculture and food security, deforestation, droughts andfloods, etc.). The Committee has pointed to the need forestablishing sustainable national spatial data infrastructure;enhancing autonomous national capabilities in the area ofspace-derived geospatial data; engaging in or expandinginternational cooperation in the area of space-derivedgeospatial data and increasing awareness of existinginitiatives and data sources; and supporting the UnitedNations in its efforts to access and use geospatialinformation in its mandated programmes.As a specialized agency of the United Nations, IMO is theglobal standard-setting authority for the safety, securityand environmental performance of international shipping.For parts of its scientific needs, IMO relies on the JointGroup of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of MarineEnvironmental Protection (GESAMP), an advisory bodyestablished in 1969 that advises the UN system on thescientific aspects of marine environmental protection.GESAMP is jointly sponsored by nine UN organizations withresponsibilities relating to the marine environment (IAEA,IMO, FAO, UN, UNDP, UNESCO-IOC, UNEP, UNIDO, WMO),and they utilize GESAMP as a mechanism for coordinationand collaboration among them. Through a well-establishedsystem of internal and external peer review, GESAMPensures scientific credibility, transparency andindependence of the advice it gives to the sponsoringorganizations.The Secretary-General’s Scientific Advisory Board, createdby the UN Secretary-General in September 2013 andconvened by the Director-General of UNESCO, is an ad hocgroup of 26 eminent scientists representing all regions andmany scientific disciplines. The central function of theBoard is to provide advice on science, technology andinnovations (STI) for sustainable development to the UNSecretary-General and to executive heads of UNorganizations.Source: UNEP, UNESCO, IMO, OOSA, UNDP contributions tothe GSDR 2015.Criteria for effectiveness of SPI mechanismsCommonly accepted criteria for assessing the effectiveness,influence and impact of science-policy interfaces arecredibility, relevance and legitimacy. 22 Other criteriamentioned in the literature have included accessibility (ofscientific findings) and iteration and evolution over time: 23The literature on SPI also provides numerous analyses of“factors of success” for SPI and suggestions on how tostrengthen the science-policy interface. 24Box 1-4. Credibility, relevance and legitimacy: criticaldeterminants of the effectiveness of SPICredibility: refers to the perceived quality, validity andscientific adequacy of the information generated by the SPIsuch as the perceived scientific and technical soundness ofan assessment. Credibility can be linked, for example, tothe respect of the scientific method (hypotheses that areoriginal and, where appropriate, predictive and testable;experiments repeated by colleagues in order to verify theresults; presentation of uncertainties in results and inpredictions presented; publication of results through aquality control mechanism such as a rigorous peer-reviewprocess).Relevance (or salience): refers to the alignment of anassessment to the needs and priorities of decision-makers(e.g. its results need to be applicable and practical fordecision-makers to make informed decisions). It is alsolinked to the perception of the usefulness of theknowledge, and how closely it relates to the needs of policyand society (e.g. do the assessment and its findings addressthe particular concerns of a user?). For example, anassessment can be considered relevant if users are awareof it and if it informs policy, behavioral change or otherdecisions.Legitimacy: reflects the perception that the assessment orthe production of information has been respectful ofstakeholders’ divergent values and beliefs, has beenunbiased, and fair in its treatment of opposing views andinterests. Issues of lack of legitimacy can arise, for instance,when one group questions the product or process of anassessment because it feels that its input was notconsidered, or when it is believed that data sources ormodeling approaches used were dominated by expertsfrom select backgrounds, disciplines or origin.Source: Authors’ elaboration, based on Cash et al. (2003);Young et al., (2013); Scientific Advisory Board of theSecretary-General of the United Nations (2014b); UNEP(2009b)29