Tackling Global Challenges Through Nuclear Science [eng., ar., zh., fr., ru., es.]

The world faces challenges, some of them existential and others very serious. Food insecurity is on the rise and freshwater resources are shrinking. The natural environment is under threat. Climate change is an unwelcome accelerant. The burden of these challenges disproportionately affects people who live in developing economies, particularly low and middle income countries (LMICs). Life-saving cancer treatments are unevenly distributed, meaning that the disease is curable in some countries and a death sentence in others. For nearly 60 years, the IAEA has been helping to address such challenges and to facilitate cross-border collaboration. It has helped to dramatically increase Member States' capacity to use nuclear science and technology towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The uses of nuclear are so wide-ranging that they directly support more than half the SDGs and indirectly support all of them. The IAEA's 12 laboratories in Austria and Monaco are unique in the United Nations (UN) system. They translate nuclear research into practical applications in food and agriculture, water resource management, marine monitoring and cancer care, while also providing training and capacity building for Member States. The IAEA's technical cooperation (TC) programme transfers nuclear technologies and applications to Member States. By sharing knowledge, building partnerships and facilitating regional cooperation, the TC programme helps countries sustainably address their most urgent priorities, from food and agriculture to energy. This issue of the IAEA Bulletin showcases some of the ways in which nuclear applications are helping to increase food security, improve water resource management, protect our oceans, tackle the impacts of climate change and narrow the gap in cancer care in LMICs. The IAEA launched ZODIAC in 2020 to help countries detect, identify and contain outbreaks of diseases originating in animals that can be transmitted to humans. It is our contribution to preventing the next pandemic. Staff at about 100 national laboratories are now trained and 50 laboratories are newly equipped to use nuclear techniques to track diseases, share information and collaborate.