by Roger A. Pielke

What role should national science academies play in policy and politics?
One answer to this question was provided last month when eleven national science academies sent a letter to "world leaders, including those meeting at the Gleneagles G8 Summit in July 2005" advocating a number of specific policy actions on climate change. The letter – from science academies in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States – indicates that these national science academies perceive one of their roles to be overt political advocacy.