Developments

Today, the Committee has been systematically recommending to States parties to fully
take into account their obligations under the Covenant in the process of implementing the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development. It always reiterated the importance of the principles of
participation, accountability and non-discrimination in this regard.

The Committee has further underlined that social expenditures are a condition of
sustainable economic growth, and investment, rather than a burden on the economy. In this
regard, it is important to remind States that realization of rights should not be interpreted as
suggesting that realization of economic, social and cultural rights should follow wealth creation,
but rather as a condition for prosperity.

To this end, the Committee has adopted a Statement in March 2019, which the
members of the committee have submitted to the HLPF in 2019, and which aimed to reiterate
in 2020 in the context of the call for “Accelerated action and transformative pathways:
realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development”.

The Statement “The pledge to leave no one behind: the ICESCR and the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development “underlines the central role of the protection and promotion of
economic, social and cultural rights in the fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, and highlights how a rights-based approach may contribute to the pledge which
is applicable to all rights that may guide States parties actions in all policy areas, as well as the
monitoring of the progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by
the International Community.

Another development was the highlights on the Right to Enjoy the Benefits of Scientific
Progress and its Applications. It focuses on the right of everyone to benefit from the protection
of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of
which he or she is the author. The CESCR adds that “knowledge should be considered as science
only if it is based on critical inquiry and is open to falsifiability and testability,” and that applied
science (or science applications) refers to the implementation of science to a specific
population need and includes new technologies that come from scientific knowledge.

The Committee rejects a narrow interpretation of the right and states that it not only
refers to the science “derived from research conducted by scientists,” but also includes “citizen
science” (science by ordinary people).  Therefore, the Committee clarifies that Article 15(1)(b)
encompasses the right to receive the benefits of scientific progress as well as the right to
participate in scientific activities.

Additional development on this aspect was on the elements required to “respect the
freedom indispensable for scientific research,” as outlined in Article 15(3).  At minimum, this
freedom includes the protection of researchers from undue influence; opportunity for
researchers to set up autonomous research institutions; researchers’ freedom to question the
ethical dimensions and values of scientific projects, and to withdraw if they choose to; and,
freedom to cooperate and share data, nationally and internationally as well as with
policymakers and the public.

Hence, the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress places both positive and
negative obligations on States, and contains five “interrelated and essential elements” as well
as certain limitations.  The five elements of the right are: 1) availability, which refers to States’
obligation to “take steps for the conservation, the development and the diffusion of science;” 2)
accessibility, which requires that everyone has equal access to scientific progress and its
application, as well as to information regarding the risks and benefits posed by science; 3)
quality, which refers to States’ obligation to regulate scientific applications and ensure access to
verifiable science; 4) acceptability, which requires efforts to ensure science is explained and
disseminated in a manner that facilitates public and community acceptance, and that
incorporates ethical standards; and, 5) protection of freedom of scientific research. 

Any limitation on the right to participate in and enjoy the benefits of scientific
progress must be established by law, promote the general welfare, and be “proportionate to
the aim pursued.”