science
Science has always promised more than discovery.It is a social contract, an understanding that knowledge must serve people, reduce harm and advance peace.Each year, on 10th November, ‘World Science Day for Peace and Development’ renews that reminder, urging countries to reflect on how science is being used, or neglected, in shaping fairer, safer and more sustainable societies.
The 2025 theme, ‘Trust, Transformation and Tomorrow: The Science We Need for 2050,’ couldn’t be more timely.Around the world, public trust in science is tested daily.
Climate change denial, vaccine misinformation and algorithmic manipulation have blurred the line between truth and convenience.
Yet, never before has humanity relied on science this deeply, from predicting weather extremes to building ethical AI and restoring fragile ecosystems.The challenge, then, is not just producing knowledge but earning trust in it.
Globally, the meaning of ‘peace through science’ has evolved.The wars of our century are not only fought with weapons, they are waged through data, misinformation and inequality.
But peace is not the automatic result of innovation.
It comes when science is ‘governed by fairness, inclusion and accountability’.The world has seen how unregulated technology can deepen divides, AI replacing workers without retraining, surveillance tools silencing dissent or climate research ignored by policymakers.
The test of science today lies not in its breakthroughs but in how those breakthroughs are shared, regulated and trusted.
The Pakistani lens
For Pakistan, World Science Day is both a reminder and a reckoning.The country sits at the intersection of climate vulnerability, energy insecurity and digital transformation.It needs science not as a luxury but as a lifeline.Floods, heatwaves and water scarcity are no longer distant projections, they are lived realities.The floods of 2022 and 2025 proved how costly scientific neglect can be: data existed, but coordination did not.
Pakistan’s research ecosystem shows promise, but it remains fragmented.
Universities and research centres often work in silos; funding cycles are inconsistent; and the link between research and real-world policy is tenuous.The Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) continues to fund projects, but limited budgets and bureaucratic hurdles slow progress.Scientists still operate in environments where innovation is celebrated in speeches but not supported in budgets.
Then comes the question of trust.Do citizens trust that science will improve their lives? Do policymakers trust their own experts enough to act on evidence? Do scientists trust that their findings will not be buried by politics? Trust, in this sense, is not abstract, it’s the invisible thread that binds discovery to development.
Where the gaps lie
Pakistan’s biggest scientific gap is not just funding, it’s ‘translation’.The country has strong researchers in climate, health and technology, but research rarely travels from the lab to the policymaker’s desk or the farmer’s field.
This gap reflects a larger failure in science communication and governance.Scientists often speak in jargon; policymakers speak in targets.Between them lies a silence where progress should happen.
Gender and equity form another blind spot.Women make up a small fraction of STEM leadership and rural communities rarely benefit from scientific outreach.
Inclusion is not a courtesy, it is a condition for credibility.When science excludes, it weakens its own authority.
On the other hand, ‘digital science’ offers Pakistan a leapfrogging opportunity.Artificial intelligence, data analytics and biotechnology could transform agriculture, education and governance, if handled ethically.But without regulatory clarity, these tools risk deepening inequality or being misused for surveillance.
The task, therefore, is to modernise responsibly: ensuring data transparency, algorithmic fairness and citizen consent.
Global lessons,
local action
Internationally, ‘science diplomacy’ is reshaping how nations cooperate.Shared research on climate, health and water security is becoming a new form of peace-building.
For Pakistan, participating in this global exchange means investing in its own credibility, stronger universities, and transparent data-sharing, and consistent policies.Partnerships are valuable only when both sides contribute knowledge, not just receive aid.
World Science Day also calls for introspection on education.Scientific curiosity begins in classrooms, yet Pakistan’s schools still treat science as a memorisation subject rather than a method of inquiry.Reforming curricula, training teachers and creating mentorship pipelines for young researchers would be the truest investment in peace.Science literacy is national security, because a misinformed society is easy to divide.Because without trust and inclusion, science loses its moral authority; without policy alignment, it loses impact.
Science alone doesn’t create peace.But peace without science doesn’t last..