Based at UCSI University in Malaysia.

There is no doubt that humanity’s greatest challenges – and some of its most promising opportunities – are regional and global. Increasingly, the world requires effective partnerships between scientists, policymakers, and diplomats from different countries. The multi-disciplinary and multidimensional challenges of science-based global problems today have been amply demonstrated in the areas of climate change, biodiversity loss and plastic pollution. Even negotiations in international trade have not been spared from the critical role of science communication in pursuing partnership and collaboration. The most compelling case for science diplomacy is playing right in front of our eyes, where polemics arose ranging from the origin of the Coronavirus, right to the export and procurement of the various vaccines from several vaccine-producing countries, and the uneven distribution of those vaccines, with the ensuing delivery to developing countries. This is where science diplomacy has emerged as a critical discipline in furthering the cause of global collaboration among countries.