International Risk Governance Council

The International Risk Governance Council (IRGC) is one of the few groups involved in risk assessment of nanoscale sciences and technologies.

It all started with a resolution at the 1999 10th Engelberg forum, an annual gathering in Switzerland of scientists, government leaders, and heads of industry. The theme of the 1999 Engelberg forum was “Risk and Safety of Technical Systems in View of Profound Changes” and was presided over by José Israel Vargas, then the Minister of Science and Technology of Brazil. At this forum, a resolution noted the need for a global platform where science, technology, risk concepts, and public policy could interact, and an international organization that could act as a mediator between science, technology, risk concepts, and the public. In response, the IRGC was formally established in 2003. The [Page 359]purpose of the IRGC is to provide risk assessments of emerging global risks related to human health and safety, the environment, the economy, and society at large. The IRGC develops concepts of risk governance, works in an anticipatory manner, and develops policy recommendations related to risk management. The output of the IRGC is to increase public confidence in risk governance by designing innovative, efficient and balanced governance strategies.

The IRGC includes a foundation board that sets strategy and focus and approves topics for project work, a scientific and technical council that prioritizes topics and leads projects work, an advisory committee that provides high-level advice, and a Secretariat that handles finance, administration, and communication. Most of IRGC's income comes from governments and industry. The IRGC receives strong financial support from the Swiss Federal Department of the Interior, and since 2003 has received support from the Swiss Secretariat for Education and Research, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of State, Electricité de France (EDF), Swiss Re (one of the largest insurance companies), Oliver Wyman, E.ON Energie AG, Aare-Tessin AG für Elektrizität (ATEL), Alstom Power Service, ETH Domain, Allianz Center for Technology, Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology, and the Korean National Program for Tera-Level Nanodevices. It has also received in-kind contributions from the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Chinese National Center for Disease Control, Swiss Re Centre for Global Dialogue, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Delft Technical University, Ernst & Young, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The IRGC projects so far have covered core concepts of risk and risk governance; critical infrastructures such as electric power systems; pandemic diseases; nanotechnology; carbon capture and storage; governance of bio-energy; synthetic biology; review of energy technology scenarios; energy security; risk governance deficits; and emerging risks and geoengineering.