Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The current global scientific landscape is structured as a hierarchy that prioritises Global North epistemologies while treating knowledge from the Global South as peripheral. This exclusion is maintained through three primary pillars of inequity: academic dependency, linguistic and financial gatekeeping, and extractive research practices. In the face of planetary-scale crises, we cannot afford to ignore the insights of most of the world’s population due to systemic imbalances. Here we contextualise the Brandt Line’s legacy and argue that the exclusion of southern voices is a critical scientific integrity issue that limits our ability to solve global challenges. To address current asymmetries, we propose a strategy of seven complementary pathways requiring coordinated action by both southern and northern stakeholders. Ultimately, achieving true sustainability requires a scientific ecosystem that is as diverse, representative, and resilient as the planet it seeks to protect.
Institutions: Universidade Federal da Bahia, University of Oregon, Michigan State University, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Azim Premji University, Bhopal, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, University of South Africa, Fauna and Flora International, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Oregon Health & Science University, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, IUCN Species Survival Commission, Stellenbosch University, University of Regina, Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Instituto Butantan, University of Florida, Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7220435784