Daan du Toit (South Africa), Deputy Director General for International Cooperation & Resources, Department of Science, Technology & Innovation, Government of South Africa
“As I said in my message of support to delegates at last year’s Moonshot Forum, a true visionary is not just somebody who can see the future, but somebody who can make it happen. In that regard, The Human Exposome Project is not just a new development that we are closely watching, but we are actively participating in. It gives me great heart to see so many pan-African and indeed, BRICS participants there in sunny Sitges. If you know people from the ‘global south’, you’ll understand that they come not to make ripples, but to make waves happen!
As NIEHS Director Kyle Walsh rightly said in his opening address, ‘exposomics is having its moment’. Understanding and fighting chronic disease is in everyone’s interest whether you are living in Pretoria or Philadelphia. That is why we appointed a National Contact Person for exposomics within the Science Diplomacy Capital for Africa platform initiated by our Department and hosted at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. We followed-up with a highly successful consultative workshop held on 1st December, 2025, within the margins of Science Forum South Africa, co-chaired by distinguished Professors Zodwa Dlamini andThomas Hartung, both there with you. This meeting set the ball rolling towards the creation of a pan-African Chapter within the Global Exposome Forum’s family.
I am delighted to inform you first about some new developments, as we roll up our sleeves to get some joint projects on the rails. Whenever apt, we will certainly ensure that Exposomics is a thematic lifeblood of South African science, technology and innovation events going forward, and we count on each and every one of you to get involved.
On 16th & 17th June next, our Science Diplomacy Capital for Africa platform will convene a pivotal meeting of circa 40 experts in Brussels, Belgium at the South African Mission to the EU to explore what we are calling ‘Exposomethics’. These discussions will include, amongst others, the National Hellenic Research Foundation of Greece and Members of the European Group on Ethics in Science & New Technologies reporting to the Presidents of the European Commission, Parliament and Council.
The results of this meeting and further deliberations will be codified into the ‘Global Exposome Forum Declaration on Exposomethics’ that we intend to launch during a dedicated plenary panel at Science Forum South Africa, taking place from 2-4 December, 2026.
South Africa also looks forward to participate at senior level in the first-ever exposomics panel discussion at UNESCO in Paris on 17th July. This will take place under the auspices of the Global Conference on the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development.
The South African government also wholeheartedly supports UNESCO’s intention to host a dedicated conference in the first half of November, again in Paris, focused on promoting exposomics research in the ‘global south’. We value UNESCO’s leadership role in promoting multilateral cooperation in science, technology and innovation.
Finally, I would like to affirm the mission of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, to boost socio-economic development and social justice in South Africa and across the world, through investment in knowledge generation and application, and therefore exposomics research will be a priority in our national planning and international engagements. With this in mind, we cordially invite the GEF to formalize these mutual objectives in a Memorandum of Understanding with our Science Diplomacy Capital for Africa platform.”
Theresa Scavenius, Climate Scientist and Politician
“As an independent Member of the Danish Parliament, I am working tirelessly to advance climate justice, democracy and independent science. All too often, I’m seeing how difficult regulation of environmental risk are. We have plenty of knowledge already on health, chemicals, and environmental harms. But we need a unified and integrated approach, which include regulatory science and political mobilization. In Europe, we have advocated the One Health approach which opts for an anti-silo approach to interdisciplinary science on human health, environment, and socio-economic development. I support that approach. And I believe The Human Exposome Project will extend and further accelerate an integrated understanding of human health and environmental that will turn out to be pivotal for future environmental and health policies. The project investigates how environmental risk triggers are affecting our health. From the water we drink, to the foods we feed our babies, environmental chemicals are ever-present, as a clear danger to public health and fertility. For these reasons, I support The Human Exposome Project as a must-grab opportunity to refocus our minds on the biological, chemical and environmental exposures of human health.”
Sir Peter Gluckman, President of the International Science Council
“The International Science Council applauds the effort to have a bottom-up global effort. We hope this project succeeds and we offer our support in addressing these issues. The questions are s dear to me personally, but more importantly dear to all of us who value international science cooperation.”
Anne Cambon-Thomsen, MD, Immunologist & Bioethics Specialist, Member of the European Group on Ethics in Science & New Technologies
“We learned a lot about various facets of scientific ethics throughout the Human Genome Project that the leaders of the Exposome [Forum] ought to take on-board. How do we balance the responsibilities of individuals to look after themselves within an ever-more complex social structure, and the responsibilities of States to look after their citizens, provide security and a milieu in which to live a satisfying and ideally, long life in good health? If an individual wishes to take actions that may harm themselves, but debatably do not impact the lives of others, should Science or the State interfere? A classical dilemma: protection versus freedom. … The way in which our lives are interwoven means that most of our actions do impact on others in ways that are difficult to unravel. This is a fact. My personal conviction is that society both discourages the use of chemicals, drugs and the ‘bad things’ that might harm us, but equally provides the industrial, legal and social settings to enable and make their use appear legitimate. This apparent incoherence actually shows the tensions and conflict of values deeply engrained in our world, something that the Exposome Forum needs to address from day one.”
Flavia Schlegel, MD, Former Assistant Director General, UNESCO
“After almost a lifetime in leading positions in public health and international science collaboration, I see three great opportunities in the Exposome project. To enlarge our knowledge and understanding of mechanisms of disease development, therefore improving possibilities for prevention and therapeutic options. To bring together an international and transdisciplinary research and practitioners’ community to engage in innovative approaches to health management. And, as a global initiative, to mark a clear position against the current political crackdown on knowledge security and research integrity”.
Mandi Smallhorne, President of the South African Science Journalists’ Association and Director of the World Conference of Science Journalists 2025 Pretoria
“As a journalist, I am intrigued by the ever-increasing role of toxicology, the new kid on the block. I’ve been following the development of Exposome Intelligence: an ideal topic for our World Conference in December, come to think of it – we might learn that there are fewer culprits than we think, while being able to debunk a lot of misplaced fears. … Ignorance is, ultimately, what makes people chemophobic, knowledge can defuse fears. Mapping lifestyle factors and social exposures is as important as identifying chemicals. It will be interesting to see how the humanities can best be involved. Perhaps measuring the exposome impacts of the lottery of where you live and human behaviors might prove to be the biggest challenge of all.”
