Actions and priorities to connect the global community of plant scientists with the world's changing societies are today more imperative than ever. Environmental degradation, unsustainable resource use, and biodiversity loss all require integrated, collaborative solutions.
A CHANGING WORLDAs plant scientists we are increasingly aware and concerned with the accelerating rate of change of our planet and our societies. In our lifetimes we have witnessed major alterations in the structure and make-up of land, water, and the atmosphere, in use of natural resources and agricultural practices, in migration of plants, animals, and people, in rates of urbanization, and in the rise and spread of infectious diseases. The rate of species extinction is greater now than at any time in the last 65 million years. It is clear that this tremendous transformation, with its profound effect on nature, is primarily the result of human activities. The degree of pressure on the environment has never been greater-far beyond the level at which natural systems will be able to maintain sustainable productivity. The need to act is urgent.Equally in transition are our own disciplines in the plant sciences: taxonomy and systematics, morphology and development, evolution and ecology, physiology and genetics. New technologies that generate immense quantities of data are often limited by current infrastructure and information management capabilities; a growing emphasis on laboratory investigations is overshadowing the need for priority field work in rapidly disappearing environments; and balance in training for pure and applied research careers is shifting. In many nations, funding support for basic science is declining along with public trust in science. Parallel to these changes within the plant sciences are those affecting social, political, and economic contexts within which scientific research is conducted. Factors such as growing income inequality among peoples, the uneven redistribution of resources across the globe, and rising levels of conflict within and among nations all impact our ability to conduct meaningful science.At this time of extraordinary challenges, the International Botanical Congress is being held for the first time in China. The increasing wealth of China and the prosperity of its people, coupled with the country's need for and interest in tackling serious national environmental problems, have given the country a key role in combatting climate change. China also has the potential to address biodiversity loss through the development and implementation of a strong national plan in this area. The Chinese linking of "risks" with "opportunities" has never carried more meaning than it does now, at a time when all countries need for their own sake, and for the world, to help achieve global sustainability. The hosting of IBC 2017 in Shenzhen, this Declaration, and the establishment of the JSE
