The BWC Global Forum

The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security is hosting a podcast, The BWC Global Forum: Biotech, Biosecurity & Beyond, to support BWC States Parties, policymakers and policy experts, and scientists understand advancements in biology and biotechnology and their impact on the Biological & Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC).

This effort originated as The Global Forum on Scientific Advancements Important to the BWC, which consisted of full-day workshops held in conjunction with the BWC Meetings of States Parties. The workshops provided a platform to facilitate engagement between BWC delegates, technical experts, and other stakeholders on the opportunities and risks associated with emerging and future biological capabilities.

In this new iteration, the Global Forum takes the form of a podcast in order to provide a permanent and growing repository of information on emerging S&T capabilities by directly engaging with technical experts. Our hosts interview some of the world's foremost experts across the broad scope of biology and biotechnology to identify and investigate emerging capabilities and future trends and consider their potential impact on the BWC itself and biological weapons nonproliferation policy and practice. As it has from the beginning, the Global Forum's primary goal is to inform BWC delegations, stakeholders, and frontline scientists on how emerging biology and biotechnology relate to their work, including potential risks and benefits associated with the BWC.

The BWC Global Forum: Biotech, Biosecurity & Beyond debuted to coincide with the 9^th BWC Review Conference, held November 28-December 16, 2022, in Geneva, Switzerland. This effort will continue through the 2023-27 BWC Intersessional Period.