RE4GREEN was proudly represented at the 9th World Conference on Research Integrity (WCRI 2026), held in Vancouver from 3–6 May 2026 — one of the world’s leading forums dedicated to shaping global discussions on trust, ethics, transparency, and integrity in research.

As part of the conference programme, Janina Bau, Policy and Project Officer at the European Association of Research Managers and Administrators (EARMA), delivered the RE4GREEN session entitled:

“Safeguarding Trust: Ensuring Scientific Integrity and Inclusiveness in Climate Change Research and Innovation.”

The presentation highlighted the growing urgency of strengthening research ethics and integrity frameworks in the context of climate change research and the Green Transition. Drawing on emerging findings from RE4GREEN, Janina Bau emphasized that climate change is not only an environmental challenge but also a profound ethical and societal one.

The session explored how inequalities between low- and high-income countries continue to shape access to sustainable technologies, resources, and participation in research and innovation ecosystems — contributing to wider risks such as water scarcity, food insecurity, socio-economic instability, and unequal policy outcomes.

A central message of the presentation was that safeguarding trust in climate science requires moving beyond compliance-based approaches toward a more inclusive, transparent, and ethically grounded research culture. RE4GREEN advocates for embedding ethics-by-design principles across the entire research lifecycle while reinforcing openness, accountability, and societal engagement.

Particular emphasis was placed on:

  • promoting Open Science practices and FAIR data principles,
  • addressing systemic biases and governance gaps,
  • preventing ethics dumping in international collaborations,
  • and ensuring that environmental responsibility becomes a core dimension of research integrity.

Janina Bau also presented RE4GREEN’s policy-oriented approach for aligning environmental research with ethics and integrity through targeted action. These include strengthening ethical oversight in funding schemes, improving EU–national policy alignment, expanding inclusive research integrity training, and fostering collaboration among researchers, ethicists, citizen scientists, policymakers, research managers, and communities directly affected by climate change.

The session further showcased evidence generated through RE4GREEN social labs and gap analysis activities, which revealed the critical importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration and the need to integrate justice theories, inclusiveness, and environmental ethics more systematically into existing research integrity frameworks and training materials.

Importantly, RE4GREEN is building on existing European initiatives and governance tools while introducing a dedicated focus on environmental sustainability and climate ethics. The project is currently developing operational Research Ethics and Research Integrity (RE&RI) Guidelines, to be published in 2026, which will provide practical tools for embedding environmental ethics into research governance and innovation practices.

WCRI 2026 offered an invaluable opportunity to engage with the international research integrity community and to contribute to ongoing global discussions on how ethics, inclusiveness, sustainability, and scientific excellence can jointly support more trustworthy and socially responsible research systems.

RE4GREEN remains committed to supporting a research ecosystem where integrity, environmental responsibility, and societal trust are placed at the heart of climate research and innovation.