The Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) was the first (1957) interdisciplinary body formed by ICSU, when it recognises that scientific questions about the ocean often require an interdisciplinary approach. SCOR is the leading non-governmental organization for the promotion and coordination of international oceanographic activities. SCOR does not have the resources to fund research directly; therefore, SCOR science activities focus on promoting international cooperation in planning and conducting oceanographic research, and solving methodological and conceptual problems that hinder research. The first two global-scale projects resulting from SCOR activities were primarily physical studies: the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) and the Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere Study (TOGA). Both grew out of SCOR's former Committee on Climatic Changes and the Ocean, which was a joint activity with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. Since the late 1980s, SCOR has played a major role in fostering the development of two newer global change programs, both of which now form part of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). These are the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) and the Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics (GLOBEC) project, which differ substantially in their goals. SCOR is presently working with IGBP to launch the international Surface Ocean - Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS) and in defining the next generation of research on biological and chemical aspects of the ocean in relation to global change.

IGBP's mission is to deliver scientific knowledge to help human societies develop in harmony with Earth's environment. The scientific objective is to describe and understand the interactive physical, chemical and biological processes that regulate the total Earth System, the unique environment that it provides for life, the changes that are occurring in this system, and the manner in which they are influenced by human actions. IGBP is an international scientific research programme built on interdisciplinarity, networking and integration that adds value to a large number of individual, national and regional research projects.
Achieving global sustainability requires scientific knowledge about how Earth works, and what we are doing to it. The growing recognition that global change is a reality has brought into sharp focus some fundamental questions about our planet. How does it function as a system? How robust is Earth in the face of growing human-driven pressures? Are we in a transition to a new, stable 'state'? If so, what will be the climate of this new state? What will be the responses, and feedbacks, of Earth's biosphere? How can, and should we return to the pre-industrial state of the Earth System? How can human societies - our industrial systems, institutions, cultures and values - respond to this challenge? Acquiring the scientific understanding to answer these questions is well beyond the scope of individual countries and regions. It is also well beyond individual disciplines, and beyond the traditional divide between the natural and the social sciences. Gaining the knowledge base needed to underpin the transition to global sustainability demands an unprecedented international and interdisciplinary scientific research effort.
The International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) was established by the International Council for Science (ICSU) in 1986 to help meet this challenge.