 Over 1000 participants from more than 135 countries are in Vienna to take part in the IAEA ministerial conference on nuclear science and technology. Participants are discussing nuclear applications that can help tackle global challenges. Scientists from the IAEA are working with isotopic fingerprinting to understand how water moves around the planet. They are using fuller radionuclides to estimate soil erosion and they are tracking nutrients from cosmic rays to help farmers adopt to climate change. Nuclear techniques play a vital medical role and can improve quality of life. It is widely understood that effective cancer control is virtually unthinkable without nuclear imaging techniques and radiotherapy. Nuclear science can also prevent food from spoiling and be used to monitor the health of the oceans. As part of the opening ceremony, a new IAEA laboratory building in Cybersdorf, Austria was inaugurated. These facilities will increase our capacity to transfer nuclear technology. In the conference, ministers adopted a declaration recognizing the role of nuclear science and technology for development. From Vienna, Austria, this is Alejandra Silva reporting for the IAEA.