Nobel laureates call for action on climate change
Ahead of the Paris meet on climate change, Nobel laureates have stressed on the need for urgent action to limit global emissions and protect the climate, in a declaration in Lindau.
Ahead of the Paris meet on climate change, Nobel laureates have stressed on the need for urgent action to limit global emissions and protect the climate.
The 65th Nobel Laureates Meet in Lindau, Germany, ended with a declaration on climate change and an agreement that there was overwhelming evidence that greenhouse gas emissions cause global warming.
On the final day of the meet, the laureates signed the Mainau Declaration, 2015, on climate change that made an emphatic appeal for climate protection.
Following the latest climate policy resolutions adopted by the G7 countries and the climate-oriented encyclical Laudato si’ issued by Pope Francis, the declaration by the scholars is another urgent warning of the consequences of climate change.
This is the first time since 1955 that Nobel laureates used the platform to take a stand on social policy issues. “The nations of the world must take the opportunity at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris to take decisive action to limit future global emissions,” the declaration said.
Brian P Schmidt, Nobel laureate and a spokesperson for the Mainau Declaration said, “With this declaration, we outline the scale of the threat of climate change and we provide the best possible advice.” He added that if left unchecked, the ever-increasing demand for food, water and energy would eventually overwhelm the Earth’s ability to satisfy the needs of humanity.
(The journalist is in Lindau on an invitation from the German Research Foundation - DFG)