28.06.2019 change 28.06.2019

Researchers from the University of Warsaw to the academic community: Let us recognize the climate crisis as a priority issue

Photo: Fotolia Photo: Fotolia

In the face of a global threat of ecological disaster, we urge the academic community to recognize the climate crisis as a priority issue, three representatives of the Institute of Polish Culture of the University of Warsaw write in an open letter. So far, the letter has been signed by more than 400 scientists from all over Poland.

A call for action on climate change addressed to the academic community was prepared by three researchers from the Institute of Polish Culture of the University of Warsaw: Dr. Piotr Kubkowski, Dr. Weronika Parfianowicz and Kornelia Sobczak.

"In the face of a global threat of ecological disaster, we urge the academic community to recognize the climate crisis as a priority issue, to use its authority and competence to fight for a responsible, comprehensive environmental policy aimed at radically reducing carbon emissions" - the researchers write.

As reported on the website of the Institute of Polish Culture of the University of Warsaw, by the end of last week the letter was signed by more than 400 scientists from all over Poland.

The authors of the letter express the hope that the representatives of universities will actively participate in the public debate, disseminate knowledge about the nature of changes related to the climate crisis and speak up wherever the findings world science are undermined and information contrary to the latest research is disseminated.

"Our goal is to establish an interdisciplinary, interinstitutional and national crisis team that will work on a strategy for action in the face of climate crisis" - the letter reads.

The signatories of the letter write that climate change is a problem that concerns representatives of science and natural sciences as well as humanities and social sciences alike.

They ask the question whether universities, in recent years focused on organizational changes, have not abandoned their social tasks and lost sight of "the most important challenge of the modern world: the climate crisis caused by human activities".

Signatories also demand that university authorities and research institutions should have a transparent information policy on climate change, addressed to the academic community.

"We want to know what measures have been taken at our universities to counter the effects of global climate change, for example, how university infrastructure will be adapted to low-emission standards and who will be responsible for monitoring the progress of all these activities" - the letter reads.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), scientific evidence suggests that in the last 50 years, man has had the greatest impact on the world`s climate. We can still stop these changes - the IPCC argues - but we have 12 years left until the point of no return.

PAP - Science in Poland

author: Szymon Zdziebłowski

szz/ agt/ kap/

tr. RL

Przed dodaniem komentarza prosimy o zapoznanie z Regulaminem forum serwisu Nauka w Polsce.

Copyright © Foundation PAP 2024