The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) has issued a statement supporting the global call to action to confront climate change launched by the Climate Change Strike movement. The director general of BIST, Gabby Silberman, and the directors of the seven BIST centers, Luis Serrano (CRG), Josep Samitier (IBEC), Lluís Torner (ICFO), Miquel Pericàs (ICIQ), Pablo Ordejón (ICN2), Ramon Miquel (IFAE) and Francesc Posas (IRB Barcelona) planted a tree at the entrance of the BIST headquarters as a symbolic gesture with which the institution joins the global mobilizations against the climate crisis.
BIST statement on climate crisis and global action
We work in some of the most advanced research institutions in our country, recognized with awards and certifications of excellence, employing world-class scientists and participating actively in the international science arena. As such, we are well placed to know the science behind climate change. Likewise, we also have a direct duty to ensure that our scientific conclusions revert back to our society.
We are both privileged observers and human beings inhabiting this planet. We therefore feel compelled to preserve nature and issue the following statement in connection with the Global Climate Strike actions that are taking place around the globe.
- Scientific evidence is strong. All publicly funded research is openly available so that anybody can examine its methodology and reproduce its conclusions. This transparency ensures that anything we say can be verified, irrespective of who said it or who funded their research.
- The conclusions from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are informed by solid science reported transparently for all to examine. Its conclusions are inescapable.
- The main conclusions are that global warming emergency is a fact, that it is caused by humans and that, if prompt actions are not undertaken, it will have catastrophic effects and disruptive consequences (from mass migrations to changes in the food we eat) for the whole planet.
For these reasons we, the BIST centres, declare our explicit support to the call for action that has been launched around the world by movements such as Global Climate Strike. We invite all science-related and academic personnel to join this call to action. Available data are already strong enough to ignite short and long term personal, social and political actions. It is time for change.
Barcelona, September 25th, 2019
