“Why Flemish universities must take action now in the climate debate”

In an open letter, the Youth Academy asks the deans of Flemish universities to prioritize scientific evidence over the game of caution being played on the world stage today. “Knowledge institutions must now take the lead on one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century.”

Dear Rectors of Flemish Universities,

The 28th United Nations Climate Summit concluded in Dubai last Tuesday, December 12, 2023. This summit will go down in history as a historic meeting in which 200 countries agreed to “a gradual and just transition away from fossil fuels.” A bright spot or does this signal lack ambition?

We, the members of the Youth Academy, who together with you and our universities are helping to shape the future based on scientific evidence, want to send a strong signal with this open letter to prioritize the same scientific evidence on the game of caution that is being played today on the global stage. We remember the time when our universities took COVID-19 measures seriously. We supported fellow scientists who delivered difficult but necessary messages to the general public. In a global crisis, science has provided guidance amid the uncertain waves of Covid-19. Our Flemish universities were the first to close and the last to reopen.

Many of you have supported staff and students with words of encouragement each week. You have encouraged us to persevere in this unprecedented situation. By actively taking the lead and combining scientific insights with leadership, we believe our universities have made an important contribution to resolving this global crisis.

Today, we are threatened by a crisis of crises: the climate crisis and the associated biodiversity problems. Once again, our universities are leaders in generating knowledge about this crisis and dealing with it. The IPCC report consists of more than 38,000 scientific publications. These and many other reports show that the situation is not only dangerous, but downright tragic. We may have already passed the turning points. The world can expect more and more tragic consequences every year. Storms, floods, periods of exceptional drought and wildfires are already part of daily life. We are not talking about the psychological, economic and demographic consequences.

“The cumulative scientific evidence is unequivocal: climate change threatens human well-being and the health of the planet. “Any further delay in proactive, joint global action on adaptation and mitigation will miss a short, rapidly closing opportunity to ensure a livable and sustainable future for all,” the report states verbatim. We must do everything we can to address this crisis, and we must do it now and on all fronts at the same time.

We no longer have to convince you of the seriousness of the situation. We will talk to you jointly and in a constructive atmosphere about the urgent need to address this matter. Contrary to what we might have hoped after the example of Covid-19, today our universities are not leaders in the fight against global warming. We hoped they would use their wealth of knowledge to address the rapidly diminishing opportunity to achieve a “livable and sustainable future” for all, starting with our own enterprises. You take measures and have plans, but contemporary issues have overshadowed the urgency of implementing them.

As the recent IPCC synthesis report shows, projected harms to people and ecosystems can be reduced now through “accelerated” action and adaptation measures. There are also many opportunities within our universities to make sustainability a spearhead of political action.

Today we therefore call on you, all the rectors of our Flemish universities, to show strong leadership, assume your responsibility to the thinkers and doers of tomorrow and urgently implement a decisive, ambitious and evidence-based climate policy, in the areas of research, education and services.

We are not just calling on you to join forces among all the deans. Above all, let us work together to make sustainability a central driving force in the work of all universities today.

Together with you, the Young Academy wants to strive to make our universities, just as they did during the Covid-19 pandemic, the examples that society needs today. So let’s learn from each other and share best practices.

Let us systematically increase and certainly not reduce the range of vegetarian meals everywhere, support those responsible for the environment financially, expand their operational options and constantly monitor them, persuade our students in all courses to discuss sustainability, and properly insulate all buildings as quickly as possible (in some buildings the wind blows (The wind is released through the windows) and equipped with solar panels as much as possible.

We ask you to translate existing scientific knowledge into public forums where you have the honor of being present and where you are heard and seen by the community and policy makers. We see many university rectors and scientists making the international trips necessary for our scientific growth, but we also invite you to promote your ideal role in sustainable mobility locally. Students often see their principal on board. The rector on a bike much less so.

We specifically ask you to take seriously the “Green Deal” of the European University Association, of which all Flemish universities are members, and like many others, e.g. University of Helsinki And To Delftto take the lead as climate leaders.

So we ask you here too, just as during the pandemic, to act decisively, not to use the rhetoric of savings or core values ​​to refrain from taking immediate action, to take the climate problem clearly seriously in your policy actions and to make every policy decision in light of this crisis.

Our open invitation today is a starting point. We will continue to demand that you recognize the urgency of climate issues and act accordingly. After all, dear deans, we are very concerned about the future. Not only in relation to us as people and as scholars, but also to our children and grandchildren. Today we create the future. Taking the lead in this global crisis requires structural investments (resources and personnel), expertise (which we have), and the will to take the lead as a knowledge enterprise on one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. No one had to invent hot water anymore. what are you waiting for? After all, neither research nor education is possible on a “dead planet.”

the Youth Academy It is an interdisciplinary and inter-university meeting place for leading researchers and young artists who have their own perspective on science, society, art and politics.