The Science department at UCLouvain (Louvain Catholic University) is set to join the “Climate Thursday” protest march, said its President Olivier Malay in a communiqué disseminated on Wednesday. The march is set for 7 March in Louvain-la-Neuve. The Science department comprises some 2,200 scientists.
Questioned by its members, the Science department at UCLouvain decided to support the climate march on 7 March, scheduled to take place on campus. “It has been years since the scientific world warned of the urgency to act to avoid climate change. However all calls have fallen on deaf ears in the political world. Nowadays, those we speak of as the ‘future generations’ are themselves 16,” explained Mr Malay.
“It is these people who are marching in the streets entirely because they have the impression that we are stealing their future. The worst part is not that they are missing school. The worst part is actually that recent scientific data proves them absolutely right,” he said. He also invited students to join secondary school pupils in the streets on Thursday.
The UCLouvain scientists will also take part in the “Global Strike For the Future”, the international strike scheduled for 15 March. They will notably garner support for the protest marches and organise discussions around ecological transition within lecture forums, said the Science department.
Some 300 Belgian, French and Swiss researchers have already come together in a column published in Le Soir and De Morgen amongst other publications. This is owing to the efforts of the young Swedish girl Greta Thunberg and pupils and students, who have been missing lessons and lectures since January. Their aim: to demand that their politicians devise and execute an ambitious climate policy. They have also drummed up support for the global strike on 15 March.
Signatories in particular include the former Vice President of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and the UCLouvain climatologist Jean-Pascal van Ypersele.
The Brussels Times
