Jean-Pascal Van Ypersele was the guest of Pascal Vrebos on RTL TVI this Sunday. The renowned climatologist from the Catholic University of Louvain was asked about one of the biggest challenges facing global warming: How to mobilize citizens when the consequences are years from now? To answer, the candidate for the presidency of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) used a symbolic object.
Pascal Vrebos: How to mobilize when the threat is still far away? Do politicians have a medium and long term vision today? In short, are there any politicians and women today who are capable of thinking 50, 60 years or more?
Jean-Pascal Van Ypersele: That’s why I came up with this little shoe that always rocked me. It might be a little different, but it’s still on my desk. This is a little shoe I received from a climate activist in November 2015, just before COP21, when the train left for Paris. It’s a small shoe that represents the generation that will be our age at the end of this century, and they will be in a very chaotic and very difficult climate. I think it would be a little easier for today’s political and economic decision makers to take the long term into account, including today’s children, their children, and grandchildren.
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