“We want to encourage all generations to take action around concrete solutions,” insists Jean Jouzel. Known worldwide for his work within the IPCC, the famous French climatologist is also the president of the “Messengers of Climate and Biodiversity”. This collective bringing together a thirty scientists decided to roll up its sleeves by going to meet the French in order to “enable them to better understand the changes underway” and, above all, to “give them the keys to act”. On the program: a exposureon-site exchanges with the public, off-site activities, conferences.
The “climate and biodiversity tour”, which was unveiled in Saint-Denis at the start of the week, is currently stopover in Nantesbefore stopping in Brest from Sunday to Tuesday. The next dates are “in the process of being adjusted” but we already know that it will stop in Nanterre, Lyon, Lille, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Nice, Dijon or Avignon in the coming months.
“We don’t have the opportunity every day to interact with specialists”
“We really hope to reach as many people as possible, from primary school students to retirees and employees,” explains Isabelle Bluche, director of the tour. At each stage, scientists are there to comment on the exhibition and answer questions. This is an opportunity to be seized, we don’t have the opportunity every day to interact with specialists in climate, agroecology, biology or oceanography. »
In Nantes, this Thursday, the visitors were mainly schoolchildren and students. “We try to adapt the discourse according to age,” says Serge Planton, a climatologist who worked for a long time for Météo-France. For the youngest, we avoid being anxiety-provoking, we focus more on fun, by explaining to them for example the difference between a weather episode (recent storms, etc.) and a climatic episode (drought, heatwave, etc.). Of course, the subject is serious, but the important thing is to raise awareness that we all have a responsibility, individuals and States alike, and that it is never too late to act. »
“The carbon footprint of a French person is greater than that of a Chinese”
With the less young, meetings with scientists in front of the exhibition panels are also an opportunity to recall little-known truths, even regularly scratched by climate skeptics. “Like the fact that a warming of 2°C or 3°C of the planet is not slight, it is on the contrary considerable. Or the fact that the carbon footprint of a French person is greater than that of a Chinese, even if China is singled out for its emissions,” quotes Serge Planton.
The “climate and biodiversity tour” is intended to continue until the summer of 2024. A second season is planned from September for “smaller towns”, particularly in rural areas.
Climate commitments made by countries around the world put the planet on a warming trajectory of up to 2.9°C this century, according to the latest report from the UN Environment Program (UNEP). . That is well beyond the objective of 1.5°C to 2°C maximum set in the Paris agreement.