December 2021 ESRFnews6

NEWS

Big EU and US science facilities unite against climate change

share best practises to improve their climate sustainability and carbon footprint; share knowledge and foster public engagement in clean energy and climate-change research. Throughout history, fundamental

research has been a source of scientific breakthroughs, leading to paradigm shifts that have had a profound impact on our lives, the statement read. The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust science to the centre stage. Thanks to state- of-the-art scientific knowledge and exceptional global scientific collaboration, the development of vaccines to provide a path out of the coronavirus pandemic happened far more rapidly than expected. Therefore, on a complex and wide ranging issue like climate change, science has without any doubt a key role to play, and in particular at big science facilities, where we are constantly pushing forwards the frontiers of knowledge and technology to the highest levels

of excellence and inventiveness. The statement added that the

research and datasets provided by European and US big- science facilities have provided a world-leading foundation to environmental science, bio- environmental engineering, geological research, Earth observation, the development of state-of-the-art materials and clean energy sources. On that foundation, [we can] build innovative technologies and solutions that not only mitigate the impact of climate change, but also help us protect the Earth s ecosystems, including the human populations around the world vulnerable to a wide array of environmental threats. The statement concluded with

reference to shared values and responsibilities: We must act together to address the complex and pressing climate crisis that we are already seeing worldwide, but also to reduce the carbon footprint of our research activities.

European and US big-science labs, including the ESRF, have committed to unite science in the pursuit of sustainability and economic resilience. The commitment was made in a teleconference ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conference of parties (COP26) in Glasgow, UK, from 31 October to 12 November. The big science labs comprised the

eight members of EIROforum the European Organization for Nuclear Research, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, the European Space Agency, the European Southern Observatory, EUROfusion, the European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Facility, the Institut Laue-Langevin and the ESRF as well as the 17 main Department of Energy labs within the US National Laboratory Directors Council (NLDC). In their joint statement, the directors of the 25 facilities committed to: step up their scientific collaboration on carbon-neutral energy and climate change;

On a complex and wide ranging issue like climate change, science has with- out any doubt a key role to play, and in particular at big science facilities