Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-14-Speech-4-145"
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"en.20050414.23.4-145"2
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"Mr President, I wish to express my sympathy on account of the Portuguese drought and my support for the resolution. I would now like to speak of the phenomenon that is behind it, however: climate change. The subject relates precisely to what Finland’s leading university professors in the field of the environment were speaking about at a seminar held in Parliament here in Strasbourg this week. One of our themes was climate change. The seminar was also attended by a leading official from the Commission’s Directorate General for Research, who had been genuinely delighted with the contact between science and politics in Parliament. Such cooperation between scientists and politicians is welcome, but, obviously, we should not take it for granted. The world is not shaped in such a way that academic knowledge simply flows in the direction of politicians. Sometimes it takes application. Scientists have no pressing need to come and lobby us. Although society engages in scientific research, legislators are often unfortunately kept in the dark when it comes to knowledge of this kind.
We often wonder if, for example, the drought of 2003 is an indication of climate change. Researchers say that the question has been put the wrong way and that there is no straight answer to that. If we ask whether more droughts can be expected, however, they answer yes; if heat waves are to become more frequent, they answer yes; and if modern society will become more and more vulnerable to extreme weather phenomena, they answer yes.
Now is the time for action, then. We can no longer wait for more certain answers. The information we have now should be enough for us to take ever more effective action to avert or slow down climate change. That is one of our principle political priorities. An essential ingredient will also be adaptation policies, in which we need to make a determined effort to invest, by redefining our very policy areas and investing in research. We need, for example, a proper forestry strategy in this situation. Climate change, regrettably, cannot be entirely avoided, but it is now vitally important to minimise the extent of the human and material damage."@en1
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