The Utrecht Young Academy appeals to UU leadership at Pathways to Sustainability Conference 2020

We are confronted on a daily basis by alarming news of the climate crisis: the vast biodiversity loss, the thawing of ice and permafrost at a rate that is much higher than predicted, shortages in natural resources and the rising social inequality. We are increasingly aware that the pathways to sustainability require an extraordinary effort: where will the needed energy come from? How do we achieve societal, scientific and political breakthroughs while ensuring socially fair outcomes? 

Three members of the Utrecht Young Academy, Sanli Faez, Erik van Sebille and Liesbeth van de Grift, participated in the Pathways to Sustainability conference on March 5 2020 in TivoliVredenburg. They appealed to the Utrecht University leadership to step up sustainability ambitions and sign a pledge. The Climate Action Pledge embodies both the acknowledgement of the high risk of our current national policies and the urgency of action, as well as key suggestions for an adequate response to the climate crisis. The President of the Executive Board, Anton Pijpers, stated the board supports the pledge and will adopt the pledge and concomitant actions.