Nearly 3,000 scientists call for action against the far right

In a column published by “Le Nouvel Obs”, the scientists criticize in particular the impact of the RN program on the climate and the environment.

There are nearly 3,000 of them. Scientists signed a column published in The New Obs calling for “a broad mobilization against the extreme right” in the legislative elections of June 30 and July 7. “Society and the values ​​in which we subscribe would be seriously compromised in a country in the hands of the National Rally”they write, denouncing in passing “the dominant discourse which, against all evidence, presents the New Popular Front as a threat to the Republic”.

Among the signatories, we find researchers working in “the whole of France” and from “all disciplines”like the climatologists Valérie Masson-Delmotte and Christophe Cassou, the geographer Gonéri Le Cozannet, the sociologist Didier Fassin, or even the oceanologist Catherine Jeandel, knight of the Legion of Honor.

“There is a questioning of scientific words among the RN. But denying scientific findings is only a symptom, a small part of a broader questioning which worries us a lot: that of democracy and of the rule of law”explains to franceinfo Milan Bouchet-Valat, one of the initiators of the forum, sociologist at the National Institute of Demographic Studies. “Remaining silent amounted to endorsing the questioning of all the principles on which science is based: plurality, independence, etc.”he explains, affirming that the signatures were gathered “very quickly”. “In less than twenty-four hours, we had already reached 1,000. A lot of people feel the need to act.”

Initiated by Scientists in Rebellion, this movement of climate scientists known for its actions of civil disobedience, the text is concerned about “serious risks to research and teaching [et] on the place given to scientific facts in public debate” in the event of the far right coming to power, citing examples from other countries. “In Brazil and the United States, we have seen drastic budget cuts in education and research” And “In Hungary, Viktor Orban’s government has questioned the independence of academic institutions to ensure that they do not challenge its ideology.”

“The extreme right is developing distrust of the results of scientific research and adopting a post-truth posture, where leaders deliver their own ‘alternative facts’, under the guise of freedom of opinion. The truth is not an opinion or a position expressed by an authority.”

scientists’ forum

in “The New Obs”

Scientists also criticize the impact of the RN program on the climate and the environment. “The RN defends itself against any climate skepticism, but puts the IPCC reports into perspective. It is opposed to the deployment of renewable energies, while relying entirely on nuclear power would not make it possible to respect the Paris agreement on a French scale. “they warn. “It is a concrete, tarmac, polluted, overheating and lifeless world that the RN promises us”, warn scientists. They cite in particular the far-right party’s opposition to the electrification of transport, the objective of zero net artificialization of land, or the promise to reduce taxes on fossil fuels, the main cause of global warming.. “According to this party, any ecological measure is ‘punitive’. Which side will be punished in a world at +3 or +4°C?”ask the authors of the column.