© UNESCO/Michel Ravassard
Hubert Reeves

Biodiversity is our guarantee of survival

Engaging geosciences in the service of humanity is the aim of the International Year of Planet Earth, launched on 12 February at UNESCO. This year, UNESCO and the International Union of Geological Sciences have taken the initiative to place sustainable development and the promotion of Earth Sciences (geology, geophysics, palaeontology, meteorology…) at the top of their priorities. This is a true pact for a better world.

To announce the launch of this International Year, to which it will devote one of its next issues, the Courier interviewed the famous Canadian (Québécois) astrophysicist Hubert Reeves.

Interview by Jasmina Šopova

Why have you gone from the immensity of the universe to the fragility of the earth?

Because if astronomy teaches us how we came to exist on earth, ecology teaches us how we can stay here. We know the wonders of the stars and the galaxies, which are linked to our past and our presence here – atoms that are formed in the stars and so on – and we discover that our survival on earth is threatened. How could one not be concerned?

People often say to me “Before, you talked about galaxies, you made us dream, now you’re telling us unpleasant facts.” I answer that we have to be realists. We can’t spend our time dreaming. We can’t play ostrich. We need solid knowledge of the situation on earth to know what to do.

I came to the issue of the environment gradually. During the lectures I gave in the 1980s, I started bringing up the problem, which became more and more present as time went by, until it became a crucial issue. But I still give lectures about astronomy too.

I try to speak usefully. That is to say, not to preach to the converted, but to address groups that are less involved in environmental issues. I’ve given lectures to real estate agents, for instance, and notaries, truck drivers….They’re flabbergasted when you explain to them what’s going on.

Are you alarmed?

Not as much as I was a few years ago. But there’s been such a change all over the world that today I’m more encouraged. I’m often asked if I’m an optimist or a pessimist. I answer with a quote from Jean Monnet, one of the founders of Europe, at the time when nobody really believed in Europe. He used to say, “What’s important isn’t being optimistic or pessimistic, it’s being determined.”

It has to be said that in the last two years, awareness of environmental problems has come a long way, thanks to people like the American Al Gore (2007 Nobel Peace Prize), the French ecologist Nicolas Hulot, whose le pacte écologique (ecological pact) obliged politicians to take positions, or the British economist Nicolas Stern, who evaluated the cost of global warming at several thousand billion dollars (Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, 2006).

The Union of Opponents of Hunting (ROC - “Rassemblement des Opposants à la Chasse”) was founded in 1976 by Théodore Monod, at a time when there were no controls at all on hunting in France. He was the president, and after he died in 2001, I was asked to replace him. The problems have since changed, and so have the aims, along with the organization’s name, which became the Ligue ROC pour la préservation de la faune sauvage (ROC league for the preservation of wildlife).

Today we’re very concerned by the disappearance of natural habitats and by pesticides, which contribute to what is called “biodiversity erosion”. The speed at which we are exterminating animal and plant species represents one of the most disturbing aspects. In nature, species are not independent. Each disappearance of a species causes that of many others and thus weakens the ecosystem.

A very striking example is bees. The rapid disappearance of bees causes a decrease in tree pollination. And without pollination, there’s no fruit. And fruit contributes in an essential way to the survival of humanity.

When one element in life’s edifice - built over millions of years, whose solidity rests on the interdependency of species – disappears, the whole is impoverished. Biodiversity, we have to stress this, is our guarantee of survival.

Do you think political decision-makers are taking action quickly enough?

The “Grenelle de l’environnement” (French government forum on the environment) held last October in France is a good example. French President Nicholas Sarkozy promised it and he did it. It’s not every day politicians keep their pre-election promises.

The originality of Grenelle was to bring together partners with opposing convictions: for example, farmers who defend agriculture relying heavily on pesticides, and environmental groups in the name of productivisme. This Grenelle represents real progress. I have reasons to believe that there will even be action to follow the words. Because fundamentally people aren’t crazy. And even those who couldn’t care less about butterflies or wildflowers dying out are beginning to understand that if they don’t invest now in positive action, it will cost them a lot more in the future.

The United States are really on the move. George Bush blocked everything, but states such as California or those in New England have become extremely “green”. In Europe, the countries in the North are generally much more active. France is waking up, Spain is starting to move. But what’s very important is that China is also beginning to react. Meanwhile we don’t have very good news from India, but I think it will come because once again people do realize what’s going on.

Is it utopian to imagine a Grenelle on an international scale, organized by UNESCO, for instance?
That would be brilliant if governments would listen to constituents of civil societies so that they can participate in the world’s evolution, and why not overseen by UNESCO.

And to end the conversation on another seemingly utopian subject: do you believe there’s another planet that will welcome humanity if we destroy ours?
I have no idea. There are people who believe that if things get too bad on earth, we’ll go to another planet. For me, that’s not a good solution, because if we turn out to be incapable of safeguarding our planet, we will only be transporting our problems to another one.

© Stock.xchng/Terri Heisele
The rapid disappearance of bees causes a decrease in tree pollination.

© Flickr/Jens Trebtow
A truck on a road in China. The future of the earth is everyone's concern!