Guyancourt – Climate scientist Jan Guzel, distinguished guest at the 31st OVSQ Science Festival

Annexed to UVSQ, OVSQ (Observatory of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines) organized the 31st Science Festival from October 11-16. In the program, workshops for school children from primary school to high school, and for the general public on weekends. This week’s focus is on climate, the national topic of choice for this edition.

Jean Guzel, the famous climatologist who won the CNRS Gold Medal (French’s highest scientific honor), but also the Vetlesen Prize (equivalent to the Nobel Prize in life and Earth sciences, editor’s note), was present on Tuesday, October 11 to attend the screening of the documentary “Jean Guzel in the Battle of the Century” by Brigitte Scheffet at the J. Meiji Amphitheater, which was crowded by the way. Also President of Météo et Climat, a public utility association founded in 1852 aimed at the general public, the scientific community and political decision-makers, to raise awareness of climate change, Jan Gozel would like to highlight the climate emergency we are currently facing.

The newspaper was honored to ask him some questions. “Here, we are in a house I know well, I feel at home there, the one who keeps his eternal smile in spite of the urgency of the climatic situation jokes. Twenty years ago I took an interest in the construction files of this structure. I had an office in the mansion a few years ago. A few years ago I had an office in the palace,” explained the scientist. Climate, the distinguished guest of this 31st science festival, said that “the most important message to convey is to make the people, especially the young people (many of whom attended) who care most about the consequences of global warming, that it is vital to double down to achieve the set goals, such as reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 55% by 2030.”

“Government policy satisfies in the texts. I fully agree with the Energy and Climate Act’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. This law is based on the diagnosis of the scientific community. Moreover, in terms of how to act, there are many good things that have been proposed with the Citizens’ Agreement on Environmental Transition,” he continues.

However, the specialist gives a more accurate discourse of the facts. “I agree with the goals, but we are doing it too late in my opinion. I regret the delay in the development of renewable energies. We should now be at 24% and we are already 4% behind. To illustrate his observations, Jan Goesel takes the example of wind energy.” There are 5,000 turbines Winds at sea in Europe, and there is not yet one connected to the network in France,” he lamented.

By 2030, the government wants to achieve 40% of renewable energy in France. It is not possible, it is desirable. Now let’s go, we have to keep the commitments we made. “To a question about climate skeptics,” Jan Gozel answers, “We can always argue, listen to everyone’s arguments. The climate has always changed, it’s true. But the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shows that human activities are certainly taking over the natural diversity of climate. There has been a 1.1 degree rise due to human activities since the beginning of the 20th century,” concludes the climate scientist.

UVSQ is well positioned internationally

UVSQ (University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines) is placed very well in the annual international ranking of universities by subject. The Shanghai Ranking was published last July, and places UVSQ 13th in the world in atmospheric sciences and 29th in the world in earth sciences. “UVSQ occupies shoulders with the best universities out there and in particular the University of Paris-Sclay with which it will merge in 2025. This confirms its position as 1 in the world in Mathematics, 9 in Physics and ranked in 25 other disciplines,” the university’s website says.