The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Climate Change category has been awarded in its sixth edition to Christopher Field, co-chair of Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that deals with Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability , director of the Department of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institution for Science and professor at Stanford University (USA), for discovering the importance of ecosystems and their proper management as powerful tools in the fight against climate change. Thanks to the work of this scientist, the effect of deforestation, agriculture and, in general, alterations in plant cover, on the global climate has been quantified. These discoveries, in the long run, have also made it possible to predict the impact of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems.
According to the jury’s minutes, the award recognizes “the fundamental contributions of Field in the investigation of the interactions between the dynamics of plants and terrestrial ecosystems, and the CO2 released by human activities.” He also gives fundamental value to his studies by stating that ” Professor Field’s visionary research on the global carbon cycle has shown that future climate projections require explicit consideration of terrestrial ecosystems and their management” .
Regarding the future of the planet, Field has been skeptical as it depends on many actors and many economic interests. “ All I can say is that I would want governments to pay attention to science , and use it to make smart decisions. And if I go beyond my role as coordinator of the IPCC, my advice to leaders is to recognize the importance of the climate issue, and to realize that there are a wide range of opportunities to build a more resilient society. impacts of climate change ”.
