HEIDELBERG APPEAL
QUIETLY GAINS
WORLDWIDE SUPPORT

he Heidelberg Appeal was puhlir Iv
released at the 1992 Earth Summit in

Rio de Ianeiro. 8v the end of the
I992 summit, 425 and other
intellectual leaders had signed the appeal.
Since then, word of mouth has prompted
hundreds more scientists to lend their sup-
port. Today. more than 2,700 signatories.
including dozens ot Nobel Prize winners,
from 102 countries have signed it. In spite
at this spontamxius and growing support
from the world's scienti?c community, the
Heidelberg Appeal has received very little
media attention.

Neither a statement of corporate Inter-
ests nor a denial of envuronmental prob-
lems, the Heidelberg Appeal (see panel to
the right) is a quiet call for reason and a
recognition of scienti?c progress as the
solution to, not the cause of, the health
and environmental problems that we face.
The appeal expresses a conviction that
modern society is the best equipped in
human history to solve the world's ills,
provided that they do not sacri?ce sci-
ence, intellectual honesty and common
sense to political opportunisrn and irra-
tional fears. 

 

 

 

 

ATMOSPHERIC UPDATE: 

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mnmental assessment requirements to cover
greenhmse gas emissions. Several impor-
tant questions ome to mind in cmtemplat-
ing the administration's actions in this area
(see panel on the right), especially since the
current climate convention, which has been
agreed to by I60 countries and rati?ed by
the US. Senate, was designed to recognize
the l'dtft'erent circumstances" among coun-
tries, and was intentionally crafted to allow
?exibility among nations so that 'cost-effec-
tive? and creative solutions could be found
to enhance the reduction of greenhouse
gases The Mimi does not edahlish
tam or timetables for emission reduc-
tions. Further, there was recognition that
the United States, which invests over $100
billionayear intheenvirmment. hadmade
signi?cant strides in reducing its emissions,
while developlrg countries' emissions will
grow~perhaps to 70 percent ofthe world's
total by the year 2025. .

 

 

 

 

 

 

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