2fj- lll 93 1~7 : S-f '$'33 1 32 89 00 59 CES,ELROPRAIIS

y04

Q002

HED)ELBER Cx APPEAL A NNrc7C A
TO HEADS OF STATES AND GOVERNMENTS
Onn the closure of the Rio Summit, the following Appeal was signed by 425 members of the
scientific and intellectual community. The subject matter raised by the Heidelberg Appeal
and the fruitful debate it has engendered are prompting the involvement of a number of
scientists and intellectuals . The values embraced by the Appeal remain a topic of on,going
intArest. .

We want to make our full contribution to the
preservation of our common heritage, the
Earth .
We are however worried, at the dawn of the
twenty-first century, at the einergemce of an
irrational ideology which is opposed to
scientific and industrial progress and ;
impedes economic and social development .
We contend that a Natural State, sometimes
idealized by movements with a tendency to
look toward the past, does not exist and has
probablyy never existed since man's first
appearance in the biosphere, insofar as
humanity has always progressed by
iLcreasingly harnessing Nature to its needs
and not the rcverse . .
W e fully subscribe to the objectives of a
zcientific ecology for a universe whose
resources uiust be taken stock of, monit'ored"
and preserved .
But we herewith derrran,d that tliis stocktaking, monitoring and preservation be
founded on scientific criteria and not on
irrational pre-c.onceptions .

We intend to assert science's rPsponsibilitSand duties toward societyy as a whole .
We do however forewarn the authorities in
charge of our planet's destiny against
decisions which are supported by pseudoscientific arguments or false and non
relevant data .
W e draw evervbodv's attention to the
absolute necessity of helping poor countries
attain a level of sustainable development
which matches that of the rest of the planet,
protecting them from troubles an d dangers
stemming from developed nations, and
avoiding their entanglement in a web of
unrealistic obligations which atould
compromise both their independezic. ; and
their dignity .
The greatest evils which stalk rjur Earth are
ignorance and opprzssion . and not Science,
Technology attd Industrv whose
instruments, when ade .quatelly manager3 .
are indispensable tools of a future shape.a h,,Humanity, by itself and for ir_eli . .
overcoming major proo :en-: ;p iiltr
overpopulation, starvation :an,l

diseases .
W e stress that many essential human
activities are carried out, either by
manipulating hazardous substances or in
their proximity, and that progress and
development have always involved
increasing' control' over hostile forces, to the
benefit of mar_kind .
We therefore cousiiler that scientific ecology
is iio uaore e than an extension of this
cor~zl,inual progress toward the improved tife
of fu L+:re generations .

In arder fnr •,-o4r ncxrre w be tnclux-J-d on sqgRnture itst . p :i-cu,, r :tr_rr. r :rzs c-nn nf!F'e :+npetrl,
duly sr,hned and stcrin€ your aCaclerrzic tiales and /or prC,"c~SfiiG : a pociti,7., tu :

Dr V• 5alomatt ; cocrrziin zetar of tF Fla :de-'?err A ap&] :: I G . acwr.u;= dc lft=e-ai-z-e 75008 Peris Frc r. _~. Fa_x 6?.? 7 42 89 '+JIJ'59 .

http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/jmc24e00/pdf

ldetaclber,g Aprri 14 jsrd rrr :ision% .

2t128385655