Lurity at the time of the Anthropocene sees the range of its choices narrowing year after year. On the one hand, climate change is on the way to making part of the planet uninhabitable within the horizon of human life. On the other hand, limiting these changes means refraining from using fossil fuels, the main emitters of greenhouse gases, and therefore voluntarily abandoning a major component of our comfort. Moreover, even if humanity chooses not to fight, the current energy consumption, 80% of fossil origin, therefore in limited quantities, will reach a peak in the century to decrease thereafter. It is therefore inevitable that, sooner or later, voluntarily or not, society will change in depth.
Modern scientific research is responsible for apprehending the world and clarifying the possibilities. This mission takes on a very special meaning when a fine understanding of cause and effect becomes vital. But this research, so effective and so useful, was built in a rapidly growing world benefiting from abundant energy resources. Today, only the richest nations devote a significant part of their GDP to it. In a context of restriction, research will probably be questioned, victim of arbitrations necessary for the reorganization of a sober society or abrupt societal convulsions.
According to this scenario, what does research activity weigh in the face of maintaining food security, heated housing, the health system, mobility or, quite simply, the rule of law requiring the funding of parliamentary institutions? , judicial, police and military? The abandonment of research for budgetary reasons is not a distant and improbable scenario, it is the choice already made by many States when the means are limited. By calling for strong and necessary actions for climate stabilization, research is hastening its end or, at least, justifying its rapid overhaul on a level never seen before.
Obvious choices
Because time horizons are shortening and resources are dwindling, the time has come to arbitrate between science fronts in a concerted and reasoned way. Some areas desperately need support, for example those relating to energy transition, food security, understanding planetary boundaries or the habitability of the planet. On the other hand, it is legitimate to ask whether research leading to energy- and resource-intensive solutions is desirable when a certain immediate sobriety is a prerequisite for the objective of remaining below 2°C. temperature increase.
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