Policy statement on ecological awareness

in the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB)

In a research institute for the terrestrial atmosphere and environment, where issues as the interaction between Sun and Earth, the greenhouse effect, atmospheric dust, the ozone hole, climate heating and ionizing radiation from space are permanently monitored and extensively studied, we can not close our eyes for the impact the institute itself has on the environment.

Therefore :

• BIRA-IASB subscribes to an attentive surveillance of its own consumption of natural resources and attempting to reduce it, in other words, to limit its so-called “ecological footprint”;

• BIRA-IASB supports initiatives to sensitize its employees and to facilitate them to contribute individually to an ecological way of every day working inside the institute;

• BIRA-IASB commits to paying particular attention to activities and research themes contributing to an improved protection of the environment through better knowledge and understanding of its evolution.