Press Room

• In attendance at the event were Flavia Schlegel, assistant director-general of UNESCO; Salvador Alemany, chairman of Abertis and of the Abertis Foundation; Michael Worbs, chairperson of the Executive Board of UNESCO; Josep Maria Coronas, general secretary of Abertis; and doctor Martí Boada, researcher at the Institute of Science and Environmental Technology of the Autonomous University of Barcelona and scientific adviser to the Abertis Foundation.
• Under the title What climate change is the media concerned about?, journalists from different media outlets discussed how the press is able to disseminate and raise public awareness of climate change.
• The talk was held at Castellet Castle, the headquarters of the Abertis Foundation and UNESCO Centre for Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves.

Castellet Castle, UNESCO Centre for Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves and headquarters of the Abertis Foundation, has hosted a debate this morning on the role of the media in helping to prevent and raise awareness of climate change.

In attendance at the opening ceremony were Flavia Schlegel, assistant director-general of UNESCO; Salvador Alemany, chairman of Abertis and of the Abertis Foundation; and Josep Maria Coronas, secretary general of Abertis. All three guests commented that the press has a huge responsibility in getting the public and all the other players involved to appreciate that the future of our planet is in our hands.

Under the title What climate change is the press concerned about?, the event featured the involvement of Antonio Madridejos, science columnist for El Periódico; Antonio Cerrillo, science columnist for La Vanguardia; Tomàs Molina, from TV3 television programme Espai Terra; and Joan Carles Valero, journalist and head of external relations at ABC Catalunya.

One of the key points in discussion was the difference between the United States and Europe when it comes to how citizens perceive climate change. While only a third of North Americans associate human activity with the phenomenon, in Europe it appears that the human causes of climate change are more widely acknowledged.

Delivering the closing address were Michael Worbs, chairperson of the Executive Board of UNESCO, and Doctor Martí Boada, researcher at the Institute of Science and Environmental Technology attached to the Autonomous University of Barcelona and scientific advisor to the Abertis Foundation.

The Abertis Foundation

The Abertis Foundation is present in three main areas (society, culture and the environment) as it seeks to minimise the local impact of the economic activity of the Abertis Group across all the countries in which it operates. Its social commitment takes the form of an extensive road safety programme aimed mainly at the most vulnerable groups of society: school children, young and elderly drivers. Meanwhile, in the cultural realm the Abertis Foundation works closely with leading cultural institutions from all around the world; and when it comes to the environment, its headquarters, Castellet Castle, is a UNESCO Centre for Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves.