in november 1995, he participated in his first ipcc meeting (the intergovernmental panel on climate change, that investigates climate change on earth) in madrid, as sole belgian representative. he contributed to a short sentence that entered in the annals of the organisation: "the balance of evidence suggests that there is a discernible human influence on global climate. " this statement is crucial, as it mentions clearly for the first time that a worrying climate evolution is ongoing; it is demonstrated and no longer a theoretical projection of the future.