Two fundamental stories in two reference works

Bernat-Noël Tiffon, a renowned expert in legal and forensic medicine, Professor of Legal Psychology at Abat Oliba University and of Criminal Psychology and Gender and Domestic Violence at ESERP Digital Business School & Law School (University of Vic–Central University of Catalonia), and Corresponding Academician of the Royal European Academy of Doctors (READ), together with José María Baldasano, Emeritus Professor of Environmental Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Nobel Peace Prize laureate as a representative of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Full Member of the READ, presented their latest works at the Academy: «Saga Tiffon: From Romance Surgery to Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology. The Investigation of a Three-Century Family Medical, Historical and Social Journey» (J. M. Bosch Editor) and «Two Degrees More Are Not Such a Big Deal. A History of Climate Denialism» (Cátedra), respectively, at two separate events held on 8 and 12 January.

In a session attended by Alfredo Rocafort, President of the Governing Board of the Royal Academy, Vice Presidents Maria Àngels Calvo and Joaquim Gironella, and Miquel Bruguera, Director of the Academic Studies Unit of the Barcelona Medical Association, Tiffon presented a book that constitutes a journey through the history of medicine in Barcelona over the last 300 years, united by the common thread of a family saga that has managed to endure and persist in the medical profession. «Medical science is what it is today thanks to our ancestors who, through their great dedication, commitment, and effort, achieved a healthcare system far more advanced than that of earlier times. This has been a complex and demanding work of archaeological-historical engineering that brings together five biographies from a single family line, continued longitudinally over time. Generation after generation, the Tiffon family has been linked to medicine, psychiatry, and forensic psychology, leaving behind a legacy that combines scientific rigor, human sensitivity, and a vocation for public service», the author explained.

For his part, Baldasano presented a work that traces the controversial history of climate crisis denial, consistently driven by political and commercial interests, in which he introduces recently coined concepts such as delayism and technological neutrality and calls for collective responsibility in the face of the climate emergency. At an event introduced by Jordi Martí, Full Member and member of the Governing Board of the READ, the expert explained that climate denialism is fundamentally an economic, ideological, political, social, and media phenomenon that rejects or downplays the scientific consensus on current climate change and its consequences, with the primary aim of allowing humanity to continue within a fossil-fuel-based civilization. «Climate change deniers and skeptics want us to believe that the entire issue of global warming is an idea dreamed up by a group of scientists intent on destroying the economy and society. However, the roots of scientific thinking about the Earth’s temperature and its causes derive from the development of knowledge throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The reason for recounting this journey through time of scientific knowledge that has enabled us to better understand how the Earth’s atmosphere and climate system function is that many of the denialist myths, lies, and hoaxes are based on a biased, manipulated, and falsified use of that very knowledge», he stated.

Tiffon has intervened in criminological cases that form part of the contemporary history of Spanish true crime with wide reach and social impact, has taught at Spanish and international universities, and is the author of more than twenty books on the subject. He is also a well-known communicator of academic forensic psychology as a lecturer and as the manager and organizer of leading events and conferences in these fields. He holds national accreditation as an expert psychologist in legal and forensic psychology from the General Council of Official Colleges of Psychologists and is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, the Canadian Society of Forensic Science, the International Academy of Legal Medicine, the French Association of Criminology, and the Mexican Society of Criminology.

Baldasano authored the «Report on Climate Change» debated by the Climate Emergency Commission of the Parliament of Catalonia and also prepared the «Report of the King Jaime I Environmental Awards on Current Climate Change», co-signed with José Luis Rubio and presented before the plenary session of the High Advisory Council for Research, Development and Innovation of the Presidency of the Government of Valencia. He also presented the study «Low-Emission Zones to Improve Urban Air Quality» at the virtual meeting «Barcelona, Low-Emission Zone», organized by the newspaper «La Vanguardia. Baldasano also studied in depth the effects of emission reductions resulting from mobility restrictions during the pandemic in articles such as «Covid-19 lockdown effects on air quality by NO₂ in the cities of Barcelona and Madrid (Spain)», in which he called for the implementation of new urban mobility policies after confirming emission reductions of between 50% and 62% in these two cities during March 2020.