Exclusive | Nobel Chemistry Laureate Warns About Climate Change, Decries Spread of Authoritarianism

Climate change poses existential consequences that extend far beyond rising sea levels and extreme weather, according to Nobel Chemistry Prize laureate Morten Meldal. In an exclusive interview with Storm Media, the University of Copenhagen professor issued a stark warning: the greatest casualty of a warming planet will be global peace.

"[Climate change] is going to also create more and more hostility in the world," Meldal warned.

"When you don't have your livelihood, you're going to fight for it. There's gonna be more wars."

The 72-year-old Danish scientist, who has witnessed the melting of Greenland's ice sheet firsthand, expressed deep concern about the intersection of climate disaster and shifting global politics.He recently visited Taiwan as part of the Taiwan Bridge Program—delivering a lecture at National Taiwan University—where he shared his insights on the future of science, the spread of authoritarianism, and how "chemistry is everything."

For Meldal, the climate crisis cannot be solved without addressing the current political climate. He noted that as ecological disasters like floods and wildfires become more frequent, public fear is driving a dangerous political shift.

"When you have a crisis like the global warming - or the floodings, the fires, and so on that comes with that - people get scared, they seek to have somebody to protect them. And that's why we have today anautocratic trend, which is like a wildfire across the world, you have in Russia,  you have in China, you have in US," Meldal observed.

He warned that authoritarian systems fundamentally undermine the global cooperation required to address planetary threats.

The consequences of inaction, he noted, are catastrophic. Beyond the melting of Russia's permafrost and the potential disruption of the Gulf Stream, the melting of the Greenland ice sheet threatens to submerge coastal cities, putting up to a billion people in a survival crisis. He called the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement under the Trump administration "foolish," emphasizing that the evidence of climate change is undeniable.

The geopolitical friction surrounding climate change is perhaps most visible in Greenland. Addressing the Trump administration's repeated ambitions to acquire the world's largest island, Meldal was unequivocal.

"The U.S. government has no right to own Greenland," he stated.

As a Danish autonomous territory, Greenland has operated under agreements reached through extensive negotiations between the Greenlandic and Danish people. Meldal noted that any attempt by the U.S. to seize it would violate the sovereignty of both territories.

The true motive behind this ambition, he explained, is highly transactional and revolves around the Trump administration's desire to capture Greenland's rare earth deposits and other electricity-related resources.

While Meldal is vocal about global crises, his primary legacy is rooted in molecular solutions.He shared the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with K. Barry Sharpless and Carolyn Bertozzi for pioneering "click chemistry"—a revolutionary technique he compares to Lego or Velcro. It allows scientists to connect molecules using highly selective, fast, and precise chemical tools.

During his visit, Meldal detailed how this technology is driving rapid advancements across multiple fields:

Current cancer treatments often lack precision, attacking healthy cells and causing severe side effects like hair loss.

"If we could, by some means, target our molecules directly to the cancer cell - and only to the cancer cell - they would then be small Trojan horses that could release a chemical or something inside the cancer cell to kill it."

Historically, many chemical reactions also required massive amounts of toxic organic solvents.

Click chemistry allows complex polymers to be produced in water within very short timeframes, drastically reducing costs and environmental impact.

The technique is also being used to develop ultra-tough materials, including advanced Kevlar and "self-repairing" paints for aircraft that can automatically seal scratches to prevent structural corrosion.

Meldal's current research focuses on installing molecular antennas on silicon wafers to capture light. By using click chemistry to convert photons directly into hydrogen, his team hopes to dramatically improve the efficiency of clean energy production.

Despite his towering achievements, Meldal's path to chemistry was surprisingly accidental.Born in Copenhagen to an artist mother and an executive father, a rebellious teenage Meldal rejected his father's push toward business. At 15, he worked in a brick factory, moving up to 12 tons of heavy materials daily.

At the Danish Technical University, he was torn between computer programming and natural sciences. The deciding moment came down to sheer luck—and gravity.

In the era of punch-card programming, Meldal was carrying a massive box containing thousands of computer-coded cards for a molecular calculation program. Walking too fast, he dropped the box, scattering the thousands of unnumbered cards across the floor. Unwilling to spend weeks reassembling them, he definitively pivoted his focus to chemistry.

Today, he views chemistry not just as a science, but as the fundamental lens through which to view human existence.

"Everything around us is molecules," he laughed.

"When we breathe the air, that's chemistry. When we eat a piece of rye bread,that's chemistry. When we brush our teeth,that's chemistry. When we take an eyedrop, that's chemistry. When we have emotions, that's also chemistry." 

A passionate painter and former guitarist, Meldal relies heavily on his artistic mind in the lab.

"I'm a visual person who likes chemistry's three-dimensional structural world. You need imagination to visualize the world in your mind."

Looking toward the future, Meldal believes the solution to our political and environmental crises lies in early childhood education.He advocates for a radical shift in how we teach science: using cartoon animation to teach first graders basic chemical concepts.

Because "chemistry is everything," Meldal argued that a scientifically literate public is essential for a functioning democracy.

"If we want to elect appropriate people through elections, voters must have a basic understanding of the chemistry behind climate change," he stressed.

Concluding his reflections on his visit to Taiwan, Meldal expressed deep admiration for the island's democratic resilience.

"I like the spirit of the people. I'm very much a person who is in favor of freedom—freedom of thought, freedom of action. I think the Taiwanese resistance to the opposite sends a very strong message to the world."

His ultimate advice to the next generation of innovators and citizens is simple but profound.

"Do what you think is important, don't do what your peers think is important. Study it with all your heart, get good at it, because then you'll find inspiration. When you find inspiration, you can achieve things which are exceptional." （Related： Coupang Confirms 204,552 Taiwan Users Caught in Data Breach Linked to Former Employee ｜ Latest ）

Original Article in Chinese