13th Annual Conference, Oxford, 7-10 September 2005
of the European
Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils EEAC
Climate Change and Biodiversity - Meeting the Challenge
People and nature - plan, adapt and survive
Hosted by English Nature (EN) in co-operation with the Royal Commission for Environmental Pollution (RCEP), Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).
Background
'Biodiversity, climate change and the need for adaptation' is the theme for this year's EEAC conference. Climate change is real and happening now.
There is overwhelming scientific consensus that we have entered a period of unprecedented climate change, driven largely by human activities, and many regard this as one of the most significant threats to face the modern world.
Predicted warming in excess of 2 degrees Celsius on pre-industrial levels would constitute dangerous climate change and is likely to have disastrous consequences for ecological and human systems.
We are locked into at least 50 years of climate change which we cannot now prevent because of historic greenhouse gas emissions and the time these remain in the atmosphere.
We need to take strong action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Meeting the Kyoto commitments and more is vital. We must also take action to avert some of the risks to biodiversity that will follow from climate changes already underway.
The focus of our conference will be on adaptation measures to reduce the risks of climate change to biodiversity, and the conservation of ecosystems and the species they support. We will consider how adaptation needs to be embedded in both biodiversity and sectoral policies, and show how regional and national adaptation strategies are being formulated to address climate change issues. We will also use story-telling to explore why biodiversity matters and make clear why everyone should care about it, particularly in a time of climate change. Engaging the public and politicians in action to protect the environment and enhance its quality is vital.
The EEAC conference will contribute to the climate change
discussions, which
will take place in the European Union as part of the UK Presidency. The
EEAC has
been invited to address the Nature Directors meeting and an EEAC
Statement with
key messages and actions is in preparation. We will also publish a
reader that
will contain key papers on biodiversity adaptation and include the
findings from
the conference.
This is a Carbonplus+ event. As well as reducing emissions at source, English Nature and partners are also planting trees with the Woodland Trust, the UK's leading woodland conservation charity, to help offset carbon dioxide emissions created by holding this event.
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