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Gincana 3: Biological Diversity and Climate Change Gincana 3 Biological Diversity and Climate Change Gincana 3 Biological Diversity and Climate Change Table of Contents AHMED DJOGHLAF Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) ..............................1 BAN KI-MOON United Nations Secretary-General ...........................................................................2 ACHIM STEINER UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) ....................................................3 GÉRALD TREMBLAY Mayor of Montréal ....................................................................................................5 YVO de BOER Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) .................................................................................................................5 DR. R. K. PACHAURI Director-General, The Energy Resources Institute (TERI), Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) ...............................................7 MONIQUE BARBUT Chief Executive Officer, Global Environment Facility (GEF) ......................................8 JENS STOLTENBERG Prime Minister of Norway ........................................................................................9 RT. HON. SIR ANEROOD JUGNAUTH President of the Republic of Mauritius ...................................................................10 A. RAJA Minister for Environment & Forests, India .............................................................11 STEFAN WALLIN Minister, Ministry of the Environment, Finland .......................................................14 SIGMAR GABRIEL Minster, Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany.................................................................................15 BARRY GARDINER Printed in Canada Minister For Biodiversity, Landscape and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom .............17 ISBN: 92-9225-067-1 Copyright: Secretariat of the Convention NICOLAS HULOT on Biological Diversity 2007 Fondation Nicolas Hulot pour la Nature et l’Homme .............................................20 All Rights reserved JULIA MARTON-LEFÈVRE Design and typesetting Director General, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) ........................................21 Em Dash Design THOMAS LOVEJOY President of the Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment .......23 Cover photo credits Spheres bottom to top: Roeslien Raimond, CAMILLE PARMESAN Franz Dejon, Khosey1/ww.flickr.com, Associate Professor of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin .............25 Bill Adler, istockphoto.com Background top: Schneider-UNEP ANILLA CHERIAN bottom: Robbie Ribeiro Ph.D., Environmental Consultant ...........................................................................27 Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Climate Change is Real, The Time to Act is Now he recently released report of the dized by the twin threats of climate change has clearly demonstrated we need to protect Intergovernmental Panel on Climate and the loss of biodiversity. biodiversity—even if only in terms of pure self- T Change prepared by 2500 experts Already, scientific observations around the interest for our own species. The variety of from 130 countries has made it clear that world have shown a range of responses in plants, animals and micro-organisms—and climate change is real. Indeed, the conse- nature to changing weather patterns, from this includes genetic diversity within species— quences of a warming planet are now visible. earlier bird-nesting seasons in Europe to the underpins a range of services provided to us by Bare green winter slopes in Alpine ski resorts “bleaching” of tropical reefs as warmer sea healthy ecosystems, among them the provision and vast chunks of ice breaking off from land temperatures upset the delicate symbiosis of fresh water, food and fiber, the pollination of masses in the Arctic and Antarctic are stark between coral organisms and algae. crops, opportunities for recreation, and even reminders of the consequences of continuing Of course, plants and animals have often climate control itself through the absorption to pour ever-greater quantities of greenhouse had to adapt to past changes in the climate— of carbon dioxide by vegetation. gases such as carbon dioxide into the atmo- indeed, it has been an important factor in the A failure to address the causes of biodi- sphere, and on the urgency of finding cleaner evolutionary change that has produced the versity loss therefore has huge implications for ways of providing energy, goods and services variety of species we see today. human development, especially as the rural to a growing population. It will be much more difficult, however, for poor are often those most directly dependent What has been largely missing from this ecosystems to adapt naturally to the pres- on these ecosystem services. growing awareness of the threat of Slowing climate change through climate change has been the rec- a reduction in emissions from the ognition that it is linked to another, burning of fossil fuels is a vital equally-important human-caused long-term step in safeguarding change to the planet’s loss of bio- the variety of life on Earth. Since logical diversity. The Millennium forests, peatlands, and other eco- Ecosystem Assessment prepared systems hold vast amounts of car- by 1395 experts from 95 coun- bon, avoiding deforestation and the tries have made it clear that climate loss of peatlands and other eco- change is the second root cause of systems can contribute to these the unfolding unprecedented loss efforts. of biodiversity on our planet However, even if all such emis- The link between biodiversity sions were stopped today, average and climate change operates in two temperatures could be expected directions. Firstly, climate change to increase well into the future, is indeed an important driver of because greenhouse gases lin- the loss of biological diversity, as ger in the atmosphere for many species and ecosystems struggle decades. Because of this iner- to keep pace with rapid changes tia, an increasing focus is being in temperature and rainfall. What is much less ent climatic trends brought about by human placed on measures to help societies adapt appreciated is the second aspect of the link: activity, for two main reasons. First, the rate to climate change, in parallel with efforts to the ability of human societies to adapt to cli- of change projected over the coming century minimize further warming. It is here that much mate change will be compromised if we fail is much greater than anything experienced in greater priority must be placed on the role of to reduce the other pressures on biodiver- recent geological time. Second, the options biodiversity. sity—such as deforestation, pollution and available for natural adaptation have been Despite its importance, climate change is unsustainable harvesting of fish stocks and greatly reduced by the large-scale conversion only one of a number of human-induced pres- other wildlife. of habitats: if a forest is surrounded by bare sures acting on ecosystems, often simultane- In recognition of this vital link, the Parties to pasture or urban sprawl, for example, many ously. It is within our power to reduce each the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) animals and plants are unable to shift their of these pressures. By using all the tools in will celebrate this year’s International Day for range to more suitable locations should their our possession to maintain or increase the Biological Diversity under the theme biodi- current territories become unsuitable due to resilience of ecosystems, we can add to their versity and climate change. This major event climate change. ability to withstand the impact of a changing in the life of the Convention for life on Earth Climate change therefore has the poten- climate. In other words, protecting biodiversity will also coincide with the celebration of the tial to accelerate the current rate of species should be seen as an essential component of International Polar Year. We hope to highlight a extinctions, already higher than at any time adaptation to climate change. positive opportunity: by tackling the two issues since the disappearance of the dinosaurs 65 Coral reefs provide a case in point. A wide together, and with a sense of real urgency, it million years ago, and estimated to be already range of different factors have led to the deg- is still possible to prevent the livelihoods of 100 to 1000 times the background rate. radation of these “rainforests of the ocean”, people around the world from being jeopar- As the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment such as overfishing that depletes the reefs of Gincana 3 1 Ban Ki-moon, The United Nations Secretary-General algae-grazing species and upsets the frag- ile balance of the ecosystem. Activities on land can also cause damage, including the Message on the poorly-managed use of fertilizers that run off farmland, adding excess nutrients such as International Day For nitrogen to coastal waters, and even defor- estation hundreds of kilometers inland that causes soil erosion and swamps the coral Biological Diversity reefs with sediment. A recent report by the IUCN suggests that through better land management and the use of marine protected areas, it may iodiversity is the foundation of life be possible to prevent and even reverse the on earth and one of the pillars of bleaching
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