Climate change and biodiversity
Public hearing by the Greens/EFA in the European Parliament
In front of a crowded conference room, the speakers of the first panel focused their interventions on Natura 2000 and some other measures the EU took to protect the biodiversity like the Birds and Habitats Directives. While those EU legislations had some positive impacts and helped to improve the situation in some areas, there's still much to be done in order to fully take account of biodiversity regarding human interventions on nature.
The second panel addressed more specifically the question of climate change and biodiversity. The experts showed how global warming is an already existing pressure on animals and nature with severe risks of loss of biodiversity since the species don't have the time or capacities to adapt to their new environment. On the other hand changes in the nature and in biodiversity has also impacts on climate change. For instance the desertic zones in the oceans are today 6.6 million km2 larger than in 1998! It means less capacity of the ocean to pump the atmospheric CO2...
For more information:
Agenda of the hearing (PDF)
Presentation of N. Selvia, institute of nature conservation Poland
Presentation of K Zaunberger, European Commissions
Presentation of A. Arroyo, WWF
Presentation of K. Kreiser, BirdLife
Presentation of J Webbe, CBD
Presentation of JP Le Duc, Museum histoire naturelle
Presentation 2 JP Le Duc
