Although governments and businesses are starting to take greater responsibility for their greenhouse gas emissions, the targets that have been agreed so far are too modest to have any significant impact on the warming trend. IUCN can contribute greatly to the post-Kyoto negotiations by monitoring the impact of climate change on biodiversity, advocating better solutions, influencing policies and laws, and building capacity for effective commitments to reduce atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases. As promoted in the Convention on Biological Diversity, mutually supportive actions addressing climate change, biodiversity loss and human livelihoods should be identified and implemented throughout IUCN networks. The REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) process and the conservation of specific ecosystems, like peatlands, are good examples of what IUCN can greatly and positively influence.
IUCN will work to support full integration of biodiversity concerns into climate change mitigation and adaptation policies at all scales.
Thematic Priority Area - Changing the Climate Forecast
Integrating biodiversity considerations and opportunities into climate change policy and practice
Climate change is driven primarily by human production of greenhouse gases. Reducing, and ultimately halting, the accumulation of atmospheric greenhouse gases will require reducing emissions and enhancing the storage of these gases, in soils, vegetation and other means. But the results of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change make it clear that climate will continue to change for at least the next several decades, requiring ecosystems and human societies to adapt to these changes. IUCN believes that a critical element in adapting to climate change is maintaining biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, which provide the means for adaptation. IUCN therefore will support efforts to reduce emissions, enhance sequestration of greenhouse gases, and ensure that appropriate knowledge, policies and funding are mobilized to conserve the biodiversity that will be essential for adapting to climate change.
The evidence that the world is warming is now compelling: polar bears, among many other species, have become the flagship of species threatened by the shrinking of their habitat; breeding patterns are changing and extreme weather events are increasing. Global climate change is the most pressing concern of the 21st century. Increasing temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events, and sea level rise are already being observed and have serious implications for the environment and human societies. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the capacity of the world’s ecosystems and communities to adapt to inevitable climate change impacts are two central challenges.
IUCN is primarily concerned with the impact of climate change on the world’s biodiversity and on people’s livelihoods, as well as the impacts of actual or proposed mitigation and adaptation measures. Poor and vulnerable countries and communities and others, including women, without access to information and decision making, particularly in developing countries, will be most affected and least able to cope with the impacts of climate change. Their vulnerability is exacerbated by the fact that swift environmental changes often aggravate existing discrimination, further strain access to resources, and lead to conflict. Through its science and expertise, IUCN has a major role to play in influencing policies, developing scenarios and making sure that the best information and capacity are available for implementing these strategies.
Global Result 2.1
Climate change mitigation and adaptation policies and practice include biodiversity concerns from local to global level.
Global Result 2.2
Natural resource management policies and strategies to adapt to the impacts of climate change are adopted and implemented.
Despite the growing awareness about climate change, we are now past the point where the earth’s warming can be avoided. Since we cannot prevent all climate change, and while more aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are undoubtedly needed, the key challenge facing the nature conservation community is managing the uncertainties created by climate change. A precautionary approach is needed that reduces current risk, plans for movement of species, and keeps future management options open. This means adopting a more dynamic approach to conservation that tests assumptions, monitors results and adapts management actions
accordingly, for example by enabling the movement of species in response to climate change through maintaining connectivity in the land/seascape and the establishment of coherent protected area systems.
IUCN will support the adoption and implementation of natural resource management policies and strategies to adapt to the impact of climate change.
Robertson Bay, Antarctica
Photo: IUCN Photo Library © Jim Thorsell
