Thematic Session 1: Biodiversity and Climate

Governments are increasingly recognizing the importance of halting and reversing nature loss, with over 190 states committing to the Global Biodiversity Framework. Biodiversity loss is also now recognized by the world’s central banks as a source of systemic risk alongside climate change, with initiatives such as the Task Force on Nature-related financial disclosures. Yet most governments, companies, investors and lenders today do not adequately account for nature-related risks and opportunities in their decisions.

Biodiversity protection and climate change action are intricately linked, as the loss of biodiversity exacerbates the effects of climate change and vice versa. Nature-based solutions can help sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while enhancing biodiversity, ecosystem services, and local livelihoods. Furthermore, they can also help communities adapt to climate change impacts such as sea-level rise, extreme weather events, and food insecurity. Therefore, efforts to address climate change must include measures to protect biodiversity, and vice versa, for us to create a sustainable future.

This session will address GEO’s efforts to promote improved reporting and managing of natural resources through the emerging Global Ecosystems Atlas project, which will collect and reconcile the many different maps of ecosystem extent at global, regional, and national scales into an explorable online tool. This will be followed by a discussion by the panelists on how this effort builds on the existing GEO Work Programme initiatives, and the necessary collaborative process to make the Atlas a useful tool and customizable for a wide range of users, especially national and local governments and communities. Panelists will share complementary initiatives, and discuss, among other things, necessary partnerships, technical challenges and opportunities, enabling resources to realize the ambitions of the Atlas.