8.9. Feehan

Keynote Presentations from the 2nd ALTER-Net Summer School, Peyresq 1 - 13 September 2007

Abstract

Europe’s biodiversity is already affected by climate change. We see startling changes in growing season and many species are moving northwards. For the future, European research shows that our heavily modified and intensively used landscapes, together with the pace of climate change, will have major adverse effects on many species and ecosystems. The impact of climate change on biodiversity varies extensively from region to region. The most sensitive natural ecosystems in Europe are found in mountain regions, coastal zones (the Baltic wetlands in particular), the Arctic and in various parts of the Mediterranean. In these regions, many organisms and ecosystems are likely to have difficulty in adapting to climate change. For example, in the Alps a large percentage loss of species under high emission and temperature increase scenarios is projected, and a large percentage of the European flora will either become vulnerable, endangered, or committed to extinction, by the end of this century.

Climate change is very likely to alter conditions of suitability for many species in current conservation areas. This poses a major challenge for conservation, because current conservation policy is underpinned by the idea of static species ranges. The ability of countries to meet the requirements of EU Directives and other international conventions is likely to be compromised by climate change, and a more dynamic strategy for conservation is needed for sustaining biodiversity (IPCC 2007). This has important consequences for the successful implementation of the Natura 2000 network which covers over 18% of the EU25’s terrestrial area. Towards boosting nature’s adaptation capacity, the recent Commission’s Biodiversity Communication calls for the strengthening of the coherence, connectivity and resilience of the EU’s network of protected areas. Specific measures to help the most at-risk habitats and species to adapt are also called for.

The EEA is currently assessing some of the consequences of climate change for the implementation and management of the Natura 2000 network. Some results of this work will be presented. The issue poses some particularly challenging scientific and policy-related questions. Some of the ecology-policy interface issues will be highlighted for discussion.

About the EEA:

The EEA is a specialised agency of the European Commission. Its role is to provide data and information to support sound environmental policy making and policy implementation in Europe. It has 32 member countries and therefore takes a pan-European focus on much of its work, while operating in close co-operation with the EU institutions. In the area of biodiversity, the EEA’s work focuses on data, information and analysis of Europe’s conservation areas including the Natura 2000 network; sustainable use and management of biodiversity within the Europe’s agriculture and forestry sectors; and co-ordinating the development of indicators to track progress towards the 2010 target of halting biodiversity loss. The EEA’s work on biodiversity and climate change currently centres on developing indicators of the impacts of climate change on biodiversity in Europe, and on assessing the consequences of climate change for the implementation and management of the Natura 2000 network. The EEA’s forthcoming 2008 indicator-based report ‘Climate Change Impacts in Europe’, will examine and assess the observed effects of climate change on Europe’s biodiversity.

Information and links for this presentation:

• EEA homepage: http://www.eea.europa.eu
• The European Community Biodiversity Clearing House Mechanism: http://biodiversity-chm.eea.europa.eu/
• The 2006 EEA Report ‘Progress towards halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010’ summarises our knowledge about biodiversity in Europe and explains the policy framework including the Natura 2000 network of protected areas: http://reports.eea.europa.eu/eea_report_2006_5/en
• International Day for Biological Diversity, an annual CBD and UNEP event, the theme of which this year was climate change and biodiversity: http://www.cbd.int/programmes/outreach/awareness/biodiv-day-2007.shtml
• The website of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) contains further information about the Fourth Assessment Report: http://www.ipcc.ch/
• The European Commission’s 2006 Communication on Biodiversity addresses biodiversity and climate change in Policy Area 3: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/biodiversity/comm2006/index_en.htm
• Information on EU policies to address climate change is available on DG Environment’s web site: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/home_en.htm
• International research projects within the EU which cover biodiversity and climate change include the following:
  • ALARM: http://www.alarmproject.net/alarm/
  • BRANCH: http://www.branchproject.org/
  • MONARCH: http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/research/biodiversity/monarch.php
  • ACCELERATES: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/accelerates/
  • ATEAM: http://www.pik-potsdam.de/ateam/ateam.html
• This research is facilitated and further developed by networks of excellence including ALTER-Net, research co-ordination (eg CIRCLE http://www.circle-era.net/ ), and meta-analysis (eg MACIS, http://www.macis-project.net/ ). A number of important national activities are also ongoing.
• Further information about EU-funded research within the biodiversity theme is available on the website of DG Research: http://ec.europa.eu/research/environment/themes/article_1348_en.htm , and a catalogue of 6th Framework Programme projects on climate change is also available: http://ec.europa.eu/research/environment/pdf/european_research_climate_change_en.pdf