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Intl confab links biodiversity and climate change

(Manila February 1, 2011) - Some 300 local and international environmentaladvocates, including scientists, researchers, academicians, policy makers andrepresentatives of international organizations, opened today an international conferenceto discuss the relationship between biodiversity and climate change.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Environment andNatural Resources (DENR) are jointly organizing the event, in cooperation with theUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP), National Economic andDevelopment Authority (NEDA), DIVERSITAS, ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB),World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Commission on Climate Change (CCC), DENR-ProtectedAreas and Wildlife Bureau, Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural

Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), and the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Resources Research and Development (PCAMRD).

The three-day International Conference on Biodiversity and Climate Change at thePhilippine International Convention Center will discuss and exchange research findingson the interactions of biodiversity and climate change, status of biodiversity, effects of climate change on biodiversity, and climate change mitigation and adaptation; identifyresearch gaps and conceptualize collaborative research undertakings on biodiversityand climate change; identify strategies for mitigation and adaptation, includingeducation and advocacy; and link potential donors, and research experts and educatorsfor the conduct of future research and implementation of programs on biodiversityconservation and climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Conference Chairperson Dr. Angel Alcala, former DENR Secretary, said paper presentations and discussions will focus on the following themes: status of biodiversity;causes and impacts of climate change on biodiversity and ecosystems; climate changemitigation and adaptation; education and advocacy; and partners perspectives for research on biodiversity and climate change.

Prominent environmentalists invited to address the Conference are Senator LorenLegarda, chairperson, Senate Committee on Climate Change; Secretary Ramon Paje,

DENR; Secretary Patricia Licuanan, Commission on Higher Education; Secretary MarioMontejo, Department of Science and Technology; Commissioner Naderev Sano,Philippine Climate Change Commission; Country Director Renaud Meyer, UNDP;Executive Director Rodrigo U. Fuentes, ACB; and Vice-Chairman Jose Ma. LorenzoTan, World Wildlife Fund.

ACB Executive Director Rodrigo U. Fuentes said climate change exerts extremepressure on the existing terrestrial and marine biodiversity as well as the resulting

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environmental benefits such as protection against erosion, flood and carbon dioxideemissions.

More than 18 per cent of the global biodiversity, approximately 35 per cent of the globalmangrove forests and 30 per cent of the coral reefs are found in the ASEAN Member States. Owing to their long coastline (173,000-kilometer coastline) and island nature(113,000-square kilometer ocean surface between land surfaces), many ASEANcountries are most affected by climate change, Director Fuentes explained.

He added that the interconnection of global climate change and biodiversity loss is nowwidely recognized. The effects of climate change on biodiversity have negative impactson human well being but biodiversity, through the ecosystem services it supports, alsomakes significant contribution to both climate change mitigation and adaptation.Biodiversity management is an important means for helping slow down climate changeand its impacts.

The Philippine government as a party to the United Nations Framework Convention haslegislated Republic Act No. 9729, known as the Climate Change Act of 2009, which willmainstream climate change in government policies. The Philippine President has issuedan Executive Order No. 474 mandating higher education institutions (HEI) to updatelistings of Philippine biodiversity and create databases. A Commission on Higher Education (CHED) research program dealing primarily, or in part, with biodiversity hasbeen implemented since last year. Scientific reports on this program are expected to bepresented in the ongoing Conference. #