Home | Portail de l'Assemblée
en français | Extranet | Council of Europe | Search

Search

News

Documents

Index
A-Z

The News

Latest
news

Newsletter

Meetings

The
week ahead

Sessions

Conferences
and colloquies

All
meetings

Documents

Adopted
texts

Working
documents

Reports
under preparation

Verbatim
records

How
to search?

Functioning

PACE
in brief (PDF)

- Origin

- Working
structure

- Procedures

- Committees

Rules
of procedure

Secretary
General

Organisational
chart

Members

List
from A to Z

By
political group

By
national delegation

By
committee

Other
bodies

Members
since 1949

Political groups
(www)

EPP/CD

SOC

ALDE

EDG

UEL

Links

Council
of Europe

National
parliaments

International
parliaments

International
institutions

Download

PACE's
logo

Photographs

Provisional
edition

Biodiversity and climate change

Recommendation 1918 (2010)1

1.
Depletion of biological diversity is currently taking place
much faster than natural extinction.

2.       Human
activities are the main cause of this depletion, both directly
(soil and marine pollution and the introduction of invasive
species, etc.) and indirectly (exponential increase in climate
change brought on by various activities).

3.       The
smooth functioning of ecosystems is vital to the well-being of
humankind, as they provide free services such as water
resources, soil fertility, firewood and timber, food,
medicines, fossil, solar, wind and geothermal energy and
climate regulation.

4.       Global
warming is a well established fact and an unprecedented
challenge for biodiversity. Worldwide, it is also reflected in
an increase in average air and sea temperatures, extensive
snow and ice melt and rising average sea levels.

5.
According to some experts, average temperatures on the Earth’s
surface could increase by 1.4 to 5.8° C by the end of the
21st century, with greater increases on land and in the high
latitudes than at sea or in the tropics. Sea levels could rise
by between 0.09 and 0.88 m and even, according to certain
experts, much more. Precipitation is also expected to increase
in the high latitudes and equatorial regions and to fall in
the subtropics, with an increase in high rainfall. It is
predicted that 20% of coastal wetlands could disappear by 2080
because of rising sea levels.

6.
Modelling changes in biodiversity is difficult. However, it is
obvious that climate change has serious repercussions for
animal populations, the distribution of species and
ecosystems. This also has an impact on the length of seasons,
reproduction periods, animal and plant growth, animal
migration, the geographical distribution of species and
density of populations, the frequency of parasitic
infestations and diseases, etc.

7.
Changes in biological diversity in ecosystems and landscapes,
which are caused by climate change or other phenomena (such as
deforestation and forest fires) also, in turn, affect the
climate by altering the absorption and emission of greenhouse
gases in particular. In addition, changes in the structure of
the biological communities in the upper layers of the oceans
could alter their absorption of CO2 or affect
weather conditions and climate change. This is therefore a
spiral-like process which could have disastrous results at
global level.

8.       The
Parliamentary Assembly notes that there is very good evidence
of the impact of climate change on species and habitats,
making them all the more vulnerable. It underlines the fact
that uncertainties concerning the precise effects of climate
change on biodiversity should not be a reason for deferring
concrete action to preserve ecosystems and that the principle
of precaution must be applied.

9.       The
Assembly underlines the need for the full and immediate
implementation of the objectives of the Convention on
Biological Diversity adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro in 1992.

10.       It
points out that in April 2002, at the sixth meeting of the
Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity, organised under the aegis of the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), the governments undertook “to
achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of
biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level
as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of
all life on Earth” (2010 Biodiversity Target).

11.       The
Assembly also draws attention to its Recommendation 1823
(2008) on global warming and ecological disasters,
Resolution 1406 (2004) on global warming: beyond Kyoto,
Recommendation 1883 (2009) and Resolution 1682
(2009) on challenges posed by climate change,
Recommendation 1885 (2009) on drafting an additional
protocol to the Convention on Human Rights, concerning the
right to a healthy environment and
Recommendation 1862 on environmentally induced migration
and displacement: a 21st-century challenge.

12.       The
Assembly also draws attention to Recommendation No. 135 (2008)
of the Standing Committee of the Convention on the
Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern
Convention, ETS No. 104) on addressing the impacts
of climate change on biodiversity, which calls on the
contracting parties and observer states to address and
communicate, as a matter of urgency the impacts of climate
change on biological diversity and its conservation, inter
alia, and to its Recommendation No. 143 (2009) on further
guidance for parties on biodiversity and climate change, which
calls inter alia on increasing efforts to improve
understanding of the linkages between biodiversity and climate
change.

13.       It
points out that the environment ministers of the G8 and
emerging countries, meeting in Syracuse (Italy) in April 2009,
adopted the Syracuse Charter on Biodiversity, making
biodiversity a major global cause on a par with the fight
against global warming and underlining the close link between
the two.

14.       The
Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers
calls on the governments of Council of Europe member and
observer states to take account of the opportunities offered
by the International Year of Biodiversity in 2010 to:

14.1.
improve the interface between science and politics,
particularly with regard to biodiversity, whose importance
still seems to be underestimated by some policy makers and
by a large proportion of the public;

14.2.
devise appropriate policies and take concrete measures to
promote the conservation of biological diversity and reduce
the impact of climate change on biodiversity;

14.3.
develop evaluation systems to improve our knowledge of how
biological diversity interacts with ecosystem structure and
functioning and deepen our understanding of how biodiversity
reacts to climate change factors and other exogenous
pressures;

14.4.
encourage synergy and interaction between national, regional
and local environmental projects and policies on climate
change and the objectives of international treaties such as
the Convention on Biological Diversity;

14.5.
promote a more efficient transfer of best practices in
preventing biodiversity loss, which is very important in
ensuring that a co-ordinated response can be devised and
implemented at European level;

14.6.
develop education, information and participation programmes
targeting the public and policy-makers concerning the value
of biodiversity and the importance of the conduct of
individuals, businesses and the authorities in preserving it
and mitigating the impact of climate change.

14.7.
step up the fight against illegal trading in fauna and
flora;

14.8.
fully respect the status of protected areas, extend them as
far as possible and establish environmental corridors to
link them, while focusing in particular on cross-border
areas which are more vulnerable because of the
considerations of territorial sovereignty that affect
them;

14.9.
ensure that the networks of protected areas and the
environmental corridors between them improve possibilities
for flora and fauna to adapt to climate change by means of
migration;

14.10.
not allow large infrastructure projects that would cut
through, and thus destroy, the above-mentioned environmental
corridors;

14.11.
protect all old-growth forests, functioning wetlands and
permanent grasslands/pasture lands as carbon stores and
sinks and important habitats;

14.12.
adapt forestry techniques in the forests used for economic
purposes so as to reduce impacts on climate and
biodiversity;

14.13.
facilitate transition to sustainable agriculture which would
produce quality products, maintain high nature value
habitats and landscapes, and have low climate impact;

14.14.
support the renewable energy developments that have a real
effect on reduction of green-house gas emissions and no
negative impacts on biodiversity, and in no way support
“green-wash” projects;

14.15.
co-ordinate the responses to climate change and biodiversity
loss by different sectors to achieve synergy and avoid
conflicting actions and duplication of efforts;

14.16.
implement Recommendation No. 135 (2008) of the Standing
Committee of the Bern Convention on addressing the impacts
of climate change on biodiversity, which sets out detailed
guidelines for concrete action at all levels;

14.17.
identify, on the basis of the experience acquired in the
context of the activities conducted with a view to achieving
the “2010 Biodiversity Target”, a common strategy for a
common framework of activities “post-2010”.

1 Assembly debate on 30 April
2010 (18th Sitting) (see Doc.
12198, report of the Committee on the Environment,
Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs, rapporteur: Mrs
John-Calame). Text adopted by the Assembly on 30 April
2010 (18th Sitting).

©
PACE | Disclaimer
| ©
Photo credit | Address
| Contact : [email-masked]