There is a sense of urgency for increased climate and biodiversity ambition and action in advance of the UN COP 26 and COP 15 meetings on climate and biodiversity, respectively. This new report from the National Economic and Social Council (NESC), Collaboration on Climate and Biodiversity: Shared Island as a Catalyst for Renewed Ambition & Action, shows that this ambition can be better achieved through collaboration and working in partnership on common climate, biodiversity and sustainable development goals across the island of Ireland.
Forming part of a wider body of work on a Shared Island for the Department of the Taoiseach (Prime Minister, red.), this NESC report examines the particular challenges and opportunities of climate change and biodiversity loss across the island, drawing on an extensive consultation with stakeholders, north and south.
In this report, the Council has identified that there is a shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities; and of the need to accept that strengthening cooperation takes time and requires public engagement and participation. It also points to the deep, shared experience that provides a solid foundation to deliver on this ambition.
To take these opportunities forward, the Council would welcome the development of a shared and inspiring vision for integrated climate and biodiversity action across the island, through a joint statement of common purpose.
The report also illustrates the shared opportunities that exist to develop a sustainable island such as the circular and bio-economy, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, marine and coastal climate adaptation and impact, and valuing networks for nature. Read More
The third and final webinar in the joint EEAC/CADS webinar series on Planetary Health, took place on Thursday October 28th 2021. The session focused on various initiatives that are working to help governments prevent future health risks related to ecosystem degradation, biodiversity loss, pollution and climate change. Two specific initiatives – The Helsinki declaration, and EU Green Deal – were discussed in the context of the Planetary Health Concept by Jaana Halonen (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare) and Céline Charveriat (Institute for European Environmental Policy). The presentation given by Sabine Schlacke (German Advisory Council on Global Change) then focused on policy instruments available to prevent future health risks related to ecosystem degradation, biodiversity loss, and land use (change). The webinar was concluded by a video message from the Planetary Health Alliance and a plea by EEAC Network Chairman Arnau Queralt for better integration of the concept of Planetary Health in policy making.The recordings of the session can be found on the EEAC youtube channel, and the presentations can be found on the EEAC website.
The EEAC Network, in collaboration with the Advisory Council for the Sustainable Development of Catalonia, held two of three consecutive webinars on the concept of planetary health. The recordings of the two first sessions are now available.
During the second webinar, entitled “Planetary Health in the Anthropocene”, Nick Jacobs (Director, IPES-Food), Jordi Serra-Cobo (Lecturer, IRBio), and Aleksandra Kazmierczak (Expert – Climate change and human health, EEA) touched upon the food-health nexus, the profound relation between biodiversity loss, land use change and threats to health, as well as on the relation between climate change and human health. The recordings of the session can be found on the EEAC youtube channel, and the presentations can be found on the EEAC website.
The EEAC Network, in collaboration with the Advisory Council for the Sustainable Development of Catalonia, organized its first of three consecutive webinars on the concept of planetary health today. During this first webinar, entitled “Planetary Health, Introduction to a New Paradigm”, Josep Maria Antó-Boqué (ISGlobal), Sarah Dickin (Stockholm Environment Institute) and Peter Sousa Hoejskov (World Health Organizaiton, Regional Office) touched upon the concept of Planetary Health from different angles, like human health and the one health concept, and discussed policy coherence and entry points for the concept of Planetary Health across the Paris Agreement, Agenda2030, the Sendai Framework, and the New Urban Agenda. The recordings can be found here, and the presentations can be found here.
Given the particular importance of the Glasgow climate negotiations, which were due to take place five years after the Paris agreement should have been adopted in 2020, the Federal Council for Sustainable Development (FRDO-CFDD) decided to issue an own-initiative opinion in preparation for the COP in order to set out its priorities for Belgium. Read More
