Side Event

Biodiversity and ecosystem services benefits of climate change mitigation and adaptation projects

Organizer
Bundesamt für Naturschutz

Date and Time
11 October 2012 13:15 - 14:45

Meeting
Eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 11)

Climate change mitigation and adaptation projects can potentially deliver benefits for biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, in some instances, for example, where afforestation leads to the establishment of monocultures or the introduction of exogenous trees, climate projects may have negative impacts on biodiversity. Neglecting the potential of biodiversity to increase ecosystem stability and to support sustainability can counteract the broader objectives and the effectiveness of climate change mitigation and adaptation projects. Jointly organised by BfN, UNEP-WCMC and Birdlife International this side-event will provide a forum for discussions on approaches to better integrate biodiversity into climate change mitigation and adaptation projects, as well as the relationship between project evaluation and selection criteria, and related objectives of the CBD and UNFCCC. Specifically it will present, and collect feedback on, draft criteria that have been developed for the International Climate Initiative (ICI) funded by Germany´s Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU) to select and evaluate climate change projects that minimise harm to biodiversity and ecosystem services and maximise benefits