Organised by The Zoological Society of London

A free, online #ZSLtalks event about the challenges and opportunities of making international commitments on nature and climate a reality

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 18:00 - 19:30 BST

In the last decade we have seen an unprecedented increase in the successful negotiation of international commitments designed to deliver solutions to the ecological and climate crisis. However, despite this diplomatic success, the growing scale and impacts of climate breakdown and biodiversity loss make clear that these commitments are not yet translating into the rapid and transformational action that is needed.

This event will bring scientists, policy professionals and science communicators together to explore how these political agreements can move from ambition to action in the restoration, renewal and protection of the natural world in a way that brings benefits for the climate and biodiversity alike.

>> Register on Eventbrite

Event outline

After decades of stalled negotiations and failed treaties, the passage of the Paris Agreement in 2015, saw the first successful agreement between global leaders on a framework for addressing the climate crisis. In 2021, with the finalisation of the “rulebook”, the Paris Agreement is moving into a new era – one focused on the implementation of climate action. Within the world of biodiversity, we also saw the historic passage of a new global agreement for biodiversity, The Global Biodiversity Framework, in December 2022.

These two agreements mark a step change in international environmental policy. Global attention is now shifting from reaching agreement to scaling up action, with plans and goals in place for the protection and restoration of biodiversity alongside rapid reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

However, despite these international agreements, pledges and commitments, there are still major barriers in place that are slowing down progress on implementation. The clock is ticking, and action is not taking place at the scale or speed necessary for results that will safeguard human and ecosystem wellbeing.

Despite the inherent interconnectedness of the climate and biodiversity crises – significant and damaging silos between climate and biodiversity policy making and action are still prolific, enabling a range of missed opportunities and bad practice. But how can these silos be deconstructed and what does the science tell us is needed for mobilisation of solutions?

This online event will explore these questions and more through the lens of nature and biodiversity, bringing ZSL and external experts together from across science, policy and science communication to explore what integrated solutions to the climate and biodiversity crisis can and should look like. Taking place in the run up to two major meetings for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) this event will focus on how the Paris Agreement and Global Biodiversity Framework can better work together to scale climate action and implement the restoration, renewal and protection of biodiversity worldwide.

Speakers

• Professor Nathalie Pettorelli, Professor, Institute of Zoology, ZSL
• Robin McKie, Science Editor, the Observer
• Billy Heaney, Zoologist and Wildlife Presenter
• Further speakers to be announced

This event will be chaired by Bethan Laughlin, Senior Policy Specialist, ZSL

The speaker biographies will be available to download from this page in advance.

Find out more about the event and other future events here.

Attending this event

• This Science and Conservation Event is free to attend and booking a ticket is required so we can monitor event numbers. Please only register for a ticket if you are planning on attending.
• The event will feature talks from several speakers, followed by a Q&A discussion panel. It will run from 6pm - 7:30pm, and guests will be admitted to the online meeting shortly before 6pm
• The event will take place over Zoom Webinar. The meeting link will be included in your confirmation email once registered to attend, and again in a reminder email shortly before the event day.
• Recording disclaimer: The presentations and Q&A session will be recorded, and the recording published on our Science and Conservation YouTube channel afterwards. Please be aware that by attending this event you consent to be filmed or your voice to be recorded during the Q&A session, which will be included in the published video.

>> Register on Eventbrite

About ZSL

ZSL - The Zoological Society of London - is a global science-led conservation organisation helping people and wildlife live better together to restore the wonder and diversity of life everywhere.

Through our leading conservation Zoos - London Zoo and Whipsnade Zoo - we bring people closer to nature in shared spaces of wonder and unique centres of learning, advancing knowledge to better protect wildlife today, while inspiring a lifelong love of animals in the conservationists of tomorrow.

Our vision is a world where wildlife thrives. We’re working every day to achieve this, through our science, our field conservation around the world and engaging millions of people through our Zoos.

Photo by James Armed on Unsplash: Buttermere Valley in the Lake District, a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site in the UK.