Category Archives: adaptation

European Climate Pact meeting and education resources

January 4, 2023adaptation, conference, environment, mitigationKarl Donert

The European Climate Pact is celebrating two years of taking climate action together, in our worlds, for our planet.

On 1 February 2023, the European Commission is bringing together Climate Pact Ambassadors, experts and activists to take stock of the journey so far and discuss ways to build a more sustainable Europe for the future.

You can network with the people and organisations involved in the European Climate Pact, hear about their achievements, and learn how you can get involved.

Find out more and register here (EU login required) to attend physically in Brussels or virtually,

The European Climate Pact is an initiative of the European Commission supporting the implementation of the European Green Deal. It is a movement to build a greener Europe, providing a platform to work and learn together, develop solutions, and achieve real change.

The objectives of the Climate Pact are to:
– Raise awareness of climate issues and EU actions
– Encourage climate action and catalyse engagement
– Connect citizens and organisations that act on climate and help them to learn from each other.

The Pact provides opportunities for people,  communities, and organisations to participate in climate and environmental action across Europe.  By pledging to the Pact, European stakeholders commit to taking concrete climate and environmental actions in a way that can be measured and/or followed up.

The Climate Pact aims to help spread scientifically sound information about climate action and provide practical advice for everyday life choices. It will support local initiatives and encourage climate action pledges from both individuals or collectives, helping to mobilise support and participation.

Participating in the Pact is an opportunity for organisations to share their transition journey with their peers and collaborate with other actors towards common targets.

The Pact have created some educational tools and resources Find out more

Find out more about how to get involved

Visit the Climate Pact Web site

Key Takeaways Of COP 27

December 22, 2022adaptation, climate change, conference, environment, mitigationKarl Donert

COP27, or the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was held in November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

COP27 brought governments together to accelerate global efforts to confront the climate crisis. It was an important moment because the latest science shows that climate change is moving much faster than we are, pushing ecosystems and communities to their limits.

The main objective of COP27 was to advance the implementation of the Paris Agreement, a global pact signed in 2015 with the goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius. The COP27 resulted in a number of important conclusions, including the launch of a five-year work programme to promote climate technology solutions in developing countries and a mitigation work programme aimed at scaling up mitigation ambition and implementation.

The conference also emphasised the need for increased cooperation and ambition from all countries, as well as the importance of involving non-party stakeholders, such as businesses and civil society, in the global effort to combat climate change. Additionally, COP27 established a “loss and damage” fund for vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters and called for increased support for adaptation and resilience efforts. Overall, the COP27 reaffirmed the global community’s commitment to the Paris Agreement and the urgent need for action to address the climate crisis.

According to Forbes, the final COP 27 text also included a call for the “transformation of the financial system and its structures.”

They suggest momentum is building to reform the World Bank and other development finance institutions to meet the climate challenge.

The World Resources Institute have created a resource hub connected with COP 27 with latest news, articles, research, data and more.

Dealing with climate refugia

October 20, 2022adaptation, environment, mitigation, protectionKarl Donert

A ‘climate refugia’ is an area that might act as a refuge for biodiversity in case of climate change; a ‘biodiversity hotspot’ is an area with a higher than average level of biodiversity. The latter term is sometimes used for areas that host particular concentrations of rare or endemic species (without necessarily being specific in terms of total number of species).

Climate refugia are areas that remain relatively buffered from the effects of climate change over time, enabling them to play a vital role in safeguarding biodiversity. New research by Doxia et al. (2022) has identified sites that may serve as climate refugia in Mediterranean Europe over the next 50 years.

Why are climate refugia important?

In times of dramatic ecological upheaval, like that caused by climate change, identifying and protecting climate change refugia — areas relatively buffered from climate change over time — can help protect species from the negative effects of climate change in the short-term as well as provide longer-term protection for biodiversity and ecosystem function.

Climate refugia, represents an area that increases chances of adaption and conservation in a changing climate. The key attribute of refugia is their relative persistence, despite changes in the climate in the surrounding landscape. Most refugia are located outside existing national protected areas, highlighting substantial protection gaps relevant to conservation planning.

Reference: Doxa, A., Kamarianakis, Y. and Mazaris, A. D. (2022) Spatial heterogeneity and temporal stability characterize future climatic refugia in Mediterranean Europe. Global Change Biology: 1–12.

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