Notes |
Introduction:
Why the BirdLife Partnership is concerned
about climate change
The scientific evidence is overwhelming: climate change is happening, it is largely caused by human activities, it presents very serious global risks for people and biodiversity around the world and it demands an urgent global response. The direct and indirect impacts of climate change are of central
concern to BirdLife’s objectives and targets, in terms both of biodiversity and of human development.
The BirdLife Partnership operates in over one hundred countries and territories worldwide with over 2.5
million members, 10 million supporters and over 1 million hectares owned or managed. Together the
BirdLife Partnership forms the leading authority on the status of birds, their habitats and the issues and
problems affecting bird life. BirdLife has a significant contribution to make to the climate change debate. Climate change threatens to undermine BirdLife’s mission and affects each of BirdLife’s strategic objectives for species, sites, habitats and people.1 Climate change clearly poses new challenges to BirdLife’s main approaches to conserving species and Important Bird Areas. It is already having multiple impacts on birds and their habitats,
including:
-changes in behaviour and phenology, such as timings of migration;
-range shifts and contractions;
-disruption of species interactions and communities
-exacerbation of other threats and stresses, such as disease, invasive species and habitat fragmentation,
destruction and degradation.
Climate change mitigation and adaptation measures such as badly placed wind farms, unsustainably produced biofuels and harmful irrigation and flood defence measures, are posing new threats and stresses on birds and their habitats too. The impacts on species, particularly the shifts in range and abundance, may have profound implications for sitebased conservation approaches such as the Important Bird Area (IBA) Programme, which play a significant role in both climate regulation and in helping biodiversity and people to adapt to climate change. Work is needed to strengthen the resilience and connectivity of the IBA network and habitats in general. The multiple threats posed by climate change also underline the need to intensify work on the ‘Habitats’ and ‘People’ pillars of BirdLife’s strategy through effective policy and advocacy.
We know that the changes biodiversity faces due to climate change will be huge and wide-reaching in terms of scale and speed. However, we cannot yet predict with certainty how and when individual species will respond to climate change, or how ecosystems will change. We do know that efforts now to improve the resilience of species and habitats through strengthening populations and addressing existing pressures will help them adapt to climate change in the future. This has implications for conservation planning and practice.
Biodiversity and people are very closely linked. Importantly, assisting species and habitats to adapt should also improve the capacity of people to adapt to climate change through the maintenance of the ecosystem services on which they depend.
BirdLife recognises that a wide range of conservation responses will be required, and these will differ across the world.
BirdLife’s key policy messages on climate change
1 BirdLife supports the target of keeping the average rise in the Earth’s surface temperature to less than 2 ºC above pre-industrial levels (before the late 18th Century).
2 The impacts of climate change on biodiversity, and the role of biodiversity in helping to mitigate climate change, should be reflected in all policy sectors and
across all relevant conventions.
3 Habitat conservation and appropriate management, including habitat restoration, can play a crucial role in sequestering carbon and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. There is a need for effective mechanisms to maintain and restore these carbon stocks.
4 It is essential to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels through reduced energy consumption and increased energy efficiency.
5 The switch from fossil fuels to renewable energies needs to avoid harm to ecosystems and biodiversity. There is an urgent need for investment in existing technologies to develop truly sustainable renewable sources of energy plus
investment in research for even better renewables fit for future use.
6 Adaptation (building adaptive management strategies that increase the ability of ecosystems to adapt to climate change (resilience) and that enable species and habitats to move into areas with more suitable climatic conditions(accommodation)) is an important and necessary element of sustainable development and future conservation planning and practice, and needs to be effectively integrated and coordinated with development planning. Addressing existing threats to species, sites and habitats is vital to build resilience in the face of climate change.
7 There is a need for further studies, including monitoring and modeling, to understand the impacts of climate change on birds and biodiversity, and how this is related to development and human livelihoods needs, particularly in developing countries.
8 BirdLife works with conservation and development organisations that share the same concerns and solutions regarding climate change. Where possible solutions should benefit both biodiversity and people, especially the poor, and should be agreed through inclusive, participatory processes that use local knowledge as well as sound science.
9 BirdLife is committed to reducing its own carbon footprint. |
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