Biodiversity Newsflash 133
January 2024
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1 | Get ready for the 2024 Biodiversity Spring Market!
Biodiversity Spring Market 2024 is coming in March!
This science-policy-practice fair invites participation from all of our working areas on Biodiversity research, policy and practice including topics such as Invasive Alien Species, Biodiversity & Health, Biodiversity conservation, Biodiversity Data and more.
🗓️ March 20, 2024
📍 Havenlaan/Av. Du Port 88, Brussels
💻 info & registration
You can present your own initiative at the market or come as a participant and meet other actors. There's a price for the most original stand, so feel free to get creative. 🌈
We welcome all stakeholders, practicioners, policy-makers, researchers, students,...
Register here
For more information, please contact Leendert Plaetinck, Science Communication Officer at the Belgian Biodiversity Platform
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2 | Connecting research to policy at the EBR conference
The Benelux Biodiversity Informatics community and partners are pleased to invite you to the Empowering Biodiversity Research conference, EBR III, taking place on March 25-26th 2024 in Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, the Netherlands. We will take you on a journey into the world of biodiversity data standards and tools and will inform you on the latest developments in the world of Biodiversity Informatics, both internationally and locally. The EBR III conference is organized back to back with the 2024 ARISE day, which will also take place in Naturalis Biodiversity Center.
More info on https://www.biodiversity.be/EBRIII
For more information, please contact Dimitri Brosens, GBIF node manager Belgium at Belgian Biodiversity Platform.
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3 | Horizon Europe RESPIN
RESPIN - Reinforce Science-Policy interfaces in innovative ways to boost effectiveness and INterconnectedness of biodiversity and climate policies (RESPIN) is a HorizonEU sponsored project, whose goal is to guide and inspire decision-makers at EU, national, and subnational levels for Science-Policy interface (SPI) process development on the topics of biodiversity and climate change. The Platform (on behalf of BELSPO) is happy to be part of this consortium and look forward to working with our partners across Europe.
More information on RESPIN can for now be found on it’s Linkedin page.
For more information, please contact Divija Jata, Coordinator, at Belgian Biodiversity Platform.
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4 | CO-OP4CBD Second Call for Experts
The “Cooperation for the Convention on Biological Diversity” (CO-OP4CBD) project is looking for thematic experts. This is an opportunity for researchers and practitioners to join a diverse network of biodiversity experts in Europe and beyond, and take part in formative science-policy processes to contribute to the implementation of the CBD at the national and regional levels.
The present call is open to experts from various career stages, from early-career to senior roles, who are eager to volunteer their time and expertise to be trained and train others on CBD processes and take part in thematic groups focused on providing technical input, upon request, on the state of knowledge of subject matters featured in the agenda of the CBD Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA).
More specifically, CO-OP4CBD is looking for expertise in the following areas (in alphabetical order):
- Biodiversity and health.
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Use of Digital Sequence Information on Genetic Resources
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Conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal biodiversity (see decision 15/24 of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD).
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Detection and identification of Living Modified Organisms (LMOs).
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Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs) (see decision 15/26 of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD).
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Monitoring framework for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (see decision 15/5 of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD).
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Risk assessment and risk management for LMOs.
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Synthetic biology.
Do you have the required knowledge and interest to contribute toward impactful policy processes for biodiversity, nationally and regionally?
Express your interest by completing the form available here.
For more information, please contact Leendert Plaetinck, Sience-Communication Officer at the Belgian Biodiversity Platform.
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6 | The IPBES-IAS assessment process and result discussion, new paper out
Last year marked the approval of the Thematic Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control (IPBES-IAS assessment). A recent publication, co-authored by our team member Sonia Vanderhoeven and fellow researchers, contextualizes the IPBES-IAS assessment within the continuum of invasion science and policy history.
This new paper delves into the comprehensive assessment process, involving 86 authors, 285 experts, and over a hundred reviewers who dedicated four-and-a-half years to produce a monumental 1400-page document spanning six chapters. The incredible collaborative efforts behind this assessment illuminate the complexities of addressing invasive alien species globally. Learn more about the inception and remarkable journey of this assessment.
For more information, contact Sonia Vanderhoeven, Biodiversity Expert at the Belgian Biodiversity Platform
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Every month we present interesting items in the news we have read and that are worth sharing!
GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) has released its updated Biodiversity Standard, GRI 101: Biodiversity 2024, responding to increasing threats to global biodiversity. Serving as a crucial tool for corporate accountability, the standard sets a global benchmark for organizations to transparently disclose their significant biodiversity impacts across operations and supply chains. Emphasizing full supply chain transparency, location-specific reporting, and addressing direct drivers of biodiversity loss, the standard aligns with key global biodiversity initiatives. In the face of a critical biodiversity decline, GRI's Biodiversity Standard aims to support a comprehensive global response, providing businesses with a reporting structure to disclose and mitigate biodiversity-related risks and impacts. Organizations can freely download the standard, which will be formally effective for reporting starting January 1, 2026, following a two-year pilot phase with early adopters. The initiative is applauded for its pivotal role in advancing transparency to safeguard biodiversity, aligning with the urgent need for global standards and metrics to address and reverse biodiversity loss.
Global Risks Report 2024from: World Economic ForumOnce again, environmental risk dominates the 10yr outlook for respondents to the latest World Economic Forum Global Risks Perception Survey. The Global Risks Report explores some of the most severe risks we may face over the next decade, against a backdrop of rapid technological change, economic uncertainty, a warming planet and conflict. Extraction of raw materials to rise by 60% by 2060, says UN reportfrom: The GuardianThe global extraction of raw materials is expected to increase by 60% by 2060, with calamitous consequences for the climate and the environment, according an unpublished UN analysis seen by the Guardian. Zakia Khattabi, the climate and environment minister for Belgium, which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, told the Guardian: “Resource use is a main driver of the triple crisis of climate, biodiversity and pollution. Reducing our resource consumption is essential to minimise those interconnected environmental pressures. Future EU policies on the circular economy need a stronger focus on demand-side measures as well as on a just transition in order to address this.”
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