12 January 2010: During the official launch of the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB), speakers stressed that biological diversity is part of the solution to the climate change problem. At a ceremony held on 11 January 2010, in Berlin, Germany, Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), stated that “climate change is indeed a problem, and biological diversity is part of the solution and is therefore a full component of the multilateral political ecology.” Highlighting the interlinkages between the two issues, German Federal Environment Agency President Jochen Flasbarth noted that “without combating climate change we will fail to stop the loss of biodiversity, without protecting ecosystems with their carbon storing capacity it will be extremely difficult to meet climate change targets. And without both of them we will fail in our efforts to fight hunger in the world.”
The UN General Assembly proclaimed 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity to coincide with the deadline adopted by Governments in 2002 to achieve a significant reduction in the rate of loss of the diversity of species and ecosystems of the planet. [CBD Press Release]