10 February 2015: Participants explored the scientific community’s approaches to climate change, including its links to biodiversity, at a conference on the theme ‘Assises du Vivant 2015 – Biodiversity and Climate Change in Interaction: Creating new life possibilities.’ The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) organized the conference as part of preparations for the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the UNFCCC.

The conference focused on three main themes: Rethinking conservation: towards ‘no regrets’ strategies; Developing ecological solidarity and environmental justice: teaming up with the rest of the living world; and Doing business differently: articulating performance and resilience. Participants also created networks focusing on the interaction between biodiversity and climate change, which will be mobilized throughout 2015 in the run-up to COP 21.

On conservation, participants highlighted the need to re-think both conservation strategies and the spaces in which these strategies are applied. On ecological solidarity and environmental justice, participants underlined the importance of repositioning humans in their environment by dropping the pyramid-like conception of the cosmos in favor of a horizontal one. On doing business differently, participants indicated readiness to transform the “compromise of sustainable development” into social, environmental and economic co-development.

The conference concluded that researchers’ creative and innovative potential needs to be protected and stimulated, particularly given societal transformations brought on by global environmental change. Participants highlighted the need for: a new logic for action in uncertainty, where “ignorance no longer permits immobility;” and a systemic approach where “the performance of a system depends more on the quality of the interaction between its parts than on the performance of these parts.”

The conference brought together scientists, academics, and representatives of civil society, the private sector and the arts. The conference took place at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, from 9-10 February 2015. [UNESCO Press Release] [Conference Programme] [IISD RS Sources]