Convened by United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS)

Climate Change and Biodiversity

Monday, 16 June 2008, 2:30 to 4:30 pm
United Nations University, Elizabeth Rose Hall
53-70 Jingumae 5-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Watch event on UNU Video Portal

Speakers:	Akiko Domoto, Governor of Chiba Prefecture Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
Programme:	2:30 – 2:35 Opening Remarks by Professor Zakri, Director of the UNU Institute of Advanced Studies 2:35 – 3:15 Presentation by Governor Domoto Climate Change and Biodiversity (Japanese) 3:15 – 3:30 Q & A and Discussion 3:35 – 4:15 Presentation by Dr. Djoghlaf The Road from Bonn to Nagoya: Charting the 2010 Biodiversity Target (English) 4:15 – 4:30 Q & A and Discussion
Language:	Japanese/ English Simultaneous Translation

In continuation of the Heiligendamm G8 in 2007, climate change is a central agenda item of the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit this July. An often overlooked fact in the climate debate is its intricate linkage to biodiversity. This was again affirmed at the recent G8 Environment Ministers Meeting in Kobe in May. Sudden climatic changes, such as those predicted by the Fourth IPCC Assessment, speed up extinction rates of plants and animals that cannot adapt to abrupt change. With the 2010 target to reverse biodiversity loss looming large as the major theme for the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya in two years time, and with international negotiations looking for deeper targets to mitigate climate change, the Climate Change-Biodiversity nexus is a major topic on the international agenda and one that is worthy of consideration and attention by the G8 members in Hokkaido in July. In this the Seventh UNU G8 Dialogue, Governor Akiko Domoto will outline climate change and biodiversity’s linkage for Japan’s policy makers at the local level, and following the conclusion of the 2008 CBD COP in Bonn, Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf will share his thoughts on what is required between now and Nagoya.

Akiko Domoto is governor of Chiba Prefecture since April 2001. She assumed the position of Member of the House of Councilors in 1989. She was previously a Vice President and Regional Councillor for East Asia of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). She has been deeply involved with global warming and biodiversity issues for a number of years, and was honoured by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as one of 25 outstanding women who have made an important contribution towards the preservation of the global environment.

Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf assumed the position of Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in January, 2006. He was named to his previous position as Assistant Executive Director of UNEP in June 2003, following his success as Director and Coordinator of UNEP's Division of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), where he played a key role to raise UNEP’s profile. Prior to joining the United Nations, Dr. Djoghlaf held a variety of posts in the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including working as an Advisor to the Prime Minister on environmental issues. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Nancy, in France.

Please RSVP to reception@ias.unu.edu by 16 June 2008.
For further information please contact Yui Amano at amano@ias.unu.edu.

	Download the .pdf announcement here.
	Download the .pdf announcement in Japanese.
	Watch event on UNU Video Portal

For upcoming dialogues see www.ias.unu.edu/G8.