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ATHENS CONFERENCE 27-28 April 2009

A high-level conference to frame EU post-2010 biodiversity policy

The Message from Athens - leaflet - now in all languages!

The "Message from Athens" - final version

Press Release:

Commission calls for a shakeup in EU biodiversity policy (28/04/2009)
Read more (IP/09/649)

Objective of the conference

2010 will be a major milestone for biodiversity policy both in the EU and globally. It will be the year of the full evaluation of the delivery to the EU Biodiversity Action Plan and as well the UN International Year for Biodiversity. Thus it is time to take a stock on where we are and to start framing the post-2010 biodiversity vision and preparing the strategy for the period being ahead of us. Therefore, the European Commission organized a major conference on 'Biodiversity Protection - Beyond 2010' that took place on 27-28 April 2009 in Athens, Greece and convened all the main actors engaged in the development and implementation of EU biodiversity policy together with international institutions and globally recognized experts.

• Conference programme
• Video records of key parts of the conference


(Sessions recorded: Opening Session, Setting the Scene Plenary Session, The EU Biodiversity Action Plan Working Group, Objectives for Biodiversity Protection beyond 2010 Working Group, reports and Round Table, Final Plenary 'The Message from Athens')

Speeches and presentations given at the Conference

Speech:

José Manuel Durão Barroso President of the European Commission (27/04/2009)
Biodiversity: Giving Proper Value to a Priceless Asset
Read more (SPEECH/09/197)

Presentations:

SETTING THE SCENE - PLENARY SESSION

1. The Status of European Biodiversity - JACQUELINE MCGLADE, Executive Director, European Environment Agency
2. The Status of Global Biodiversity - JON HUTTON, Director, UNEP/WCMC

PARALLEL WORKING GROUPS

Block 1

A) The EU Biodiversity Action Plan

• The EU BAP-Mid Term Report - MICHEAL O'BRIAIN (DG ENV)
• The IUCN Readiness Assessment - TAMAS MARGHESCU, IUCN (ROfE)
• The NGO Perspective - TONY LONG, Director WWF Brussels Office
• The view of the European Parliament - CHRIS DAVIES, member of the Env Committee of the EP

• The EU's Biodiversity Footprint in Developing Countries - ALFRED OTENG YEBOAH, Department of Botany, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana

B) Biodiversity and Climate Change

• Effects of Climate Change on European Birds - CLAIRIE PAPAZOGLOU, Director, Bird Life International, Brussels Office
• Mitigation and Adaptation: Opportunity and Threats to Biodiversity - PAM BERRY, University of Oxford
• Findings of the CBD AHTEG on Biodiversity and Climate Change - BOB WATSON, AHTEC chair
• The Climate Change - Biodiversity nexus: findings of the ALARM project - JOSEF SETTELE, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, UFZ

• Biodiversity and Climate Change - potential for co-benefits - JAN PLESNIK, Adviser to Director, Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection of the Czech Republic

C) Integration of Biodiversity Protection and Business

• Opportunities in biodiversity for the Financial Sector - PAUL CLEMENTS-HUNT, UNEP Finance Initiative
• Mainstreaming business and biodiversity into development and poverty eradication planning - RAVI SHARMA, Director, Implementation and Technical Support, CBD
• Building biodiversity business: experience to-date and future prospects - JOSHUA BISHOP, Chief Economist, IUCN
• Partnerships across the public, private and non-governmental sectors (the BTAU project) - JOANNA MAĆKOWIAK-PANDERA, Head of Political Cabinet, Polish Ministry of Environment
• The view from the private sector - ELIZABETH JASKULKE (GDF Suez) on behalf of BUSINESS EUROPE

Block 2

A) Natura 2000 - Does it Work and How to Make it Better

• Is the EU Legislation and the Natura 2000 network effective? - PATRICK MURPHY, DG ENV
• Implementing Natura 2000 in a German Land - Lessons to be Learnt - DR ALEXANDER SCHINK, State Secretary for Environment, North Rhine Westphalia
• The View of European Landowners - THIERRY D'ESCAILLE, Secretary General ELO
• The view of the hunters - YVES LECOCQ, FACE
• The View of European Farmers - NIKOS LAPPAS, (GESASE, the General Confederation of Greek Agrarian Associations) on behalf of Copa-Cogeca
• The view from business sector - MICHALIS STEFANAKIS (S&B Industrial Minerals) on behalf of BUSINESS EUROPE

• NGO perspective - ZOLTAN WALICZKY, on behalf of European Habitats Forum

 B) Economics and Finance

• Biodiversity measurement and valuation and economic instruments for managing biodiversity in ecosystems - ANASTASIOS XEPAPADEAS, Professor of Economics, Athens University of Economics and Business
• The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) - PAVAN SUKHDEV, TEEB Study Leader
• The costs of protecting nature - PATRICK TEN BRINK, IEEP
• Financing for the protection and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems (the role of the EIB) - PETER CARTER, Head of Sustainable Development Unit, EIB

• Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD): an example of a key tool for capturing biodiversity and ecosystem values - SHEILA WERTZ-KANOUNNIKOFF, Senior Scientist for Climate Change, CIFOR

C) Objectives for Biodiversity Protection beyond 2010

• The vision of the present (CZ) presidency - PETR ROTH, Ministry of Environment, Czech Republic
• An NGO perspective - JOHN HONTELEZ, Director, European Environment Bureau
• Conservation beyond 2010: future perspectives of area-based interventions - PROFESSOR ANDREW BALMFORD, University of Cambridge
• International Perspectives or How to avoid Canuteism, Philately and Neroism - PETER BRIDGEWATER, Chair UK-JNCC
• Down to earth global perspective to the future debate - JEFFREY A. MCNEELY, Chief Scientist, IUCN, The World Conservation Union

• Towards a post-2010 Strategic Plan - DAVID COOPER, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity

REPORTS FROM WORKING GROUPS TO PLENARY

• Report from WG A) Block 1 - The EU Biodiversity Action Plan
• Report from WG B) Block 1 - Biodiversity and Climate Change
• Report from WG C) Block 1 - Integration of Biodiversity Protection and Business
• Report from WG A) Block 2 - Natura 2000 - Does it Work and How to Make it Better
• Report from WG B) Block 2 - Economics and Finance

• Report from WG C) Block 2 - Objectives for Biodiversity Protection beyond 2010

WRITTEN SUMMARIES ON THE WORKING GROUPS

• Summary on WG C) Block 2 – Objectives for Biodiversity Protection beyond 2010

THE MESSAGE FROM ATHENS

At the final plenary session of the conference, the European Commission presented a final draft of a document entitled "The Message from Athens". This document was designed to capture the key issues (challenges and potential responses) for EU biodiversity policy. It was based on inputs received before the conference, the output from the 'High-level working group on the 2010 biodiversity target and post-2010 target(s)' hosted by Germany (9-10 March 2009, Bonn, Germany), the conclusions from the meeting of G8 environment ministers held in Syracuse (22-24 April 2009, Syracuse, Italy), the presentations and discussions from the Athens conference and comments made by participants on a previous draft circulated during the conference. On the basis of the comments and discussions that took place in the final plenary session, the Commission has produced a final version of the "Message from Athens".

Background

The Biodiversity Communication, adopted by the European Commission on 22 May 2006, provides the strategic framework for EU action to meet the target set by Heads of State and Government of halting biodiversity loss by 2010 and to also support achieving the global target of significantly reducing the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. The communication from the Commission on the mid-term assessment of the implementation of the Biodiversity Action Plan adopted on 16/12/2008 concluded that though significant efforts have been made, it is highly unlikely that the EU will achieve the 2010 biodiversity target.