Messages of welcome to the closing day
Delegates speaking on the final morning of the conference have lauded the positive coordination of the ORs and OCTs this week, but have stressed funding issues as hobbling to progress.
According to Reuben Meade, Minister of Agriculture, Land, Housing and the Environment, Montserrat, “there is lots of money being thrown around by agencies, but how to access these funds? The process is extremely onerous, and we need to break down those barriers.”
He called for a coordinating mechanism within the EU to facilitate funding access for ORs and OCTs.
The previous two days of workshops had underlined this gaining of access to European funds for the ORs and OCTs, said Paul Néaoutyine, President, North Province, New Caledonia. He emphasised the important role of NGOs, “the conscience of humanity”, who must be supported and their funding strengthened.
All together now
Strengthening of cooperation and coordination amongst biodiversity research bodies and universities had been weak, according to Michel Laurent, director general, Institut de recherche pour le dévelopement (IRD). The various regions had instigated numerous initiatives on biodiversity, which were often not coordinated, he said, stressing the need for a multidisciplinary approach.
Ahamed Attoumani Douchina, President, General Council of Mayotte, cited several recent intiatives in Mayotte, including establishing a sea turtle observatory in partnership with the University of La Rochelle and setting up a marine park to manage sea resources with local fishermen.
Reiterating this message, Bakary Kante, director, division of environmental law and conventions, UNEP, said that “partnership is crucial in achieving results.” He mentioned the parallel G8 Meeting in Japan this week, where leaders have pledged to address issues spoken of here at the Reunion conference in terms of ORs and OCTs.
Avoiding Faustian measures
Michel Jarraud, secretary general, WMO, spoke of the inevitable loss of some biodiversity globally as a result of climate change, and that no agency program or country could treat this alone. Jarraud mentioned the planned 'Third World Conference on Climate' in August 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland, which aimed to facilitate decision making amongst institutions.
The governments of the developed world should be taking the lead in responding to climate change and biodiversity loss, according to Néaoutyine. It is the populations of small island states that would become the first climate change refugees, despite correspondingly minimal contributions to harmful emissions, said Néaoutyine.
Measures have been taken by some governments, including Spain and Portugal who have agreed to coordinate their efforts in relation to biodiversity loss and climate change adaptation in the Canary Islands, said José Luis Herranz, director general for nature and forest policy, Spain.
But any measures implemented to tackle climate change risked a double edged consequence, according to Frederico Cardigos, director for the environment, government of the Azores. He warned against a prohibitive tax on fuel, which risked isolating islands further through a loss in tourism.
“We are in favor of measures, but it is not the amount of planes coming that will change airline behavior. There are other industries to consider, especially sea transport,” said Cardigos.
He also mentioned the “very powerful work at this [Reunion] conference, with focused discussions,” which was repeated by each of the speakers present this morning.
The qualifier for high level praise however remained to be seen for Mr Meade, cautioning that, “this conference has been an extreme success, but that will only be seen after we have gone home.”
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