COP 21 Université Grenoble Alpes

The most recent IPCC report released in 2014 reinforces messages concerning observed and potential future impacts of climate change on biodiversity. These include large changes in species distributions and abundance, some of which could lead to substantial degradation of ecosystem services or global species extinctions. Impacts of changing climate are already visible in vulnerable systems such as coral reefs and arctic tundra and are projected to become severe if warming progresses beyond 2°C above preindustrial levels.
The IPCC report and other recent assessments, such as the Global Biodiversity Outlook 4 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, have also clearly highlighted the need to substantially improve our understanding of the interactions between biodiversity and climate change. These challenges include :

• Exploring more thoroughly the impacts of climate adaptation and mitigation initiatives on biodiversity.
• Identifying mechanisms by which protecting biodiversity or using biodiversity in managed systems can help lead to increased capacity to adapt to climate change or to attenuate greenhouse gas emissions.
• Imagining socio-economic development scenarios that meet multiple sustainability targets including human development, biodiversity protection and climate mitigation goals.

Meeting these challenges will require strengthened collaboration between climate and biodiversity research communities. I will finish with a brief discussion of efforts underway to create stronger institutional ties in international research programs (Future Earth) as well as between assessment bodies and multilateral environmental agreements for climate change (IPCC and UNFCC) and biodiversity (IPBES and CBD)