Recently, the first phase of the COP15 on biodiversity took place in China. Despite the urgency and importance of the current biodiversity crisis, there has not been much coverage in the media, nor was there much public debate.
Therefore, the Green European Foundation is hosting this year’s edition of the ‘Green Post Corona Talks’ on the topic of biodiversity. Through this series, we hope to expand awareness on this important issue and foster public debate.

The series includes 4 webinars, each highlighting a different aspect of the biodiversity crisis as well as proposing different solutions, going from the current state of play, the COP15 and EU policies, to Indigenous movements and the connections between biodiversity loss, climate change and the COVID-19-crisis.

In each webinar, three experts in the field will present on the topic, followed by a panel discussion. There will also be the opportunity to ask questions and go into conversation with the speakers.

PROGRAMME

WEBINAR 1 (24 January): In the first webinar, we expand on the current state of play: how bad is nature declining, and how is the international community responding? This talk’s objective is to address the key findings of the 2021 biodiversity COP as well as the answers that were formulated. In this talk, we also dive into expectations and hopes for the final sessions of the biodiversity COP15 in 2022.

With:
 — Ignace Schops (born 1964) is a Belgian environmentalist and biodiversity expert. He is Director of the Belgian NGO Regionaal Landschap Kempen en Maasland (RLKM), and was the President of the largest network on the natural heritage in Europe, EUROPARC federation, from 2014 until 2021; and a full member of the EU chapter of Club of Rome.
Schops was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize, better known as the Green Nobel Prize in 2008, for his contributions to the establishment of the Hoge Kempen National Park, the first National Park of Belgium.

WEBINAR 2 (7 February): In the second webinar, we take a closer look at the EU’s role. Is the EU Biodiversity Strategy the plan we need? Is it realizable and sufficient? What about the proposed EU biodiversity law? How do green NGOs and Green Parties evaluate the EU’s actions?

With:
 — Hendrik Schoukens has been working as an environmental lawyer, focusing on biodiversity-related cases. He co-authored the first edition of the handbook of Biodiversity Law within the Flemish Region. Hendrik wrote his doctoral thesis on the legal aspects of ecological restoration. since September 2021, he has been appointed as professor in the research domain of Environmental Law at Ghent University.

WEBINAR 3 (21 February): In this talk, we expand our scope beyond Europe. Indigenous communities play a crucial role in protecting (and contributing to) biodiversity. While there is ever more attention for their roles, they are still all too often ignored in policy-making decision processes. In this webinar, Indigenous speakers go into dialogue with NGOs protecting nature.

WEBINAR 4 (7 March): In the last talk of this webinar series, we look into the connections between biodiversity loss, climate change and the covid-crisis. These are not separate crises, and the solutions cannot be separate either. How can we therefore develop policies that provide an appropriate answer to these urgent issues at the same time?

This is a free event. However, registration is required. Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZIFZE9y5jZ6xqnjt3l81cVuJBwHaK…

This series of webinars is open to everyone with an interest in biodiversity, to those who wish to learn about this topic and to those who want to restore life on our planet.