Map of the Week – Predicted climate change impact on the white coral habitat
The first phase of the 2020 UN Biodiversity Conference took place virtually, from 11 to 15 October 2021. [1] In this framework, the Kunming Declaration was adopted on 13 October. The second phase of the UN Biodiversity Conference will consist of a meeting in Kunming (China) that is planned from 25 April to 8 May 2022. The main objective of the Conference is to adopt the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. The first draft of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework was released earlier this year.
The 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) will closely follow the first phase of the UN Biodiversity Conference as it is scheduled to take place from 31 October to 12 November 2021. The COP26 summit will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Climate change and biodiversity are closely interlinked as climate change impacts ecosystems – including marine ecosystems - and, inversely, biodiversity and ecosystems play an important role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. [2 and 3]
Climate change is predicted to have far-reaching consequences for the deep-sea environment like seawater acidification, warming, loss of oxygen and decreased food availability at the seafloor. These changes are projected to threaten many commercial deep-sea fishes, cold-water coral reefs and the ecosystem services they provide. Dive into the Map of the Week to learn more about predicted climate change impact on the white coral - Madrepora oculata - habitat.
Wish to know more about biodiversity? Learn about:
- The European Union’s biodiversity strategy for 2030;
- The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration;
- The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES); and
- The iAtlantic project.
The data in this map are provided by the Horizon 2020 ATLAS project.
[1] https://www.cbd.int/conferences/2021-2022
[2] https://water.europa.eu/marine/state-of-europe-seas/pressures-impacts/climate-change
[3] https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/nature-based-solutions-should-play