Swiss Academy of Sciences SCNAT
Tackling climate change and biodiversity loss jointly
Climate change and biodiversity loss pose threats to humankind. As these two crises are interlinked and mutually reinforcing, they also need to be tackled jointly. This requires multiple coordinated approaches as well as systemic thinking and action. Measures to combat climate change and biodiversity loss can be mutually supportive; however, if they are not coordinated, there is a risk that the crises may be intensified as a result of unintended effects and conflicts arising from competing goals. The most effective measures are those which address the root cause of both crises – our unsustainable way of life – and involve a fundamental shift towards sustainable resource consumption that respects planetary boundaries. Both at home and abroad, Switzerland is a higher-than-average contributor to both of these crises – but it is also significantly affected by the impacts. In addition to having a major international responsibility, it is therefore very much in Switzerland’s own interest to play a pioneering role in efforts to protect the climate and biodiversity.
Ismail SA, Geschke J, Kohli M et al. (2021) Tackling climate change and biodiversity loss jointly. Swiss Academies Factsheet 16 (3). DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5145162
Swiss Academy of Sciences SCNAT
Roles of Scientists in Sustainability Transformations: A Guide for Reflection and Workshop Facilitation
Scientists, scientific experts, and knowledge brokers often find themselves in situations where they need to play new roles in society or are criticised for positioning themselves at the interface between science and other societal fields of action. The present guide aims to stimulate reflections on, and discussions of, various different roles that scientists perform.
European Academies Science Advisory Council EASAC
Changing wildfires: policy options for a fire-literate and fire-adapted Europe
There is an increased probability of extreme fires, due mainly to climate change (droughts and declining summer precipitation), rural depopulation, and land-use changes. To respond to this, a new European Academies report is calling for an urgent shift in wildfire policy – from reactive fire suppression to proactive, risk-based land management.
Already today, wildfires burn half a million hectares in the EU yearly on average, i.e. nearly twice the size of Luxembourg. While the Mediterranean remains the highest-risk region, the report warns that continental, alpine, and boreal regions must also prepare for a new era of fire. Instead of focussing on fire suppression and emergency response, the report advocates for an integrated EU framework for landscape fire-risk governance that prioritises prevention alongside these three elements: climate and land-use policies that focus on restoring carbon-rich peatlands and managing forests sustainably; integrate fire risk into biodiversity and tree-planting plans; and educate for a fire-resilient society.
The report under the auspices of the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) was drafted by scientists from across Europe. On behalf of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, Marco Conedera, forest engineer at the WSL Campus in Cadenazzo, contributed as a reviewer of a draft version.
Actor constellation - td-net toolbox profile 2 Pohl, C. 2020
This publication describes the actor constellation and is part of a series of tools and methods compiled in the td-net toolbox for co-producing knowledge. Actor constellation is a role-play for identifying the relevance of various involved actors for tackling a specific research question.