Biodiversity and Forests: From Local to Global Concerns – public conference

May 30, 2019

The French Ameri-Can Climate Talks – Biodiversity (FACT-B) is a new series of high level conferences bringing together French and Canadian speakers from academia, government agencies, NGOs and think tanks. The goal of FACT-B is twofold: to raise public awareness in France, the United States, and Canada, as well as to reinforce exchanges between scientists and experts on biodiversity issues.

Following the successful series of the French Ameri-Can Climate Talks (FACTS) – created in the lead-up to COP 21 – and after the FACT-O conferences dedicated to oceans, the Embassies of France in the US and Canada are launching FACT-B in 2019.

FACT-B is a part of France’s broader efforts to make biodiversity conservation a priority at the international level, in the same way as the fight against climate change. The initiatives on biodiversity issues to be led by the French diplomatic network in North America in 2019 will echo the organization of major events in France in 2019 and 2020, including the G7 meeting with biodiversity as a top priority, the 7th plenary for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the 7th World Conservation Congress for the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Panelists

Jessica Dempsey (Wall Scholar and Associate Professor, UBC Department of Geography)
Valerie Langer (Fiber Solution Specialist at CANOPY)
Anne Larigauderie (Executive Secretary of IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Policy)
Jennifer Psyllakis (Director, Wildlife and Habitat Branch, BC Ministry of Forestry, Land and Natural Resources)
Jean-Francois Silvain (President of the Foundation for Research on Biodiversity)

Stay after the conference to meet the panelists and continue the discussion around forests and biodiversity with a glass of wine and some canapés.

Program

4:45 pm – Registration FACT-B

5:15 pm – Welcoming Remarks

5:30 pm – Short Introductions by each Panelist

5:45 pm – Roundtable on Biodiversity and Forests

7:00 pm – Discussion with the Public

7:30 pm – Closing Remarks by International Visiting Research Scholar Ophélie Ronce

7:45 pm – Cocktail Reception

8:45 pm – Event ends

 

Organizers

BC Council for International Cooperation

Embassy of France in Canada – Vancouver

UAlberta North

Presenters