Crown Dependencies’ meeting on the environment to be held online
THE annual inter-island environment meeting is going ahead later next week, but this year, rather than travelling between the islands, participants will instead use virtual conferencing.
The event was due to be held in Guernsey but there are currently no flights between Guernsey and Jersey and only limited ferry services.
Instead governments, non-governmental organisations and interested parties from across the Crown Dependencies will come together online to discuss what work has been undertaken to conserve local and global environments.
A series of talks will be delivered via Zoom to an audience of delegates on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 September.
Day one will look back at the projects that have taken place over the last decade as part of the United Nations’ Decade of Biodiversity.
This is an opportunity for speakers to review what has been learnt about the islands’ biodiversity and assess the progress made in the last 10 years.
This year is the start of the United Nations’ Decade of Ecosystem Restoration and day two of the meeting will be working with this theme to plan for the future.
Climate change mitigation and adaptation, water and food security, economic growth and biodiversity conservation all depend on thriving, well-functioning ecosystems. Speakers will be looking at ways to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems within the islands.
Delegates will also hear about updates to projects presented previously at the meeting and about Guernsey’s new Strategy for Nature.
Biodiversity officer Julia Henney said the islands were fortunate to have such a close working relationship, thanks to previous inter-island meetings.
‘They’re also a great chance for the public to hear more about the wonderful work that is happening in the Channel Islands,’ she said.
The move online comes 10 months after the States of Guernsey faced criticism for flying three Environment & Infrastructure members and two civil servants to a climate change summit in Jersey.
Register to join in the meeting
The inter-island environment meeting is free and anyone interested can take part.
Delegates must register to attend the meeting by booking through Eventbrite through these links.
. Day 1: https://iiem2020day1.eventbrite.co.uk
. Day 2: https://iiem2020day2.eventbrite.co.uk
Separate links will be sent out for each online meeting to those who have registered.
