Prague Appeal: Climate change and biodiversity loss must be tackled together

Publikováno: 23.09.2022

Climate change and the ongoing decline in biodiversity are interlinked and therefore need to be addressed together. This is at the heart of the so-called Prague Appeal, launched by experts on the protection and restoration of climate-resilient landscapes who met at the Czech Presidency Conference on Adaptation to Climate Change. The document summarises how adaptation projects should be approached, what solutions are successful in practice and what does not work. Minister of the Environment of the Czech Republic Anna Hubáčková will present the call to environment ministers at the EU Council meeting in Luxembourg in October.

The Prague Appeal is the result of the Ministry of the Environment's international conference Designing Climate Resilient Landscapes, held in Prague on 13-14 September as part of the Czech Presidency. Representatives from across the Europe presented their well-functioning adaptation projects for water retention, soil protection, forest restoration and landscape planning, which can serve as inspiration for others. You can find an overview of these in the brochure here.

According to experts from across Europe, successful projects have one thing in common: they comprehensively address all elements and functions of the landscape, drawing on the best available science and promoting nature-based solutions wherever possible. The Appeal emphasizes that landscape management and planning must be comprehensive, and projects must respect the economic, social and cultural functions of the landscape.

The Appeal also mentions obstacles, such as the fact that adaptation to climate change is still marginalised, so there is a lack of money and human resources to implement it. But the public and experts still lack information on the importance of adaptation measures for ecosystem services, and the Appeal also mentions the lack of involvement of entrepreneurs and commercial funding.

According to the call, the completion of the legislative framework is a prerequisite for improving and accelerating the preparation of adaptation measures based on natural processes. In particular the Green Deal for Europe, but also the Nature Recovery Act and the legal framework for land and the EU Forest Strategy.

The Prague Appeal will be presented by the Minister of the Environment Anna Hubáčková, together with a report on the results of the conference, to Ministers of the Environment at the EU Council meeting in Luxembourg in October this year.

Prague Appeal(PDF, 558 kB )

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