The second Learning Event webinar featured engaging and insightful presentations from five organisations involved in delivering the GCBC funded project; Understanding Cherangany links to human wellbeing and was heldon 12 November 2024.
This forest landscape and restoration project is an example of a Kenya led interdisciplinary partnership which has come together to understand how natural forest resources can be used and managed sustainably for human wellbeing. The aim is to promote positive long-term impacts for biodiversity, poverty alleviation and ecosystem resilience to climate change in Kenya’s Cherangany forest landscape.
The following speakers joined us to share a summary of the project, early results, and why work like this is essential:
James Mutunga Joshua, Nature Kenya
Dr Paul Muoria, Kenyatta University
Dr Ronald Mulwa, National Museums of Kenya,
Dr Musingo Mbuvi, Kenya Forestry Research Institute
Dr James Mwangombe, Kenya Forest Service
Mr Solomon Cherongos, a representative from the Cherangany community.
The presentations were followed by a Q&A, providing speakers with opportunities to expand upon their themes.
The recording of the webinar is available here for those who were unable to attend the live event.
Several of the GCBC’s grantees took part in COP16 in Cali, Colombia between 21 October and 1 November, 2024. During this global gathering delegates discussed progress on the implementation of the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2022) while negotiators discussed ways of preserving biodiversity and tackling the impact of climate change.
The Nature Transition Support Programme (NTSP) – UNEP’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) hosted a side event ‘transforming economies for nature and people’ to shed light on the dependency of countries’ economies on nature, and the importance of re-thinking how they can change their development trajectories to achieve sustainable development. Featuring a panel comprising of representatives from the governments of Colombia, Ecuador, Ghana and Vietnam. The event showcased the results of the programme achieved to date and sparked a lively debate on how identified challenges can be addressed. Read more on this programme at:https://lnkd.in/dmpp2cdt
The Nature Transition Support Team at COP16
CIASE, the GCBC’s partner on the Gran Tescual Indigenous Reservation Climate Plan, hosted a side event with the Gran Tescual Indigenous Reservation, titled “Pan-Amazonian Dialogue: Intersectional Experiences on Biodiversity and Climate.” Genith Quitiaquez (former governor of the Reservation), Carola Mejía (Climate Justice Coordinator at the Latindadd Network), and Rosa Emilia Salamanca (CIASE Director) shared insights on the ways in which intersectionality, care, and transformative resilience can strengthen the bonds between biodiversity and climate action.
CIASE also participated in the International Meeting on Women and Biodiversity in collaboration with the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Women’s Vice Ministry. This effort contributed to the Inírida Declaration, a set of recommendations aimed at including women and diverse populations in climate action and biodiversity conservation.
In collaboration with the Government of Nariño, a department of Colombia, CIASE also presented a photographic exhibition showcasing the botanical richness of the Gran Tescual, inspired by the Illustrated Botanical Guide of the Gran Tescual Reservation. This initiative is part of the “Climate Plan of the Gran Tescual Reservation” project.
CGIAR / CIP – International Potato Center, project team for ‘Harnessing Andean Crop Diversity to Weather Climate Change’ in collaboration with Agrosavia, organized an event on Integrated Conservation, which improves the linkages between in-situ and ex-situ agrobiodiversity conservation. Numerous “seed guardians” from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia attended. To find out more, the open access Spanish language factsheet, Characterizing agrobiodiversity is key to adapting Andean agricultural systems to drought and pests, is available to download here.
Alliance of Bioversity International– ’Diversity for Resilience and Livelihood’ The project manager, Dr. Dejene K. Mengistu from the Alliance of Bioversity International and Dr. Basazen Fantahun, from Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute (EBI) (a local implementation partner) presented a poster describing the drivers and lock-ins of green development pathways, a proposed research framework, project objectives, and planned activities with expected outputs to more than 250 attending participants in the blue zone of COP16. The poster presentation was well received, generating constructive comments and suggestions from experienced experts in the areas of forest restoration and management.
The Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC) project leaders joined practitioners, researchers and representatives of Indigenous peoples’ organisations from other UK Government environment and climate research programmes in Nairobi for the first International Environment and Climate Research Symposium.
Nature and the environment are the bedrock of our planet, which is facing a triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Action is urgently needed to address these critical issues to secure sustainable livelihoods and human wellbeing.
In September, the International Environment and Climate Research Symposium brought together 84 practitioners, researchers and representatives of Indigenous peoples’ organisations from three of the United Kingdom’s largest environment and climate research programmes. Collectively these three programmes manage £50 million across Africa, Asia, and Latin America:
The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC) delivered in partnership with DAI as Fund Management Lead and Royal Botanic Gardens Kew as the Strategic Science Lead.
Delegates at the International Environment and Climate Research Symposium in Nairobi, Kenya Picture: Kew Gardens
The Symposium was held in Nairobi, Kenya. It was planned and delivered in partnership, drawing on the unique skills and experience held by each of the three programmes. Sessions were split over several days, with each programme taking time to meet individually, ending with a joint programme day on 19 September.
Connection in action
For the GCBC, connecting and collaborating with other research programmes demonstrates the potential of working to coordinate research to find solutions to climate change that benefit both people and nature.
All 14 GCBC projects that received funding from the first competitive research grant competition attended the Symposium with 28 project leaders and partners in Nairobi.
During the individual day, the GCBC projects were given space to get into the detail, mapping the characteristics of each project with a focus on geography, themes, methods, and partners. This identified a wide range of synergies across a diverse group of research projects. These points of connection will support the GCBC programme to identify areas where we can develop tools, evidence, and resources to deliver greater impact.
The day also addressed Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI), barriers and opportunities to research impact, and strategies for communicating and influencing to amplify research outcomes. Across these areas, projects shared their experiences as they move from existing practice to better practice, exchanging tools and ideas along the way.
During the joint day, participants from all three programmes enthusiastically exchanged practical ideas, concrete solutions and lived experiences to turn knowledge into impact.
Watch the video from the Symposium below:
The rich discussion highlighted several opportunities:
The value of building trust with communities to genuinely devolve decision making, power, and resources to local actors.
Sustaining effective stakeholder engagement from the start of interventions and building long term relationships beyond project cycles.
Constantly evaluating trade-offs and synergies that accompany a systems approach
To carry these ideas, forward participants from all three programmes discussed the potential for ongoing learning exchange, as well as opportunities and pathways for knowledge sharing.
From connection to collaboration
Overall, the Symposium was an energising and inspiring event, an opportunity to build connect and share both within the GCBC programme and with other UK Government programmes.
Work is underway to explore what future connection and collaboration between UK Government programmes could look like, building on the ideas shared by participants at the Symposium.
The Evidence Advisory Group (EAG) comprises experts from a diverse range of backgrounds and geographies who provide an independent advice and assurance function to Defra for the Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate programme. This includes impartial advice on research direction, quality assurance of research outputs, timely challenge to ongoing projects, and periodic review of the programme direction.
Role Description
We are looking for individuals who, as leaders in their field, can contribute at the highest levels and work effectively as part of a group. Our aim is to ensure the EAG is inclusive, diverse, and global. We are looking for applicants with experience of working with or within countries in South-East Asia & Pacific and an understanding of the opportunities and challenges of working in this regional context.
All the information about the requirements and process can be found in the recruitment pack on the EAG page.
How to Apply
The application deadline is 23:59 hrs on Sunday, 3rd November, 2024, with interviews taking place within the following two weeks and appointments will commence in late November 2024, with a three-year term, reviewed annually.
See the Recruitment Pack for guidance and information on this recruitment.
The first Learning Event webinar on the Sustainable Use of Marine Resources, Conservation, Climate Mitigation and Adaptation took place in July 2024. The webinar featured fascinating presentations on three marine habitat projects funded by GCBC:
The Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC) is a UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme that funds research into nature-based solutions to climate change and poverty reduction.
We are pleased to announce the official launch of the GCBC second Research Grant Competition (RGC2)!
For this call, we are looking for project concepts with a total budget between £100k and £1m (GBP) and a duration of 12 – 36 months, commencing from November 1, 2024. There is scope for different sizes (£100k-£250k; £250k-£500k; £500-£750k; £750-£1m) depending on the type or nature of the research to be funded. This will range from the smaller desk-based and locally focused projects to larger initiatives with research replicated in different localities/ countries and upscaling/ replicating proven solutions in an innovative approach.
GCBC invites project concept submissions that focus their research at the intersection of the GCBC’s three focus areas:
Climate change
Livelihoods and poverty alleviation
Biodiversity
The call will fund a portfolio of projects in ODA-eligible countries in the programme’s three focus regions (Latin America and the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and Pacific, and Sub-Saharan Africa), including Small Island Developing States (SIDS); which address the evidence gaps and from which the learning, solutions, tools, and methodology can be upscaled and replicated in other regions or countries.
We are looking for submissions that include novel and innovative approaches and project proposals relevant to the overarching theme and related sub-themes. View the Theme Paper
Throughout the application period, potential applicants are invited to join our informative webinars.
Theme paper: This paper sets out the rationale and background for the theme of the second GCBC Research Grant Competition (RGC2) and the sub-themes where there are opportunities for interventions, that can make a difference in applying a systems approach. View the Theme Paper
Research strategy: This Research Strategy sets out the vision through the theory of change and ambition for a systems approach (Section 2) for the GCBC programme to ensure that new scientific evidence, knowledge and partnerships developed support the poor directly or indirectly, with improved livelihoods and resilience to climate change, while sustainably managing and using biodiversity. View the Research Strategy
The Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC) is thrilled to introduce its second Research Grant Competition (RGC2), which will be launched in February 2024. This round invites research applications focusing on ‘Unlocking Nature – Driving innovation in how biodiversity can support climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods through practice and governance.’
Leading up to RGC2’s official launch and throughout the application period, potential applicants are invited to join our informative webinars (starting the week of January 22nd, 2024). These webinars will delve into the competition theme, outline eligibility criteria, and provide details on RGC2 including the application and evaluation process.
We particularly encourage potential grant applicants from the Global South to attend. Organisations with a proven track record in addressing poverty reduction, gender equality, and social inclusion within the context of biodiversity conservation are strongly encouraged to apply.
Stay updated on RGC2 and our webinar series by subscribing to the GCBC newsletter on our website by clicking the subscribe button towards the end of this page, or follow us on X at @gcbc_org or on LinkedIn
This article was originally published on cefas.co.uk on 9th November 2023
A new paper published today sets out a vision for incorporating the fundamentals of sustainability into the design of entire food systems. The paper, Operationalising One Health for Food Systems, published in the journal One Earth, describes the challenges of producing food that is safe, nutritious, economically viable, equitable and environmentally benign across a country’s food system.
The paper argues that the main challenge to sustainable food systems is in dealing with the many hazards associated with the food supply chain, stretching from those that limit supply – like pests, pathogens or chemical contamination – through to the ways that food production drives environmental degradation, including greenhouse gas emissions or fertilisers that damage river biodiversity.
(Image credit: One Earth, Cell Press)
Hazard control mainly happens inside of individual food sectors like maize crops, beef husbandry or prawn aquaculture, with little attention to how these sectors link and to how the hazards might spread between the sectors. Assessing each hazard individually is also problematic because it will not give the whole picture on their combined impacts on food supply or the environment. Crucially, we also lack the methods to look across all hazards and food sectors, to make informed decisions on which to prioritise.
The answer to this, according to the authors, lies in applying One Health principles to the whole food system. One Health is a concept that aims to optimise the health of humans, animals, plants and ecosystems, with each being equally important. Our paper proposes a ‘One Food’ approach where all food sectors are considered together, incorporating all hazards and the links between them.
The paper is an initiative of the One Food programme, a collaboration between the UK and South African governments, with partners from academia, intergovernmental organisations, industry and NGOs. The programme is developing a food risk tool that combines hazards across food sectors to identify and prioritise intervention strategies. It also examines the policy changes that will be needed to allow a food systems approach to be achieved and how stakeholders can take the movement forward.
Here at Cefas we understand well how land and sea are connected and that the food we produce must balance safety and adequate supply against environmental protection. We are delighted to bring together colleagues from across the food spectrum.
Neil Hornby, Chief Executive of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Programme Lead)
This paper sets out our ambition for a future where animal and plant health experts work alongside environmental and social specialists to solve pressing food problems.
Ian Brown, Director of Scientific Services at the UK Animal and Plant Health Agency, the UK programme co-leads
The topic is discussed in the first of the new Cefas Unchatted Waters podcast series, where Cefas’ Chief Scientist, Professor Grant Stentiford and the One Food lead Dr Julie Bremner consider how these principles can be applied to produce safe and sustainable seafood. The programme will present its work in the 2nd One Food Community Forum on the 28th of November 2023 which is open for registrations currently on the One Food Community website. The One Food programme is funded by the Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC) which is a UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) research and development programme that funds research into natural solutions to climate change and poverty.
In the lead-up to the first global stocktake, that will be concluded at COP28 in UAE in December of this year, the Regional Climate Weeks (RCWs) are taking place throughout the world offer a forum for policymakers, practitioners, businesses, and civil society to engage in discussions about climate solutions. The RCWs rally diverse stakeholders from the public and private sectors around a shared mission to combat climate change.
Annually, RCWs are conducted in four regions: Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East and Northern Africa. They encompass a series of events that offer a grassroots forum for the exchange of knowledge and best practices within the region on crucial topics such as the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and Global Climate Action (GCA).
