Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BiodivClim (Promoting and implementing joint programming to reinforce transnational research at the crossroad between biodiversity and climate change)
Reporting period: 2019-09-01 to 2020-12-31
It is now widely recognised that climate change and biodiversity loss are twin crises that should be tackled together. In addition to the direct impacts on the economy, societies and people’s health, rapidly advancing climate change negatively impacts many of the world’s species and ecosystems, driving biodiversity loss. At the same time, protecting and restoring biodiversity is crucial to addressing climate change. Both the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) indeed recognise that working with nature to conserve, manage and restore ecosystems – known as nature-based solutions – is one of the most cost-effective approaches to both mitigating and adapting to climate change, and therefore to reach the targets. It is therefore imperative to understand with sufficient detail and confidence the interactions between biodiversity & climate change so they can be incorporated into decision-support models and tools.
By networking 33 funding agencies from 22 countries from Europe and other continents, BiodivClim aims to promote coordinated international research on biodiversity and climate change in all environments, incl. agricultural areas. It will strengthen research and research programmes coordination with the ultimate aim to provide policy makers and other stakeholders with adequate knowledge, tools and practical solutions to improve the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems under a changing climate.
The BiodivClim objectives are to:
- Coordinate the research agendas of major European and international research funders to agree on shared research priorities related to biodiversity and climate change
- Reinforce collaboration with other relevant initiatives in the field to increase synergies and avoid fragmentation
- Design & implement two joint calls for research proposals in this field (incl. one co-funded)
- Promote research collaboration across national borders and disciplines in order to build capacity, exchange best practices and have a lasting effect on the international research community and landscape
- Support dialogue and collaboration between academia and stakeholders, and stakeholder engagement in research projects in order to increase the impact of research on policy and practice
- Ease rapid and efficient uptake of funded research results by the IPBES & IPCC for their future assessments, and by other relevant initiatives
- Reinforce data open access.
By networking 33 funding agencies from 22 countries from Europe and other continents, BiodivClim aims to promote coordinated international research on biodiversity and climate change in all environments, incl. agricultural areas. It will strengthen research and research programmes coordination with the ultimate aim to provide policy makers and other stakeholders with adequate knowledge, tools and practical solutions to improve the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems under a changing climate.
The BiodivClim objectives are to:
- Coordinate the research agendas of major European and international research funders to agree on shared research priorities related to biodiversity and climate change
- Reinforce collaboration with other relevant initiatives in the field to increase synergies and avoid fragmentation
- Design & implement two joint calls for research proposals in this field (incl. one co-funded)
- Promote research collaboration across national borders and disciplines in order to build capacity, exchange best practices and have a lasting effect on the international research community and landscape
- Support dialogue and collaboration between academia and stakeholders, and stakeholder engagement in research projects in order to increase the impact of research on policy and practice
- Ease rapid and efficient uptake of funded research results by the IPBES & IPCC for their future assessments, and by other relevant initiatives
- Reinforce data open access.
BiodivClim officially started in September 2019. At the early stage the governance, procedure and administrative framework were organised: the BiodivClim Secretariat (hosted at FRB) and the General Assembly composed of representatives of every partner involved in the project were set up.
During this first period, two types of activities were carried out: activities directly related to the COFUND call for research projects (Work Packages 1 to 5), and activities additional to the call (Work Packages 6 to 8).
Activities related to the call
The BiodivClim COFUND call was officially launched on 2 September 2019. This call relies on a set of documents developed jointly by the partners of the call, describing its modalities, criteria and objectives, agreed upon before the launch of BiodivClim.
As an effect of the strength of the biodiversity research community and the communication work conducted preliminarily to the launch of the call, a very large number of pre-proposals were submitted in November 2019. In the end, at step 1, 281 eligible pre-proposals were evaluated and ranked and at step 2, 82 eligible full proposals were evaluated and ranked.
The evaluation process was implemented by the Call Secretariat (ANR) from September 2019 to July 2020. To evaluate the proposals, an independent evaluation committee (EvC) and external reviewers were appointed. The EvC met in January 2020 in Brussels for the first step of the evaluation process and at the end of June/ early July 2020 for second step of the evaluation process, each time to evaluate and rank the proposals. Strictly following this ranking, in September 2020 the participating funders reached a final funding agreement. 21 projects were recommended for funding, for a total amount of 39.7 million euro, including funding from the European Commission. The projects started between December 2020 and April 2021 for a maximum duration of three years.
Additional activities
During the concerned period, several tasks started:
- Promoting open access of data on biodiversity and climate change. This Task aims at providing the necessary tools and support to scientists funded through the BiodivClim call to further improve and implement their initial data management plan submitted in their proposal.
- Promoting synergies and clustering of projects on biodiversity and climate change at the EU level. A clustering workshop will be co-organised by BiodivClim and the European Commission in May 2021. Several discussions were already organised with these initiatives to explore possible collaborations.
- Promoting synergies with key institutes of the ERA at the crossroad of biodiversity and climate change. This task aims at promoting synergies with FACCE-JPI, JPI-Climate, LIFE, the JRC.
- Support to global science-policy efforts. A working group was set-up and identified that a series of thematic webinars would be relevant to reinforce the links and promote synergies with IPBES and IPCC and with CBD and UNFCCC through their Subsidiary bodies for Scientific and Technological Advice.
During this first period, two types of activities were carried out: activities directly related to the COFUND call for research projects (Work Packages 1 to 5), and activities additional to the call (Work Packages 6 to 8).
Activities related to the call
The BiodivClim COFUND call was officially launched on 2 September 2019. This call relies on a set of documents developed jointly by the partners of the call, describing its modalities, criteria and objectives, agreed upon before the launch of BiodivClim.
As an effect of the strength of the biodiversity research community and the communication work conducted preliminarily to the launch of the call, a very large number of pre-proposals were submitted in November 2019. In the end, at step 1, 281 eligible pre-proposals were evaluated and ranked and at step 2, 82 eligible full proposals were evaluated and ranked.
The evaluation process was implemented by the Call Secretariat (ANR) from September 2019 to July 2020. To evaluate the proposals, an independent evaluation committee (EvC) and external reviewers were appointed. The EvC met in January 2020 in Brussels for the first step of the evaluation process and at the end of June/ early July 2020 for second step of the evaluation process, each time to evaluate and rank the proposals. Strictly following this ranking, in September 2020 the participating funders reached a final funding agreement. 21 projects were recommended for funding, for a total amount of 39.7 million euro, including funding from the European Commission. The projects started between December 2020 and April 2021 for a maximum duration of three years.
Additional activities
During the concerned period, several tasks started:
- Promoting open access of data on biodiversity and climate change. This Task aims at providing the necessary tools and support to scientists funded through the BiodivClim call to further improve and implement their initial data management plan submitted in their proposal.
- Promoting synergies and clustering of projects on biodiversity and climate change at the EU level. A clustering workshop will be co-organised by BiodivClim and the European Commission in May 2021. Several discussions were already organised with these initiatives to explore possible collaborations.
- Promoting synergies with key institutes of the ERA at the crossroad of biodiversity and climate change. This task aims at promoting synergies with FACCE-JPI, JPI-Climate, LIFE, the JRC.
- Support to global science-policy efforts. A working group was set-up and identified that a series of thematic webinars would be relevant to reinforce the links and promote synergies with IPBES and IPCC and with CBD and UNFCCC through their Subsidiary bodies for Scientific and Technological Advice.
BiodivClim aims at aligning research agendas in the area of biodiversity and climate change, while enhancing the significance and relevance of these topics for decision-making.
The 21 projects that were selected for funding are very promising in terms of potential impact on policy, society and more widely in supporting decision-making on biodiversity and climate change. As such, it is expected that the BiodivClim funded projects support decision-making. Additional activities related to the uptake of the results of the research projects also intend to generate links with new stakeholders, notably collaborations with socio-economic sectors identified as relevant to the research. BiodivClim also aims at supporting global science-policy efforts with IPBES, IPCC, UNFCCC and with the CBD through their Subsidiary bodies for Scientific and Technological Advice.
Moreover, the funded projects all demonstrate a strong level of transnational collaboration. The funded consortia all involve a minimum of three partners from different countries participating in the call; and on average the consortia include partners from 5.5 different countries. BiodivClim allows steps toward stronger links inside the European Research Area (ERA), but also toward collaboration between the ERA and the other continents. Additional activities are notably foreseen to enhance the international vision, notably through a mapping assignment destined to assess the international research collaborations.
Ultimately, BiodivClim will result in a more credible and more harmonised voice in terms of research on biodiversity and climate change.
The 21 projects that were selected for funding are very promising in terms of potential impact on policy, society and more widely in supporting decision-making on biodiversity and climate change. As such, it is expected that the BiodivClim funded projects support decision-making. Additional activities related to the uptake of the results of the research projects also intend to generate links with new stakeholders, notably collaborations with socio-economic sectors identified as relevant to the research. BiodivClim also aims at supporting global science-policy efforts with IPBES, IPCC, UNFCCC and with the CBD through their Subsidiary bodies for Scientific and Technological Advice.
Moreover, the funded projects all demonstrate a strong level of transnational collaboration. The funded consortia all involve a minimum of three partners from different countries participating in the call; and on average the consortia include partners from 5.5 different countries. BiodivClim allows steps toward stronger links inside the European Research Area (ERA), but also toward collaboration between the ERA and the other continents. Additional activities are notably foreseen to enhance the international vision, notably through a mapping assignment destined to assess the international research collaborations.
Ultimately, BiodivClim will result in a more credible and more harmonised voice in terms of research on biodiversity and climate change.