2017 Conference | Ninth International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts & Responses

Obafemi Okusipe is currently a graduate student in the Environmental Policy Institute, Memorial University of Newfoundland (Grenfell Campus), Canada. His research interests include biodiversity management, environmental planning and management and oil and gas management.  He is currently researching the implementation of national and local biodiversity policies and strategies in the United Kingdom.

Recently Obafemi attended the Ninth International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts & Responses held in Cambridge, United Kingdom were he presented a paper titled “Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss in Newfoundland and Labrador – Coordination and Monitoring Policy Gaps”.

The paper discussed the vulnerability of earth’s natural system evidenced by changes in the ecosystem and natural processes. The anthropogenic activities have exacerbated these changes at alarming rates that necessitate public intervention in form of policy initiatives.

This paper aims to contribute toward reducing the effect of climate change on biodiversity. The objectives include better understanding and perception climate change and biodiversity loss issues; discussing policy responses to climate change and biodiversity loss; and identifying policy gaps at federal, provincial and municipal levels.

This paper, empirical in approach used ‘planetary boundaries and safe living space’ (Rockstrom, et. al., 2009) as the theoretical framework. Based on secondary data, content analysis of the existing policies has been explored as well as the policy responses. Descriptive statistics are used to analyze and present the status and trend of biodiversity loss, resultant climate change and policy response.

The paper identified the lack of coordinated biodiversity policies and the inadequate monitoring of biodiversity policy performance as factors affecting biodiversity loss and resultant climate change. This paper contributed to climate change agenda setting, highlighted the achievement of policy targets, informed policy review and articulated integrated policy responses to biodiversity loss and climate change issues.

2017 Conference | Climate Change: Impacts & Responses Research Network