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Presentation of the Barcelona Declaration 2008: Challenges and Pathways to Earth Sustainability

DAY: OCTOBER 3rd
TIME: 12.00 A.M.
WHERE: BARCELONA CITY HALL (SALÓ DE CENT)

World experts meet in Barcelona to present latest trends on the global environment and new approaches to sustainability

What are the most recent planetary trends? What new options exist to manage ecosystems in a sustainable way? Is it compatible to enhance societies' wellbeing with sustainable use of ecosystems and natural resources? Is the current economic model appropriate to mitigate climate change? Can the current economic system guarantee a sustainable welfare? Will technology make possible the sustainable development of less developing countries?

These are some of the questions that main international specialists will try to answer in the meeting Challenges and Pathways to Earth Sustainability, which will take place in Barcelona on October 2nd and 3rd. Organized and coordinated by the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), the goal of the meeting is to write and release the Barcelona Declaration 2008 with recommendations on the way forward.

The aim of the document is to stress the extremely rapid pace of environmental changes at the global level and the urgent need for politicians, policy makers, the corporate world, and society to act in order to guarantee the welfare of the present and future generations. Some of the recommendations issued by the different bodies of the United Nations are, beyond good intentions, too moderate and slow in stating the severity of the problems and the need for urgent and adequate new solutions towards society's sustainable future. The Barcelona Declaration will call for a new paradigm on sustainability and suggest pathways to sustainability at the planetary scale.

The presentation of the Barcelona Declaration 2008 will take place on October 3rd, at 12.00 a.m., at the Saló de Cent of Barcelona City Hall. The meeting will count with the presence of the Environment Policies and Sustainability General Director of the Catalan Government, Frederic Ximeno; and the city councillor of Environment, Imma Mayol. After the presentation, the media will be able to interview the experts, but we will appreciate that interested media ask for appointments before the event.

Previously to this presentation, on the October 2nd, in the Assembly Hall of the Rectorship building of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the experts will participate in a workshop to work on the papers that will serve as basis for the writing of the Barcelona Declaration 2008. This session will be open to the media and to the general public.

List of experts:

• Meinrat Andreae, Director of the Biogeochemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Germany.
• Lidia Brito, Assistant professor of Wood Science and Technology, Eduardo Mondlane University. Former Minister of Education, Science and Technology of Mozambique.
• Josep Canadell, Executive Director of the Global Carbon Project based at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in Australia.
• Kristie Ebi, Epidemiologist. OMS, UNDP, USAID. Lead author for the Human Health chapter on IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. USA.
• Jane Lubchenco, Distinguished Professor of Zoology, Oregon State University, USA.
• Harold Mooney, Professor of Environmental Biology, Stanford University, California (USA).
• Ian Noble, Advisor on climate change at the World Bank. Member of IPCC and IGBP (International Geosphere Biosphere Program).
• Carlos Nobre, Director of CPTEC (Brazil) and coordinator of Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazon (LBA).
• Josep Peñuelas, Director of the Global Ecology Unit CREAF - CSIC Barcelona.
• Bob Scholes, Director of Ecosystems Research Group, University of East Anglia (United Kingdom), and member of CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), South Africa.
• Keith Wiebe. Chief, Comparative Agricultural Development Service (ESAC), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

CREAF is a consortium formed by the Catalan Autonomous Government, the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), the University of Barcelona (UB), the Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC) and the Spanish National Research Council.

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