Call for nominations IAP Working Group – Biodiversity and Climate Change

The InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) has invited member academies to nominate experts to serve on the Working Group tasked with developing a statement on interlinkages between biodiversity and climate change to be led by the UK Royal Society .

By developing a statement on the issues, the IAP can play a central role in advocacy and research worldwide in order to promote greater implementation of effective, affordable, and sustainable solutions that address climate change and biodiversity loss together.

There is a growing consensus that, although these issues are interlinked, existing international structures address each problem separately. In advance of COP15 on biodiversity and COP26 on climate change, an IAP statement could highlight the importance of jointly addressing these areas at the international level and make specific suggestions for policy measures that address biodiversity loss and climate change at the same time.

Experts in either biodiversity or climate change (or both) are sought, as well as experts in the social sciences, UN processes, and sustainability and transformative change, among others.

The Royal Irish Academy can nominate one expert to the Working Group whose job it will be to review the current version, perhaps adding/requesting additional references, including to relevant work in the subject area completed by other academies, and to ensure that the scope of the Statement is relevant internationally. This should take no more than 1 month and may require 2 or 3 cycles of inputs as the lead academy adapts the draft.

From the nominations received, the IAP Statement Governance Committee, working with the lead academy, will finalise the constitution of the Working Group taking into account diversity of relevant expertise, geography and gender. The Working Group will work electronically and their names will appear on the final version of the document. It will be important for this group to bring national and regional perspectives to the statement, so that it becomes a document that is truly international.

To express an interest in being nominated by the Royal Irish Academy please submit the following to policy@ria.ie by midday on Monday 8 March:

• CV, biographical text (max 500 words),
• statement outlining your suitability (max 200 words)

This opportunity is publicly advertised by the Royal Irish Academy 

All expressions of interest received will be considered by the Academy’s Policy Oversight Group - the unit tasked with advising upon the initiation and implementation of all of the Academy’s policy and international activities and responsible for overseeing a standardised quality process for all outputs. Chaired by the Academy’s Secretary of Policy and International Relations, the six members of this group are all elected Members of the Royal Irish Academy and come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds in several institutions across the island of Ireland- both north and south of the border. On occasions, the Policy Oversight Group may also consult additional experts to inform their assessments and evaluations.

The Royal Irish Academy values diversity and strives for a culture of equality and inclusion in all of its activities. As outlined in its Strategic Plan 2019-2023, the Academy is committed to ensuring greater gender, disciplinary, institutional and overall diversity in every area of the Academy and its work throughout the island of Ireland. It particularly welcomes nominations from under-represented groups and communities.