Special Report: Fight against Global Warming

    BALI, Indonesia, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- To promote efforts that will allow all forms of life on Earth to cope with climate change, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) launched on Thursday the Biodiversity Adaptation website in Bali, Indonesia.

    The website was officially launched by the CBD's Executive Secretary, Ahmed Djoghlaf and Jochen Flasbart of Germany's Environment Ministry during a press conference on the margins of the Parties (COP) of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bali.

    Indonesia is hosting a two-week U.N. climate change conference, which will end on Friday

    Serving as a repository of knowledge, the adaptation website isa contribution from the CBD -- one of the three Rio Conventions, adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro -- to the implementation of an initiative launched at the last UNFCCC Conference of the Parties in Nairobi to address the issues of impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change.

    Recent assessments indicate that climate change is likely to become the dominant cause of biodiversity loss by the end of the century. Climate change is already having an impact on biodiversity either through shifting habitat, changing life cycles, the development of new physical traits or species die-offs and extinctions.

    When launching the site, Ahmed Djoghlaf said "Thanks to the financial contribution from the government of Canada, the website, available in French and Spanish, is a major tool to assist in the implementation of the Curitiba decision in integrating adaptation into the CBD work program.

    "The website therefore has the potential of being a major tool to enhance synergies between biodiversity and climate change."

    Flasbarth stated, "The website is yet another step to enhance cooperation between UNFCCC and CBD climate change and biodiversity, of which we are proud to be a part of."

    According to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC), 11 of the last 12 years ranked among the warmest years since recording began in 1850. Furthermore, an additional increase of approximately 0.4 degrees centigrade is expected over the next two decades.

    The CBD is an international framework for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and the equitable sharing of its benefits. With 190 Parties, the CBD has near-universal participation among countries who have committed to preserving life on Earth.