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Impacts of Global Changes on ecosystems and human societies are manifold. Changes have led to already tangible impacts, such as Climate Change which has unfolded over the course of the last decade in form of weather extremes, droughts and large wildfires, for example. Along with shifting climate patterns, biodiversity loss is causing structures and functions of ecosystems to be more vulnerable to change, and is altering the supply of vital ecosystem services. Land use and land cover changes as well as global trading and land ownership patterns cause further impacts on social-ecological systems. Such changes often lead to inequality between richer and poorer countries and to the radicalization of politics, which then undermine a  society’s capacity to cope with these growing impacts. In this context, ecosystem services science, policy and practice offer tools needed to tackle the challenges ahead. More importantly, the appropriate use of the ecosystems services concept can shift societies and governance systems towards sustainable pathways.

The ESP Europe 2021 Regional Conference is part of the bi-annual cycle of ESP regional conferences around the globe. The regional conferences follow our world conferences, of which the last world conference in Germany hosted more than 750 delegates from over 65 countries.”

https://www.espconference.org/europe2020