Part 1 students share their analyses and feelings about one of the biodiversity films they've seen at home (chosen from a set list).
Part 2 looks at the links between climate and biodiversity, how biodiversity acts as a carbon sink and a fantastic lever for adaptation. But how it is also threatened by climate change.
Around half of the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere is captured by natural ecosystems.
The world’s forests absorb 25% of our annual emissions
15,6 Gt CO2/ year (three times the annual emissions of the USA) through photosynthesis and soil formation.
The ocean absorbs the rest mainly by dissolution of the atmospheric CO2.
Thanks to the ecosystem services it provides (reducing heat domes, water storage, curbing erosion, etc.), biodiversity is also an excellent ally in the necessary adaptation to climate change.
Climate change is also a major threat, and the 3rd most important factor in the erosion of biodiversity. The climate crisis is weakening ecosystems and reducing their capacity to store carbon: slower tree growth and increased mortality are reducing the carbon sink capacity of forests, while acidification and ocean warming are slowing atmospheric dissolution.
The destruction of ecosystems by humans (deforestation, draining of wetlands, etc.) worsens the situation by releasing the carbon stored by these ecosystems. E.g. forests leak back 8.1 Gt CO2/ year due to human-induced deforestation and wildfire.
Some climate solutions are actually harming to biodiversity (e.g. biofuels, mining for renewables…). Most climate tech solutions for the climate do not take biodiversity into account and have a strong negative impact (see IPBES IPCC joint report). “Solving” climate change without changing our way of life, our relationship to resources and to biodiversity doesn't change the underlying problem, it just shifts it.
Conversely, adopting a regenerative approach based on protecting and restoring local ecosystems will, in the vast majority of cases, reduce the impact of climate change. In this sense, Nature-based solutions are a concept defined by the IUCN, which would enable us to sustainably improve our planet and our quality of life. 30% of climate mitigation could be provided by Nature-based solutions.
Cine Club
The first part of the course (1h30) is dedicated to discussion in small groups of their reactions to viewing one of the films on offer (a fiction Okja, an activist documentary Seaspiracy and a more personal work in the form of a testimonial My Octopus Teacher).
The aim of this cineclub is to give space to individual feelings and to offer a different perspective (artistic, emotional) on biodiversity compared to traditional courses. Prior to the exchanges, a framework of trust is established with the students to ensure the smooth running of this session (no interruptions, respect for contradictory opinions, confidentiality of personal sharing, no irony or mockery...).