(Live Streaming) Forest protection, biodiversity and artificial intelligence: what challenges ahead?

An evening of discussion on the challenges ahead regarding EU and global forest protection and the use of artificial intelligence to counter biodiversity loss and improve environmental sustainability will be live streamed by the PubAffairs Bruxelles from 6pm on 24 June.

Speakers of the event include:

• Piotr Borkowski, Executive Director, EUSTAFOR
• Joachim D’Eugenio, Senior Expert, DG ENVI, European Commission
• Thierry Lucas, Senior Programme Officer, United Nations Environment Programme – UNEP
• Topher White, Founder & CEO, Rainforest Connection
• Luis Neves, CEO, Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI)

After the panel debate there will be an opportunity for questions and discussions. The audience will be able to ask questions during both the discussion and the Q&A session through SLIDO #Tech4Forests.

The Live Streaming access page is available here.

About the debate

Biodiversity decline has been widely recognised as the canary in the coalmine for a broader malaise.To counter these issues, the European Union has put forward several actions which have culminated in the recognition of the importance of forests in the European Green Deal, whereby the European Commission has pledged to prepare a new Forest Strategy to restore damaged or depleted forests, to improve the quality and quantity of European forests and to avoid creating deforestation outside the Union.

However, the question of forest protection continues to be a crucial feature of the global public debate on climate change as forests constitute not only an important aspect of the fight for protecting the climate, but also a litmus paper on the successfulness of the actions that the European and international institutions are undertaking. Within this context, the scientific community, the private sector and non-governmental organisations have started to deploy several efforts to counter these issues, and have cooperated to identify the tools which can support the fight against deforestation, as well as research and monitoring, along with the collection of data on this matter. As several authoritative commentators have highlighted, the question of forest protection, and the whole set of challenges enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals, will not be successfully overcome without the collaboration of all stakeholders along with the help of the most advanced technologies.

More information