I went to Biodiversity for a Livable Climate's first conference, a 3 day event at Tufts University in October 2014, called Restoring Ecosystems to Reverse Global Warming. I'm an educator and had been looking for the science I thought the children should be learning to prepare them for a future with accelerating climate extremes. This conference was a truly paradigm shifting experience. It was science-based and realistic and it convinced me that we can reverse global warming. Bio4climate presented 4 more conferences in 2015, all with the message that Biology and ecosystem restoration must come into the climate conversation. Reducing fossil fuel emissions can't happen fast enough to prevent catastrophic climate change, but removing atmospheric carbon and returning it to the soil can do that. This year that message reached the COP21 Climate talks in Paris - The next conference will be April 30 at Harvard's Geological Lecture Hall (Peabody Museum) on Restoring Land, Sea and Climate: The Power and Promise of Biodiversity. There is a small paid staff and committed volunteers but because of the urgency of getting the message out as quickly as possible, fund raising has not been the top priority. At this point, everyone is a volunteer. In addition to conferences, Bio4climate also does educational outreach through monthly Meetups. You can find videos of all conference presentations at http://bio4climate.org.
Through conferences, meetups and education, Bio4Climate brings together inspiring, unique and forceful voices from across the world that demonstrate the power and promise of biodiversity in restoring the planet. Their speakers have opened my eyes to the power of organisms from Beavers role in forming wetlands, to the deep rooted prairie grasses that sink water to oysters that filter nutrients from water. Their conferences bring together scientists, educators, activists, ranchers, engaged citizens in demonstrating how interrelated natural processes- water and soil cycles- can cool the climate and fix CO2 at all scales: from our backyards & community gardens to Texan scrublands and the prairies. Through this upbeat message of symbioses with the planet's species, the feeling of despair that climate change discussions often induced in me was replaced with a collective sense of purpose. That is why you should join this nonprofit.
I attended a weekend conference given by this organization on 10/17/2015. There were many stimulating speakers and topics, and the information demonstrated important ways to keep carbon and water in the ground with consequences that could improve climate, decrease temperatures, and better irrigate and enrich the earth. This approach was in contrast to emphasis on reducing fossil fuel emissions, I look forward to their upcoming conferences in the spring and fall as they continue to address the environmental crisis of out times.