(English) CLIMATICO 2019

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The team of the ORGANIKO LIFE+ project that is coordinated by the Cyprus International Institute for Environmental and Public Health within the Cyprus University of Technology hosted the CLIMATICO 2019 international conference on Thursday 11 April and Friday 12 April 2019 at Elias Beach Hotel in Limassol, Cyprus. Attendees represented several countries, including Cyprus, Serbia, Germany, Greece, The Netherlands, Lebanon, Serbia, and Italy.

The conference’s major theme was Act on Climate Impact in the Mediterranean. The conference focused on the impact of climate change on key societal sectors, such as public health, agriculture, and food.

The Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, Dr. Kadis congratulated the organizers of the conference, mentioning that it is the epitome of the efforts of the research teams and the policymakers participating in the ORGANIKO LIFE+ project. Dr. Kadis confirmed that he is supporting such efforts that promote innovation for a better environment while ensuring a stable agricultural development. Dr. Kadis further noted that Cyprus is already affected by climate change, mainly due to phenomena such as warming, prolonged droughts, and severe weather conditions. This is expected to cause significant negative impact for agriculture and food production and the loss of agricultural land as well as the depletion and deterioration of water and soil resources.

The first keynote speech was given by Dr. Lucka Kafjez Bogataj, the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner and former vice-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). who commented on the goals set by the Paris Climate Change Agreement, which mandates a 2°C reduction. Dr. Lucka Kafjez Bogataj recommended that we adopt a more stringent policy to reduce the global average temperature by 1.5°C instead, since this would more visibly reduce the dangers associated with climate change.

The second keynote speech was given by Dr. Laurent Philippot, the Director of Research at the French Institute for Agricultural Research regarding the nitrogen cycle and its effects on climate change. The third keynote speaker, Professor Sara Hallin from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, provided practical examples of how the nitrogen cycle and fertilization affects microbial communities in soil.

Since climate change is an international issue that affects health, life, and agriculture, there were many presentations that discussed them, including solutions and new approaches for solving these problems. Special attention was given to organic farming and methods of reducing the carbon footprint as well as methods for controlling greenhouse emissions by prioritizing other methods of energy consumption such as anaerobic biofuels and energy efficiency measures.

Other conference sessions focused on health promotion methods for reducing plastic bag use, assessing environmental exposures to climate change related phenomena, such as dust storms, and evaluating perceptions of the public towards health impacts of climate change.

Other partners of the ORGANIKO LIFE+ include the Agricultural Research Institute (CY), the Department of Environment within the Ministry of Agriculture (CY) and the Kyoto Club (IT).

For further information, please contact the ORGANIKO LIFE+ team at (+357)25002282.