BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:iCalendar-Ruby BEGIN:VEVENT SEQUENCE:0 ORGANIZER:Kings Place & Nature DTEND:20090309T203000 DTSTART:20090309T190000 UID:2009-11-26T19:06:38-05:00_637179252@socialweb1 DTSTAMP:20091126T190638 DESCRIPTION:*_Discuss the event on the "London":http://network.nature.com/h ubs/london/forum/topics or "Nature Opinion":http://network.nature.com/group s/naturenewsandopinion/forum forum. The latter also contains several topics on "evolution":http://network.nature.com/groups/naturenewsandopinion/forum /topics/3649 and "Darwin 200":http://network.nature.com/groups/naturenewsan dopinion/forum/topics/3408_* \n \nWe pay for our food\, water\, healthcare and energy\, so why not pay for the many ‘services’ currently obtained for free from biological diversity? Services such as insect-pollination\, centr al to food production\; or healthy forests\, which we need for clean water and to stop soil erosion. Shouldn’t we invest now in our biodiversity in or der to secure our future needs? Join leading names from science and politic s as they debate the need to put a price on the Earth’s ecosystem services. \n \n \n \n*_PANEL_* \n• *_James Lovelock\, independent scientist & au thor of Revenge of Gaia:"_* Prof James Lovelock is the author of more than 200 scientific papers\, distributed almost equally among topics in medicine \, biology\, instrument and atmospheric science and geophysiology. He is th e originator of the Gaia Hypothesis (now Gaia Theory) and has written four books on the subject\, including “The Revenge of Gaia” (2006). His latest b ook is “The Vanishing Face of Gaia: a final warning”\, published this year. He is also the inventor of the electron capture detector\, which made poss ible the detection of CFCs and other atmospheric nano-pollutants. Lovelock was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974 and made a Companion of H onour by Her Majesty the Queen in 2003. He has been since 1994 an Honorary Visiting Fellow of Green College\, University of Oxford. \n• *_Michael Mea cher\, MP (Labour) & former Minister of State for the Environment:_* Michae l Meacher is a British Labour party politician and Member of Parliament for Oldham West and Royton. Meacher is also a long-time campaigner for the env ironment within party and government. A staunch advocate of renewable energ y\, he was Minister of State for the Environment between 1997 and 2003. Dur ing this time\, he played an important role in international negotiations o ver the Kyoto Treaty and helped pass the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000\, which secured greater protection for Britain's wildlife areas. He is a Parliamentary representative and member of UNISON. \n• *_Sir Crispin Ti ckell\, Director of the Policy Foresight Programme at the James Martin 21st Century School at Oxford University:_* As a former British diplomat\, he w as Chef de Cabinet to the President of the European Commission\, Ambassador to Mexico\, Permanent Secretary of the Overseas Development Administration (now DFID)\, and British Permanent Representative to the United Nations. H e was then Warden of Green College\, Oxford\, and Chancellor of the Univers ity of Kent\, and has since had other public and academic appointments. He has advised successive British Prime Ministers on environmental issues\, an d was the author of “Climate Change and World Affairs” (1977 and 1986). He has since published other work on the same and related issues\, including c onservation of biodiversity. \n \n*_Chair:_* \n• *_Ehsan Masood\, Acting Ch ief Commissioning Editor\, Nature:_* Ehsan Masood returned to the staff of Nature as Acting Chief Commissioning Editor in September 2008. He was UK ne ws and developing-world correspondent at Nature in the 1990s. After leaving Nature in 1999\, he became Opinion Editor at New Scientist and then Direct or of Communications for the environmental leadership training NGO Lead Int ernational. He has also worked as a consultant to the British Council\, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World and the Organization for Secu rity and Cooperation in Europe. He teaches international science policy at Imperial College London and his next book\, Science and Islam: a history\, will be published by Icon books in 2009. \n \nOrganized by _Nature_\, the l eading international weekly journal of science\, in association with Kings Place. SUMMARY:The Nature Darwin Debate 2: What Price Biodiversity? LAST-MODIFIED:20090129T112712 CREATED:20081030T161304 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR