SWS issued the Society of Wetland Scientists San Juan Statement on Climate Change and Wetlands at the 2017 SWS Annual Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on June 5 - 8, 2017. Over 200 attendees signed the statement in support. The Statement reads as follows:
"The following participants at the Society of Wetland Scientists 2017 Annual Meeting encourage policy makers in all countries to continue their collaborative efforts to develop and implement international policies, such as the Paris Climate Agreement, to mitigate global climate change and, in doing so:
- Ensure the protection of existing carbon banks in wetlands and encourage carbon sequestration;
- Maintain or restore wetlands for their biodiversity and ecosystem services, including climate resiliency;
- Request all wetland managers and scientists to share this statement and support local to global efforts to combat climate change for the betterment of humankind."
SWS wetland scientists Gail Chmura, Gillian Davies, Max Finlayson, Beth Middleton, Sue Natali, Jim Perry, Nigel Roulet, Ariana Sutton-Grier and climate scientist William Moomaw have submitted an article titled, "The Relationship Between Wetlands and a Changing Climate" to the Wetlands journal. This article reviews research on how wetlands function in the global carbon cycle, the climate resiliency and adaptation services provided by wetlands, and the particular vulnerabilities that wetlands face as our climate changes. The article identifies policies and management strategies at all scales (local to global) that foster wetland and societal climate resilience/adaptation, protect ecosystem carbon stored in wetlands, and protect the future capacity of wetlands to sequester carbon from the atmosphere.