Human Wrongs Watch
Governments established IPBES in 2012 in response to concerns about the lack of policy-relevant information to tackle threats to biodiversity. The platform’s aim is to enable decision makers to make well-informed decisions that could halt biodiversity loss, and thus promote human wellbeing and sustainable development through the sustainable use of biodiversity.
One of the first two IPBES assessments, to be available as early as December 2015, will look at pollination and food production and it will be accompanied by another assessment on biodiversity scenarios and modelling. The latter will review existing methods to model future changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services as a result of various socio-economic pathways.
These two assessments will be the first in a series of ambitious biodiversity assessments that IPBES hopes will inform policy decisions.
Overall, the work of the Platform will require contributions from thousands of scientists from all over the world in the fields of natural and social sciences, as well as the involvement of indigenous people and local communities. They will work together to synthesize, review, assess and critically evaluate relevant knowledge and produce tools in order to support the creation of the best possible policies.
Malaysian Zakri Abdul Hamid, the founding Chair of IPBES, noted that in addition to addressing the needs of relevant multilateral environmental agreements, the Platform aims to improve the dialogue between policymakers and the scientific community on the critical importance of biodiversity and ecosystem services.
“As evidenced by the proposals to include biodiversity as a stand-alone target in the UN’s 2015 Sustainable Development Goals, the international community is becoming increasingly aware of the links between biodiversity, sustainable development and human well-being.
The ambitious work programme of IPBES reflects the monumental challenge faced by the international community to halt and reverse biodiversity loss,” said Professor Zakri.
Anne Larigauderie, Executive Secretary of the IPBES Secretariat, is aware of the challenges that lie ahead despite the progress made in the first year of implementation of the Platform’s work programme.
“The Platform got off to a good start this year by engaging hundreds of experts in its work programme and by integrating in all its functions a conceptual framework that takes into account the complex relationships between people and nature and the different value systems that exist,” said Dr. Larigauderie. “However, the rate of biodiversity loss is alarming, which makes the work of IPBES more pressing than ever.”
To strengthen the science-policy interface that will support governments in their endeavors to protect biodiversity, IPBES will draw on the expertise of four UN bodies: the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the United Nations Development Programme. (*Source: UNEP).
